University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


PAPERS 


RELATIVE  TO 


MEXICAN  AFFAIRS 


COMMUNICATED  TO  THE  SENATE  JUNE  16,  1864. 


r 

WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING     OFFICE. 
1365. 


MESSAGE 


PROM  THE 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

COMMUNICATING, 

IN  ANSWER  TO  A  RESOLUTION  OF  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  25TH  ULTIMO 
PAPERS  RELATIVE  TO  MEXICAN  AFFAIRS. 


To  the  Senate  of  the  United  States: 

I  transmit  herewith  a  further  report  from  the  Secretary  of  State,  in  answer 
to  the  resolution  of  the  Senate  of  the  25th  ultimo,  relative  to  Mexican  affairs, 
with  the  papers  therein  referred  to. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  June  16,  1864. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  June  16,  1864. 

Pursuant  to  the  intimation  contained  in  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  State 
to  the  President,  of  the  30th  ultimo,  and  in  further  reply  to  the  resolution  of 
the  Senate  of  the  25th  ultimo,  relative  to  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Mexico, 
the  Secretary  of  State  has  the  honor  to  lay  before  the  President  the  papers 
mentioned  in  the  annexed  list. 
Respectfully  submitted : 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARB. 
The  PRESIDENT. 


INDEX 

TO 

PAPERS  RELATIVE  TO  MEXICAN  AFFAIRS. 


— Correspondence  of  Mr.  Coricin,  United  States  minister  in  Mexico. 

Mr.  SewardtoMr.  Convin Nov.  26,  1862 

Mr.  Convin  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  two  enclosures) Oct.  27,  1862 

Mr.  Corwin  to  Mr.  Seward Nov.  19,  1862 

Mr.  SewardtoMr.  Convin > Jan.  2,  1863 

Mr.  Convin  to  Mr.  Seward  Jan.  8,  1863 

Same  to  same Jan.  27,  1863 

Mr.  SewardtoMr.  Corwin Feb.  25,  1863 

Mr.  Corwin  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  ten  enclosures) March  1 1,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Convin April  18,  1863 

Same  to  same May  ^2,  1863 

Mr.  Corwiu  to  Mr.  Seward April  16,  1863 

Same  to  same \ May  1,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Convin June  8,  1863 

Same  to  same August  8,  1863 

Same  to  same,  (with  one  enclosure) Dec.  23,  1863 

No.  2. — Shipment  of  arms  to  Mexico.  !_-?• 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward Nov.  22,  1862 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  (with  enclosures) Nov.  24,  1892 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward Dec.  10,  1862 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero Dec.  15,  1862 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward Dec.  20,  1862 

Mr.  SewardtoMr.  Romero Jan.  7,  1863 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward Jan.  14,  1863 

Mr.  SewardtoMr.  Romero Jan.  17,  1863 

Mr.  Rankin  to  Mr.  Seward Jan.  14,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Rankin,  (with  one  enclosure) Jan.  15,  1863 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward Jan.  20,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero Jan.  21,  1863 

General  Canby  to  Mr.  Seward Feb.  17,  1864 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero Feb.  19,  1864 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward Feb.  20,  1864 

No.  3. — Intervention  in  New  Granada. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward March  19,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero March  20,  1863 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward  ..  ..March  21,  1863 


INDEX.  V 

No.  4. — Case  of  the  Steamer  "  Noc-Daquy." 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  one  enclosure) Feb.     23,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero Feb.     25,  1863 

Same  to  same March    6,  1863 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward  March    6,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  (with  twelve  enclosures) March  13,  1863 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr."  Seward,  ( with  four  enclosures) April    15,  1863 

NO.J5. — Affairs  on  the  frontiers  of  Mexico. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward Feb.  26,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero March  10,  1863 

Same  to  same,  (one  enclosure) April  2,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Corwin,  (with  two  enclosures) May  12,  1863 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward Feb.  4,  1864 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero Feb.  9,  1864 

Same  to  same,  (seven  enclosures) March  12,  1864 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward March  15,  1864 

No.  6. — Claims  of  United  States  citizens  against  Mexico. 

Mr.  Romero  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  Mexican  republic Oct.       23,  3862 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  enclosures) Feb.      26,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero M March    9,  1863 

No.  7. —  The  temporary  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Romero  from  Washington. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward April    23,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero April    23,  1863 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward May       8,  1863 

No,  8. — Case  of  the  Mexican  prisoners  conjined  at  Fort  Delaware. 

Mr.  Barreda  to  Mr.  Seward Sept.  18,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Barreda Sept.  21,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Barreda Sept.  24,  1863 

Mr.  Barreda  to  Mr.  Seward Sept.  28,  1863 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  one  enclosure)  Feb.  3 5,  3 864 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  (with  one  enclosure) '. March  15,  1864 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward March  17,  1864 

Same  to  same,  (with  two  enclosures)  April  25,  1864 

Mr.  Seward  to'Mr.  Romero April  28,  1864 

No.  9. — Protection  of  Metican  citizens  in  California. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  four  enclosures) March  12,  1864 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero March  17,  1864 

No.  10.— Case  of  the  Mexican  brig  "Raton  del  Nilo.'" 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  one  enclosure)  Feb.      18,  1864 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero Feb.      20,  1864 

Same  to  same,  (one  enclosure) Feb.      24,  1864 

No.  11. —  The  condition  of  affairs  in  Mexico.  f  •  *  ^ 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  thirteen  enclosures) March  31,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero April     12,  1863 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  one  enclosure)  Nov.       6,  1863 


VI  INDEX. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero Nov.  6,  1863 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  enclosures) Jan.  26,  1864 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  enclosures) Jan.  31,  1864 

Mr.  St-v.T.rd  to  Mr.  Romero Feb.  1 1,  1864 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  enclosures) Feb.  2,  1864 

Same  to  same,  (enclosures) Feb.  20,  1864 

Same  to  same,  (enclosures) Feb.  24,  1864 

Same  to  same,  (enclosures) Feb.  25,  1864 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero March  8,  1864 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  enclosures) Feb.  26,  1864 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  enclosures) Feb.  29.  18W 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero March  2,  1 864 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  ten  enclosures) March  1 ,  1864 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  thirteen  enclosures) March  2,  1 864 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  enclosures) May  10.  !  91 '.  i 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero May  31,  1864 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  enclosures) May  23,  1864 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero May  25,  1864 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  enclosures) May  24.  1864 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero May  25,  1864 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  enclosures ) May  28,  1864 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero June  2,  1 864 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  enclosures) May  31 ,  1864 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero June  15,  1864 

No.  12. — Case  of  the  Mexican  brig  "  Oricnte,"1 

Mr.  Barreda  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  two  enclosures) June  24,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Barreda June  30,  1863 


No.  13.—  Case  of  the  Mexican  Irig  "  Brilliante."  P. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  one  enclosure)  ........................  March    6,  1  862 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  (wTith  two  enclosures)  .............  .  ..........  March  12,  1862 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  two  enclosures)  ......  ,  .................  June     23,  1862 

Mr.  'Seward  to  Mr.  Romero  :..  .........................................  July      14,  1862 

Same  to  same,  (with  one  enclosure)  ....................................  August  4,  1  862 


X".  J4.  —  Correspondence  of  legations  of'i-c.  United  States  on  jMcj'icmi  affairs, 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  one  enclosure)  .........................  Jan.  23,  1863 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward  ............................................  March  11,  1863 

Same  to  same  ........................................................  April  9,  1863 

Same  to  same,  (with  one  enclosure)  ....................................  April  24,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton  ............................................  April  24,  1863 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward  ............................................  April  27,  1863 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward  ............................................  May  1,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton  ............................................  May  8,  1863 

Same  to  same  ............  :  ...........................................  May  18,  1863 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward  ............................................  May  29,  18£3 

Same  to  same  ........................................................  May  29     863 

Same  to  same  ........................................................  June  1  1  ,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton  .............................................  June  J2,  1863 

Same  to  same  ........................................................  June  12,  1863 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  one  enclosure)  .........................  June  17,  1863 

Same  to  same  (with  one  enclosure)  ......................................  June  26,  1863 


INDEX  VII 

Same  to  same July  2,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton.' July  17,  1863 

Same  to  same July  25,  1863 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward Aug.  21,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton Aug.  31,  1863 

Same  to  same Sept.  7,  1863 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward Sept.  14,  1863 

Same  to  same Sept.  16,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton Sept.  21,  1863 

Same  to  same,  (with  three  enclosures) Sept.  22,  1863 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward Sept,  25,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton  Sept.  26,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton Oct.  5,  1863 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward Oct.  9,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton Oct.  10,  1863 

Same  to  same ., Oct.  23,  1863 

Same  to  same Oct.  28,  1863 

Mr.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys  to  Mr.  Mercier Sept.  15,  1863 

Mr.  Pike  to  Mr.  Seward Aug.  19,  1863 

Sametosame Sept.  2,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Pike Sept.  5,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Perry Sept.  21 ,  1863 

Mr.  Motley  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  one  enclosure) Aug.  17,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Motley Sept.  11,  1863 

Same  to  same Sept.  26,  1863 

Same  to  same Oct.  9,  1863 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Nelson June  19,  1862 

Mr.  Nelson  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  one  enclosure) Sept,  1,  1862 

Mr.  Nelson  to  Mr.  Seward  (with  one  enclosure Sept.  17,  1862 

Mr.  ThayertoMr.  Seward  Jan.  9,  1863 

Same  to  same Jan.  12,  1863 

Same  to  same Jan.  27,  1863 

tiOc 

No.  15. — Suspension  of  trade  icith  Matamoras.  ^^7 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward July  11,  1861 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  (with  two  enclosures) July  17,  1861 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  one  enclosure) July  23,  1861 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  (with  one  enclosure) July  31,  1861 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward Aug.  1,  1861 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  one  enclosure) Sept.  2,  1 861 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  (with  one  enclosure) Sept.  7,  1861 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward Sept.  10,  1861 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero Sept.  13,  1861 


MEXICAN  AFFAIRS. 


No.  1. — Correspondence  of  Mr.  Cor  win,  United  States  minister,  Mexico. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Corwin Nov.  26,1862. 

Mr.  Corwin  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  two  enclosures) Oct.  27, 1862. 

Mr.  Corwin  to  Mr.  Seward Nov.  19, 1862. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Corwin Jan.  2, 1863. 

Mr.  Convin  to  Mr.  Seward ..   Jan.  8,1863. 

Same  to  same Jan.  27, 1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Corwin Feb.  25, 1863. 

Mr.  Corwin  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  ten  enclosures) March  11, 1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Corwin April  18,1863. 

Same  to  same May  22,1863. 

Mr.  Corwin  to  Mr.  Seward April  16, 1863. 

Same  to  same f May  1, 1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Corwin June  8, 1863. 

Same  to  same August  8, 1863. 

Same  to  same,  (with  one  enclosure) Dec.  23,1863. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Corwin. 

No.  61.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  November  26,  1862. 

SIR:  Your  despatch  of  October  27  (No.  34)  has  been  received.  It  presents, 
in  a  very  brief  yet  a  very  comprehensive  way,  the  political  and  military  situa 
tion  of  Mexico. 

Under  date  of  the  24th  instant  I  addressed  you  a  despatch,  (No.  61,)  which 
was  forwarded  by  the  mail  of  yesterday,  and  for  which  you  will  please  con 
sider  the  present  a  substitute,  the  first  of  this  number  having  been  cancelled. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
THOMAS  CORWIN,  Esq. 


Mr.  Corwin  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Extract.] 

No.  34.]  LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

Mexico,  October  27,  1862. 

SIR  :  Since  my  last  despatch,  Buitron,  a  celebrated  robber-chief,  sent  in  his 
adhesion  to  the  government,  and  has  placed  himself  and  about  600  men  under 
the  command  of  the  proper  military  officers  of  the  republic.  General  Comon- 
fort  is  now  here  with  5,000  men,  on  his  march  to  the  main  army  at  Puebla. 
General  Doblado,  late  secretary  of  state,  is  in  Guanajuato  with  about  the  same 
number  of  men,  preparing  to  move  to  Puebla  in  time  to  meet  the  advance  of  the 
French  troops  upon  that  place. 

On  the  20th  of  this  month  congress  was  opened.  The  reply  to  the  Presi 
dent's  speech  pledges  the  hearty  co-operation  of  congress  and  its  constituents 


2  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

in  all  measures  necessary  to  repel  the  invasion  of  the  French.  I  see  no  iridi 
cation  of  a  party  in  this  country  favorable  to  intervention  or  invasion  by  the 
French,  or  any  other  foreign  power. 

The  French  troops  are  now  moving  from  Vera  Cruz  to  this  city,  by  way  of 
Jalapa.  When  all  the  troops  now  here,  and  those  daily  expected,  are  united, 
they  can  present  an  army  of  25,000  men.  Arrivals  of  either  detachments  are 
spoken  of.  If  the  invaders  choose  to  attack  Puebla,  where  the  Mexican  army 
is  strongly  fortified,  about  seventy  miles  from  this  city,  the  battle  there  will,  if 
favorable  to  the  French,  enable  them  to  take  this  city  without  any  doubt.  In 
the  latter  event,  the  government  officials  will  leave  with  the  archives  and  take 
up  a  position  in  some  of  the  states  where  it  will  be  most  difficult  for  a  military 
force  to  march  and  capture  them.  This  state  of  things,  it  is  believed,  will  only 

begin  a  war  of  two  or  three  years'  duration. 

************ 

Your  obedient  servant, 

THOMAS  CORWIN. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  fyc. 


Exhibit  E— Despatch  No,  34. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICO,  October  3,  1862. 

Mr.  MINISTER:  The  undersigned,  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  present  in  the  city  ot 
Mexico,  have  learned  with  regret  of  the  arrest  of  several  foreigners,  to  whom  the  Mexican 
authorities  Lad  given  notice  of  the  order  to  depart  from  the  capital  within  forty-eight  hours, 
with  the  view  of  betaking  themselves  out  of  the  territory  of  the  republic. 

The  undersigned  would  be  pleased  to  believe  that  the  government  will  not  carry  out  a 
measure  so  severe  without  having  evident  proofs  that  these  foreigners  have  committed  hos 
tile  acts  against  the  state,  and  that  their  presence  in  Mexico  offers  a  real  danger. 

They  hope,  therefore,  that  the  government  of  the  republic  will  be  pleased  to  communicate 
to  them  its  tinal  determination,  reserving  to  themselves  the  making  to  it  of  ulterior  and 
essential  communications  with  respect  to  the  same  measure. 

The  undersigned  have  the  honor  to  renew  to  his  excellency  the  minister  of  foreign  rela 
tions  the  assurance  of  their  high  consideration. 

THOMAS  CORWIN, 

E.  E.  Sf  M.  P.  of  the  U.  S.  A. 
E.  D.  WAGNER. 
FR'CO  DE  P.  PASTOR. 
AUGUSTS  V.  KINT  DE  ROODENBECK. 
MANUEL  NICHOLAS  COPANCHO. 
NARCISO  DE  P.  MARTIN. 
His  Excellency  Mr.  JUAN  ANTONIO  DE  LA  FUENTE, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Relations,  8fc.,  Sfc. 


Exhibit  E  2— Despatch  No.  34. 
[Translation.] 

NATIONAL  PALACE, 

Mexico,  October^,  1862. 

The  undersigned,  minister  of  foreign  relations  of  the  Mexican  republic,  has  received  the 
joint  note  which  their  excellencies  the  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps  present  in  the  city  of 
Mexico  have  done  him  the  honor  to  address  to  him  on  this  day,  in  reference  to  the  order 
issued  by  the  government  of  the  president  to  arrest  some  foreigners,  to  make  them  depart 
from  the  capital  within  forty-eight  hours,  and  to  compel  them  to  quit  the  Mexican  territory. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  6 

Their  excellencies  add,  that  they  are  pleased  to  believe  that  the  general  government  will 
not  carry  out  this  determination  without  having  evident  proofs  that  these  foreigners  have 
committed  hostile  acts  against  the  state,  and  that  their  presence  in  Mexico  was  really  danger 
ous.  Finally,  their  excellencies  manifest  the  desire  that  the  government  of  the  republic  may 
communicate  to  them  its  resolution  upon  this  question,  reserving  to  themselves  the  transmis 
sion  to  it  of  their  ulterior  communications,  essentially  connected  with  the  measure  in  ques 
tion. 

The  undersigned,  after  having  received  the  instructions  from  the  president,  hastens  to  reply 
to  the  points  which  he  has  just  stated  in  the  same  terms  employed  by  the  honorable  members 
of  the  diplomatic  corps. 

In  truth,  if  the  government  hesitated  for  a  moment  in  the  full  conviction,  which  it  has,  of 
having  decreed  upon  good  grounds  this  expulsion,  it  would  avoid,  indeed,  the  carrying  of  it 
into  effect ;  in  this  respect  the  joint  note  does  it  justice;  but  the  undersigned  regrets  very 
much  that  the  presumption  of  uprightness  in  the  general  government  should  not  extend  to 
the  time  when  it  thought  proper  to  adopt  the  measure  which  is  referred  to,  but  that  it  should 
only  include  the  interval  which  may  elapse  between  its  adoption  and  its  execution.  And, 
nevertheless,  that  presumption  prima  facie  would  have  been  reasonable,  because  the  opinion 
of  justification  is  so  in  the  resolutions  which  a  legitimate  authority  takes  in  exercising  its 
powers,  until  it  is  proved  otherwise.  But  the  undersigned -would  persuade  himself  that  the 
omission,  to  which  he  has  just  referred,  was  not  a  deliberate  one. 

Recurring  to  the  essential  point  of  this  affair,  the  undersigned  must  repeat  in  this  note 
what  he  has  already  had  the  honor  of  saying  verbally  to  some  of  the  messieurs  th3  ministers 
who  have  conferred  with  him  privately  and  confidentially  upon  this  affair,  to  wit,  that  the 
federal  government,  with  good  data  examined  with  mature  and  calm  deliberation,  has  entirely 
satisfied  itself  that  the  foreigners  in  question  were  violating,  by  their  conduct,  the  neutrality 
to  which  they  were  subject,  and  that,  for  this  reason,  their  residence  in  the  country  com- 
promitted  seriously  the  public  tranquillity,  and  even  with  some  danger  to  their  own  persons. 

By  the  constitution  and  laws  of  Mexico,  the  federal  government  is  invested,  at  all  times, 
with  the  authority  of  issuing  a  passport  to,  and  to  cause  to  leave  the  national  territory,  any 
foreigner  not  naturalized,  whose  continued  residence  it  may  deem  prejudicial  to  the  public 
order.  This  right  of  the  government  was  of  itself  a  duty  in  the  present  very  critical  situa 
tion.  The  action  of  the  government  had  to  be  as  prompt  as  the  circumstances  in  which  the 
republic  finds  itself  are  threatening,  and  repressing  these  excesses  with  measures  proper  even 
of  the  normal  times,  the  government  of  the  president  has  desired  to  show  once  more,  as  on 
so  many  others,  that  it  exercises  with  moderation  the  right  of  the  national  defence,  although 
there  is  being  waged  against  Mexico  a  war  equally  unjust  in  its  causes,  as  in  its  means  and 
ends. 

Thus,  therefore,  the  definitive  resolution  of  the  government  is,  to  carry  into  operation  the 
measure  to  which  the  honorable  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps  refer. 

The  undersigned  takes  pleasure  in  reiterating  to  their  excellencies  the  assurances  of  his 
high  consideration. 

JUAN  ANTONIO  DE  LA  FUENTE. 

His  Excellency  Mr.  THOMAS  CORWIN, 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary 

of  the  U.  S.  of  America,  Dean  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps. 


Mr.  Corwin  to  Mr.  Seicard. 
[Extract.] 

No.  36.]  LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Mexico,  November  19,  1862. 

SIR:  #*##**#*#  #  #  jt 
There  are  now  about  42,000  French  troops  in  Mexico.  These  are  on  their 
march  from  the  Gulf  coast  to  Puebla  by  two  routes — one  division  by  Jalapa,  the 
other  by  Orizaba.  It  is,  doubtless,  their  intention  to  concentrate  their  main 
army  at  the  siege  of  Puebla.  This  latter  is  a  strongly  fortified  city,  about 
seventy  miles  from  this  city,  and  on  the  direct  route  from  this  to  Vera  Cruz. 
Military  men  suppose  that  the  superior  guns  and  engineering  skill  of  the  French 
will  enable  them  to  take  Puebla.  If  this  opinion  shall  be  verified,  then  it  is,  I 
think,  quite  certain  that  this  city  will  be  quickly  and  easily  captured,  though 
every  effort  possible  to  a  government  so  much  in  want  of  means  as  Mexico  is 
now  making  to  defend  this  capital.  When  the  French  army  shall  be  in  posses- 


4  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

sion  of  this  city,  and  command  the  entire  road  to  Vera  Cruz,  I  see  no  possibility 
of  ending  the  war  for  one  or  two  years,  unless  the  French  choose  to  treat  with 
the  present  government.  Mexico  will  obstinately  adhere  to  her  present  position. 

Within  the  last  two  weeks  all  intercourse  between  the  Gulf  and  this  city  is 
forbidden  by  a  decree  of  the  supreme  government,  so  that  this  despatch  will  go 
to  Acapulco,  on  the  Pacific,  and  from  thence  to  New  York  by  way  of  Panama. 

I  must  beg  the  department  hereafter  (and  until  this  decree  shall  be  revoked, 
or  the  route  to  Vera  Cruz  opened  by  the  French)  to  send  duplicate  despatches — 
one  by  way  of  Havana  and  Vera  Cruz,  and  the  other  by  way  of  Panama  and 

Acapulco  to  this  city. 

*          *         *         *         *          *****          ** 

Your  obedient  servant, 

THOS.  C^RWIN. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  Sfc.,  Sfc. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Corwin. 

No.  64.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  January  2,  1863. 

SIR:  Your  despatch  of  November  19  (No.  36)  has  been  received.  The  infor 
mation  which  it  gives,  concerning  the  military  situation  in  Mexico,  agrees  with 
the  intelligence  we  obtain  through  the  press,  and,  as  I  think,  with  the  under 
standing  of  that  subject  that  is  now  accepted  in  Europe. 

Affairs  have  remained  unchanged,  but  not  without  prospect  of  change  and 
improvement.  For  the  moment,  two  opposing  armies  seem  to  be  fixed  on  the 
banks  of  the  Rappahannock.  There  will  be,  before  long,  a  change  there.  Our 
iron-clad  fleet  is  at  last  afloat,  and  it  will,  I  think,  be  heard  from  soon.  Our 
two  western  armies,  as  well  as  that  of  General  Banks,  at  New  Orleans,  are  be 
coming  active. 

The  proclamation  of  the  President  adds  a  new  and  important  element  to  the 
war.  Its  probable  results  are  doubtless  exaggerated  by  one  portion  of  the  peo 
ple,  but  not  more  than  they  are  underestimated  by  another.  Assuming,  as  I 
believe,  its  policy  to  be  an  unchangeable  one,  it  is  not  at  all  to  be  doubted  that, 
sooner  or  later,  it  will  find  and  reach  a  weakness  in  every  nook  and  corner  of 
the  insurrectionary  region.  The  very  violence  with  which  it  will  probably  be 
met  will,  after  a  little,  increase  its  efficiency. 

I  refrain  from  giving  you  information  concerning  the  changing  aspect  of  our 
foreign  relations,  because  there  is  no  certainty  that,  in  the  present  condition  of 
communication  between  this  capital  and  the  one  in  which  you  reside,  my  com 
munications  would  be  safe  from  visitation.  I  must  be  content,  therefore,  with 
saying  that  there  is  a  manifest  improvement  of  temper  in  Europe  in  regard  to 
our  unhappy  controversy,  and  that  with  success  of  our  armies,  which  may  be 
reasonably  expected,  we  shall  probably  encounter  no  foreign  disturbance. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

THOMAS  CORWIN,  Esq. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 


Mr.  Corwin  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Extract.] 

No.  37.]  /         LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Mexico,  January  8,  1863. 

SIR  :  No  act  of  the  French  government  or  troops  has  been  known  here,  since 
my  last  despatch,  whereby  it  can  be  certainly  known  what  the  ultimate  designs 
of  the  Emperor  are  towards  Mexico. 

The  French  forces  are  moving  towards  Puebla,  on  the  two  lines  of  Jalapa  and 
Orizaba.  It  is  now  quite  certain  that  they  will  attack  Puebla  before  they 
inarch  upon  the  capital.  The  Mexican  officers  here  express  the  opinion  that 
Puebla  cannot  be  taken  by  the  present  force  moving  against  it,  while  it  is  cer 
tain  that  the  tried  and  experienced  commander  of  the  French  army,  being  well 
informed  as  to  the  defences  of  the  place,  has  little,  if  any,  doubt  of  success. 

THOMAS  CORWIN. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  Sfc. 


Mr.  Corwin  to  Mr.  Seward. 

No.  38.]  LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

Mexico,  January  27,  1863. 

SIR  :  Since  the  date  of  my  last  despatch  the  French  forces  have  made  a  for 
ward  movement.  It  is  said  they  have  a  large  train  of  siege  guns  for  the  purpose 
of  bombarding  Fuebla.  They  are  now  within  about  thirty  miles  of  the  latter 
city.  Puebla  is  said  to  be  strongly  fortified,  and  is  defended  by  about  20,000 
men.  We  are  led  to  suppose  that  General  Forey  is,  in  his  own  opinion,  quite 
sure  of  success,  since  he  proceeds  with  great  caution,  and  so  slowly,  that  some 
have  supposed  he  wishes  to  reach  this  city  without  a  decisive  conflict  with  the 
Mexican  troops. 

I  have  been  told  that  the  government  here  have  received  information,  official 
or  otherwise,  to  the  effect  that  our  government  has  permitted  the  French  to 
purchase  mules  and  wagons  for  the  use  of  their  campaign  here,  and  has  denied 
to  Mexico  a  like  privilege.  I  have  made  no  inquiry  of  the  government  here 
touching  this  rumor,  nor  has  anything  been  said  about  it  by  the  secretary  of  for 
eign  affairs  to  me.  It  would  be  very  necessary,  if  anything  of  this  kind  has 
been  agitated  at  Washington,  that  I  should  have  a  copy  of  any  letter  to  Mr. 
Romero  on  that  subject.  The  Mexican  cabinet  are  very  suspicious  of  our  par 
tiality  to  the  French.  I  wish  to  have  in  my  possession,  therefore,  official  infor 
mation,  which  may  give  the  true  state  of  our  dealings  with  both  belligerents. 
Your  obedient  servant, 

THOMAS  CORWIN. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  $c. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Corwin. 

No.  68.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  February  25,  1863. 

SIR:  Your  despatch  of  the  27th  ultimo  (No.  38)  has  been  received. 

The  printed  document  herewith  enclosed,  Senate  Executive  No.  24,  of  the 
present  session,  contains  correpondence  upon  the  subject  of  the  purchase  in  the 


6  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

United  Slates  of  munitions  of  war  by  the  belligerents  in  Mexico,  which  will 
Correctly  inform  you  of  the  position  taken  by  this  government. 

Besides  the  information  thus  disclosed,  it  is  understood  that  the  Secretary  of 
War  has  since  placed  such  a  construction  upon  the  executive  order  as  to  make 
it  applicable  to  certain  articles  much  needed  by  the  French  in  the  prosecution  of 
their  hostilities  in  Mexico.  » 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
THOMAS  CORWIX,  Esq. 


Mr.  Corwin  to  Mr.  Seward. 

No.  39.]  LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Mexico,  March  11,  1863. 

.SiR:  I  have  received  your  despatch  No.  63,  under  date  of  December  19, 
1862,  accompanied  by  copies  of  the  note  of  Mr.  Romero,  charge  d'affaires  for 
Mexico,  dated  December  10,  1862,  and  your  note  in  reply,  dated  December  15, 
1862,  copies  of  which,  agreeably  to  your  instructions,  I  have  communicated  to 
his  excellency  Mr.  Fuente,  secretary  of  foreign  affairs  for  Mexico. 

The  correspondence  between  Mr.  Romero  and  the  United  States,  concerning 
the  exportation  of  arms  by  Mexico,  and  that  of  wagons  and  mules  from  New 
York  by  French  agents,  for  the  use  of  the  French  army  in  Mexico,  had,  as  I 
am  informed,  been  transmitted  to  the  state  department  of  Mexico  some  time  be 
fore  the  receipt  of  your  despatch  of  December  19,  18G2. 

This  correspondence  and  the  decision  of  the  American  government  on  the 
points  it  involves  has,  I  am  sure,  caused  quite  an  unfriendly  feeling  in  the 
minds  of  the  Mexican  cabinet  towards  the  United  States.  The  decision  of  our 
government  is  regarded  here  in  the  very  lignt  in  which  Mr.  Romero  has  en 
deavored  to  place  it — that,  is,  as  simply  denying  to  Mexico  rights  which  we 
concede  to  France ;  and  from  this  postulate  they  easily  reach  the  conclusion 
that  our  government  has  disregarded,  to  the  prejudice  of  Mexico,  those  obliga 
tions  which  international  law  imposes  upon  neutral  powers.  However  erroneous 
this  view  may  be,  I  have  no  reason  to  expect  that  it  will  be  changed.  I  have 
had  no  conference  with  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  on  the  subject,  nor  has  he 
named  it  to  me,  either  verbally  or  by  written  communication.  As  I  regard  your 
note  to  Mr.  Romero  as  presenting  all  the  reasons  for  the  course  our  government 
has  adopted,  1  shall  not,  of  course,  seek  to  transfer  the  controversy  from  Wash 
ington  to  this  city,  but  shall  use  all  proper  means,  on  proper  occasions,  to  sat 
isfy  the  Mexican  authorities  of  the  propriety  of  the  cqurse  my  government  has 
deemed  it  proper  to  take. 

On  the  9th  day  of  February  the  Prussian  minister,  being  about  to  leave 
Mexico,  addressed  to  me  a  note,  a  copy  of  which  I  transmit  herewith,  requesting 
me  to  assume  the  protection  of  all  French,  Spanish,  Prussian  and  Belgian  sub 
jects  residing  in  Mexico. 

On  the  withdrawal  of  the  French  legation  from  Mexico,  the  duty  of  protecting 
the  foreigners  above  named  was  committed  to  Baron  Wagner,  the  Prussian 
minister.  I  thought  proper,  at  that  time,  to  decline  the  office  and  duties  pro 
posed,  for  the  reasons  assigned  in  my  note  to  the  Prussian  minister  under  date 
of  the  16th  of  February,  a  copy  of  which  I  send  you  herewith. 

On  the  18th  day  of  February  I  received  from  Baron  Wagner  another  note, 
a  copy  of  which  1  also  enclose,  proposing  to  commit  the  protection  of  the  resi 
dent  subjects  of  the  four  pQwers  named  above  to  the  whole  foreign  diplomatic 
corps  remaining  here.  This  note  was  dated  the  day  before  the  departure  of 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  7 

Baron  Wagner,  and  was  not  received  by  me  until  the  next  morning,  and  afte 
he  had  left  the  city.  I  deemed  it  proper,  in  compliance  with  Jiis  request,  to  in 
form  the  other  members  of  the  corps  now  here  of  it,  and  ask  their  opinion  as 
to  the  course  proper  to  be  adopted  by  us.  I  have  received  notes  on  the  sub 
ject  from  the  diplomatic  representatives  of  the  republics  of  Ecuador  and  Peru, 
and  also  from  the  consul  general  of  Venezuela,  copies  of  which  are  herewith 
transmitted.  It  will  be  observed  that,  at  this  time,  no  European  power  is  rep 
resented  here  by  any  agent  above  the  rank  of  consul,  nor  have  any  of  the  Ameri 
can  republics  a  diplomatic  representative  here,  except  the  United  States  and 
the  three  governments  named  above.  Whilst  I  entertain  no  doubt  that  I  might 
have  accepted  the  powers  proposed  to  be  conferred  upon  me  by  the  Prussian 
minister,  without  giving  any  just  cause  of  offence  to  the  government  of  Mexico, 
I  thought  such  a  step  on  my  part  imprudent,  under  existing  circumstances,  un 
less  the  request  to  do  so  should  first  be  made,  through  the  proper  channels,  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  his  approval  obtained  and  transmitted 
to  me ;  I  also  entertain  as  little  doubt  that  the  diplomatic  corps,  collectively,  or 
any  one  of  them,  might,  in  a  proper  case,  and  in  a  respectful  manner,  interpose 
to  protect  the  rights  of  any  foreigner,  without  any  express  power  given  by  the 
government  to  whom  the  allegiance  of  such  foreigner  might  be  due.  This,  it 
seems  to  me,  would  be  my  duty,  since  the  same  course  of  proceeding  pursued 
towards  a  Prussian  or  Belgian  subject  resident  here  would,  under  like  circum 
stances,  be  adopted  towards  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  residing  here. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  copy  of  a  letter  from  the  state  department  of  Mexico, 
under  date  of  December  4,  1861,  which  is  forwarded  with  this  despatch,  that 
when  the  French  minister,  on  withdrawal  from  Mexico,  committed  the  protec 
tion  of  the  French  and  Spanish  subjects  in  Mexico  to  the  minister  of  Prussia, 
the  Mexican  government  accepted  and  approved  that  arrangement.  It  is  notori 
ous  that  the  Prussian  minister  has  exercised  that  power,  without  objection,  up 
to  the  time  of  his  withdrawing  the  Prussian  legation,  on  the  18th  of  February, 
1863. 

On  the  24th  of  February,  1863,  and  before  I  had  informed  the  Mexican 
government  of  the  correspondence  of  Baron  Wagner  with  myself  and  the  diplo 
matic  corps,  I  received  the  note,  a  copy  of  which  is  enclosed,  from  Mr.  Fuente. 
To  this  I  have,  on  the  7th  day  of  March,  1863,  given  a  reply,  a  copy  of  which 
is  herewith  transmitted.  I  shall  act  in  conformity  with  the  principles  laid  down 
in  that  note  till  otherwise  instructed.  I  beg  the  early  attention  of  the  State 
Department  to  this  whole  subject.  I  have  stated  the  reasons  by  which  I  was 
guided  in  declining  the  protection  of  the  subjects  of  the  four  powers,  as  pro 
posed  by  the  Prussian  minister,  and  have  forwarded  the  opinions  of  the  several 
members  of  the  diplomatic  corps  respecting  the  collective  protection  of  those 
subjects,  as  required  by  the  note  of  Mr.  Wagner  of  the  17th  of  February,  1863, 
upon  all  of  which  I  ask  the  opinion  of  the  President,  and  such  instructions 
as  may  be  deemed  necessary  for  the  regulation  of  my  future  action. 

The  French  forces  are  concentrated  at  a  point  about  five  miles  from  Puebla, 
but  as  late  as  yesterday  had  made  no  attack  upon  that  city,  nor  had  they  made 
any  forward  movement  in  the  direction  of  this  place.  1  think,  from  all  I  can 
learn,  that  the  Mexican  army  is  qu'.ta  confident  of  victory  should  Puebla  be 
attacked. 

I  am  your  obedient  servant, 

THOMAS  CORWIN. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  8fc.,  fyc.,  Sfc. 


8  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

y- 

[  Exhibit  accompanying  despatch  No.  39.] 

MARCH  11,  18G3. 
A. 

1.  Note  of  Prussian  minister,  requesting  protection  of  the  American  legation  for  Prussia, 
French,  Spanish,  and  Belgian  subjects  resident  in  Mexico. 

2.  Reply  to  the  same. 

3.  Note  of  the  Prussian  minister,  placing  said  subjects  under  the  protection  of  the  diplo 
matic  corps  generally,  and  the  American  minister,  as  its  dean,  particularly. 

4.  Note  of  American  minister,  calling  a  meeting  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  to  consider  the 
request  of  the  Prussian  minister. 

5.  Reply  of  charge  d'affaires  of  Peru. 

6.  Reply  of  charg6  d'affaires  of  Ecuador. 

7.  Reply  of  the  consul  and  confidential  agent  of  Venezuela. 

B. 

1.  Communication  from  minister  of  foreign  affairs  of  Mexico,   protesting  against  the 
acceptance  of  the  powers  proposed  to  be  conferred  by  the  Prussian  minister  upon  the  diplo 
matic  corps. 

2.  Reply  of  the  American  minister. 

C. 

Reply  of  the  official  mayor  of  the  department  of  foreign  affairs  of  Mexico  to  note  of  the 
Prussian  minister,  informing  the  department  that  he  had  taken  under  his  protection  the 
French,  Spanish,  Italian,  and  Swiss  subjects,  resident  in  Mexico. 


A  1,  No.  39. 
Mr.  Wagner  to  Mr.  Concin. 

PRUSSIAN  LEGATION,  Mexico,  February  9,  1863. 

SIR  :  Having  solicited  a  temporary  leave  of  absence,  and  my  government  having  granted 
me  permission  to  leave  Mexico,  I  intend  to  start  in  a  few  days  for  Berlin. 

Your  excellency  is  aware  that  the  protection  not  only  of  the  German,  but  also  of  the  French, 
Spanish,  and  Belgian  subjects,  has  been  confided  to  this  legation. 

I  trust  that  during  my  absence  the  Prussian,  Spanish,  and  Belgian  consular  authorities 
will  be  able  to  afford  all  due  protection  to  their  respective  countrymen,  as  they  have  already 
done  on  many  occasions  ;  and  whilst  I  hope  that  their  intercession  in  favor  of  the  interests 
confided  to  them  will  avoid  the  necessity  of  often  troubling  your  excellency,  still  I  beg,  at 
the  same  time,  to  take  the  liberty  of  recommending  them,  in  case  of  need,  to  the  kind  and 
more  effective  protection  of  the  United  States  legation,  confident,  as  I  am,  that  your  excel 
lency  will  be  pleased  to  grant  to  the  above-mentioned  consulates,  as  well  as  to  the  French 
residents  who  may  appeal  to  your  excellency,  such  aid  and  assistance  as  may  be  possible 
under  the  present  critical  circumstances. 

The  French  consul,  M.  Morineau,  having  left  Mexico  with  the  imperial  legation,  M.  Farine 
had  previously  been  appointed  his  substitute,  in  order  to  take  charge  of  the  consular  archives 
and  to  keep  the  civil  register  of  marriages,  births,  &c.,  &c.  The  Mexican  government  had, 
at  the  time,  been  informed  of  this  circumstance. 

I  have  the  honor  to  remain,  with  the  highest  consideration,  sir,  your  excellency's  most 
obedient,  humble  servant, 

E.  DE  WAGNER. 

Hon.  THOMAS  CORWIN,  8fc.,  Sfc. 


A  2,  No.  39. 

Mr.  Corwin  to  Mr.  Wagner. 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Mexico,  February  16,  1863. 

SIR:  The  undersigned  has  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  excellency's  note, 
under  date  of  the  9th  instant,  asking  the  undersigned  to  extend  the  diplomatic  protection  of  the 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  9 

Uuited  States  government  to  the  French,  Prussian,  Spanish,  and  Belgian  subjects  resident  in 
Mexico.  The  undersigned  has  given  to  the  subject  of  your  excellency's  request  his  earnest 
attention,  and  is  compelled,  under  existing  circumstances,  to  decline  the  acceptance  of  the 
duties  and  responsibilities  which  a  compliance  with  your  excellency's  request  would  impose 
upon  him.  Were  such  request  addressed  to  the  cabinet  at  Washington,  and  its  objects  ap 
proved,  and  proper  instructions  given  to  the  undersigned,  he  should  then,  and  only  then, 
deem  it  proper  for  him,  in  obedience  to  such  instructions,  to  discharge,  to  the  best  of  his 
ability,  the  duties  they  might  impose.  The  undersigned  has  not,  at  this  time  and  place,  the 
means  of  searching  for  precedents,  but  his  memory  furnishes  him  with  no  instance  where  a 
minister  of  the  United  States  has,  under  circumstances  like  the  present,  assumed  to  extend 
diplomatic  protection  to  foreign  citizens,  resident  within  the  territories  of  the  government  to 
which  he  is  accredited,  without  express  instructions  to  do  so  from  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  In  regard  to  the  proposed  protection  of  the  subjects  of  his  Imperial  Majesty  the  Em 
peror  of  the  French,  there  are  reasons  for  the  course  the  undersigned  has  adopted,  which  might 
not  apply  with  equal  force  to  the  other  nationalities  specified  in  your  excellency's  note.  The 
French  empire  and  Mexico  are  at  war.  Between  these  two  belligerent  powers  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  occupies  a  purely  neutral  position.  Should  the  government  of  the 
United  States  assume  the  right  and  duty  of  protecting  the  subjects  of  one  of  the  belligerent 
powers  against  the  supposed  wrongs  to  be  inflicted  upon  them  by  the  government  of  the  other, 
it  is  easy  to  foresee  that  cases  might  arise  which  would  tend  strongly  to  disturb  these  peace 
ful  relations  with  one  or  both  the  belligerents,  which  it  is  the  object  of  perfect  neutrality  to 
preserve  inviolate. 

I  have  the  honor,  also,  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  excellency's  note  of  the  13th 
instant,  relating  to  this  subject,  and  enclosing  correspondence  relating  thereto  between  your 
excellency  and  the  minister  of  foreign  relations  for  Mexico.  The  undersigned  finds  nothing 
in  this  last  note  and  accompanying  papers  which,  in  his  judgment,  should  affect  the  conclu 
sion  which  he  had  come  to  in  relation  to  the  proposition  contained  in  your  excellency's  note 
of  the  9th  instant. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  (probably  the  last  that  may  ever  occur)  occasion  to  renew  to  your 
excellency  the  assurance  of  my  esteem. 

THOMAS  CORWIN. 

His  Excellency  BARON  E.  D.  WAGNER, 

Minister  of  Prussia,  Mexico. 


A  3,  No.  39. 

[Translation.] 


MEXICO,  February  17,  1863. 


refuse 
Spanish, 

these  foreigners  under  the  friendly  protection  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  convinced  that  all  it's 
members,  were  it  only  from  a  sense  of  humanity,  would  not  refuse,  under  the  grave  circum 
stances  which  may  present  themselves,  their  aid  and  good  offices  to  the  many  foreigners  whose 
governments  have  not  at  this  time  representatives  in  Mexico. 

I  pray  your  excellency  will  have  the  kindness  to  inform  the  representatives  of  the  other 
American  republics,  who  are  now  at  this  capital,  of  the  very  pressing  instances  I  make  to  the 
diplomatic  corps,  and  each  of  its  members  in  particular,  to  lend  their  assistance  in  favoring  pro 
tection  to  foreigners  who  may  address  them  directly,  or  to  your  excellency  as  their  dean. 

As  neither  your  excellency  nor  your  colleagues  will  certainly  ever  ask  anything  unjust  from 
the  Mexican  government,  the  latter  has  as  much  interest  as  the  other  American  States,  that 
it  cannot  be  said  that  foreigners  are  intentionally  abandoned  to  the  discretion  of  the  govern 
ment,  and  without  any  diplomatic  protection.  I  appeal,  then,  once  more  with  earnestness, 
and  in  the  most  formal  manner,  to  the  feelings  of  humanity  of  your  excellency,  and  of  the 
other  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  in  recommending  the  foreigners  above  mentioned  to 
their  special  protection. 

Please  accept,  Mr.  Envoy,  the  assurance  of  my  high  consideration, 

E.  DE  WAGNER. 

Hon.  THOMAS  CORWIN, 

Knvoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister 

Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and 

Dean  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  in  Mexico. 


10  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


A  4,  No.  39. 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Mexico,  February  2},  1863. 

MY  DEAR  COLLEAGUE :  On  the  day  of  the  departure  of  the  Prussian  minister,  but  after  he 
had  left  the  city,  I  received  from  him  a  note,  a  copy  of  which  I  enclose  herewith. 

Iii  compliance  with  the  request  contained  in  the  note  of  the  Prussian  minister,  I  have  to  ask 
that  you  will  meet  the  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  now  in  this  city,  at  my  rooms,  (Calle 
Donceles,  No.  23,)  on  Monday,  the  23d  instant,  at  12  o'clock  HI.,  there  and  then  to  take  into 
consideration  the  request  contained  in  Mr.  Wagner's  note. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  friend  and  colleague, 

THOMAS  CORWIN. 


A  5,  No.  39. 

[Translation.] 

MEXICO,  February  21,  1863. 

MY  WORTHY  COLLEAGUE  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  esteemed  communica 
tion,  by  which  you  invite  me  to  assist  at  a  meeting  of  the  diplomatic  corps  which  is  to  take 
place  at  the  United  States  legation  on  Monday  at  noon. 

I  have  no  certainty  of  being  in  the  city  on  the  day  and  hour  indicated,  because  I  must  go 
to-morrow  into  the  country ;  but  made  aware  of  the  object  of  the  meeting  through  the  de 
spatch  of  the  minister  of  Prussia,  which  you  were  pleased  to  send  me  in  copy,  I  can  make  up 
my  opinion  on  the  matter,  which  is.  that  the  diplomatic  corps,  to  whose  good  offices  the  min 
ister  of  Prussia  has  appealed  in  favor  of  European  subjects  who  are  at  present  without  a  rep 
resentative  in  Mexico,  would  be  able  to  render  purely  friendly  private  services,  in  accordance 
with  the  laws  of  the  republic,  in  cases  in  which,  in  conformity  with  international  law.  diplo 
matic  action  might  be  interposed,  and  especially  when  the  Mexican  government,  by  its  cour 
teous  concessions,  should  accept  such  offices  which  do  not  legitimately  spring  from  the  mis 
sion  of  representatives  of  nations,  to  whom  the  subjects  treated  of  have  no  relations. 

Please  so  expound  my  opinion  to  the  diplomatic  corps,  and  accept  the  assurances  of  con 
sideration  and  respect  which  I  have  the  honor  to  subscribe  myself  your  very  respectful,  hum 
ble  servant, 

MANUAL  NICHOLAS  CORPANCHO. 

His  Excellency  the  Hon.  THOMAS  CORWIN, 

Dean  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps,   8fc.,  8fc.,  Sfc. 


A  6,  No.  39. 

[Translation.] 

MEXICO,  February  24,  1863. 

Mr.  MINISTER  :  As  I  proposed  yesterday,  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  your 
communication,  dated  21st  instant,  in  which  you  are  pleased  to  send  in  copy  that  which  was 
on  the  17th  addressed  to  you  by  his  excellency  Baron  Wagner,  placing,  for  reasons  expressed 
therein,  the  Prussian,  Russian,  French,"  Spanish,  and  Belgian  subjects,  resident  in  Mexico, 
under  the  protection  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  and  of  each  of  its  members. 

Confining  myself,  Mr.  Minister,  to  the  side  note  of  his  excellency  Mr.  Wagner,  I  think  that 
the  respective  consuls  of  the  subjects  to  whom  it  relates  will  suffice  to  protect  the  interests  of 
their  countrymen;  and  for  those  Europeans  who,  by  force  of  circumstances,  find  themselves 
without  representatives,  either  consular  or  diplomatic,  it  is  to  be  expected  that  the  enlightened 
Mexican  cabinet  will  grant  them  the  proper  protection  given  to  every  peaceable  foreigner. 
Moreover,  I  think  I  ought  to  say  to  your  excellency  that  if  any  of  the  first,  as  well  as  the 
second,  should  come  to  me  asking  aid  and  assistance,  I  shall  believe  myself  bound  to  inter 
pose,  as  far  as  might  be  possible,  my  good  and  friendly  offices  with  the  Mexican  executive 
government,  which  I  hope  will  look  with  pleasure  upon  the  frank  statements  I  might  make 
to  it  in  respect  of  peaceful  and  inoffensive  foreigners. 

By  this  occasion  I  have  the  honor  to  repeat  to  your  excellency,  my  colleague,  that  I  am 
your  obedient  servant, 

FRAN'CO  DE  P.  PASTER. 
His  Excellency  THOMAS  CORWIN, 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister 

Plenipotentiary  oftlie  United  States  of  America. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  11 


A  7,  No.  39. 

[Translation.] 

CONSULATE  AND  CONFIDENTIAL  AGENCY  OF  VENEZUELA, 

Tacubaya,  February  27,  1863. 

MY  ESTEEMED  COLLEAGUE  :  In  consequence  of  what  was  agreed  at  the  meeting  we  had 
on  Monday,  the  23d  instant,  to  take  into  consideration  the  contents  of  the  note  dated  the  17th 
last  month,  of  Mr.  Wagner,  minister  of  Prussia,  asking  for  the  protection  of  the  diplomatic 
corps  for  the  foreigners  to  which  the  same  refers,  a  copy  of  which  you  sent  me,  what  was 
stated  by  yourself  in  the  matter,  and  what  was  written  by  the  absentee,  Mr.  Corpancho, 
charge  des  affaires  of  Peru,  and  also  ignorant  of  what  was  written  by  M.  Paster,  represent 
ative  of  Ecuador,  my  opinion  on  the  subject  is  precisely  analogous  with  yours,  and  that 
written  by  the  representative  of  Peru. 

Deign  to  accept  the  assurance  of  my  distinguished  consideration, 

NARCISO  DE  F.  MARTIN. 

Hon.  THOMAS  CORWIN,  8fc.,  &rc.,  8?c. 


B  1,  No.  39. 

[Translation.] 

NATIONAL  PALACE, 

Mexico,  February  24,  1863. 

Mr.  MINISTER :  Upon  leaving  this  capital,  the  Baron  E.  de  Wagner,  minister  resident  of 
his  Majesty  the  King  of  Prussia,  made  known  to  the  government  of  the  federation  that  he  had 
recommended  to  certain  consular  agents  the  protection  of  his  countrymen,  and  other  foreigners 
to  whom  he  had  dispensed  it,  by  special  commission  of  the  respective  governments,  adding 
that  for  extraordinary  cases  he  had  placed  them  under  the  protection  of  the  legation  in  your 
charge,  the  individuals  and  the  consuls  referred  to. 

I  beg  you  will  please  to  see  in  annexed  documents,  No.  1,  the  pretension  of  Mr.  Wagner 


day  of  his  journey 

there  was  received  at  the  department  the  note  which  is  translated  in  document  No.  3 — a  note 
in  which  Mr.  Wagner,  carrying  to  a  high  pitch  his  contempt  of  rules,  usages  and  conven 
tionalities,  abandons  the  idea  of  all  special  protection,  in  order  to  place  under  the  safeguard 
of  the  diplomatic  corps  and  of  the  people  of  Mexico  the  foreigners  who  were  under  the  pro 
tection  of  the  legation  of  Prussia. 

Doubtless  it  is  unnecessary  to  controvert  the  irregular  commission  which  at  the  outset  that 
minister  had  confided  to  you  from  the  moment  that  commission  was  not  accepted  by  you, 
nor  adhered  to  by  the  agent  who  had  it  to  confer ;  and  although,  in  fact,  he  may  have  trans 
ferred  it  to  the  diplomatic  corps,  I  cannot  for  a  single  instant  apprehend  it  would  attain  bet 
ter  issue,  being,  as  it  in  truth  is,  improper,  offensive  to  the  government  of  Mexico^  and  in 
every  view  impracticable.  I  entertain  a  sincere  and  well-founded  confidence  that  your  ex 
cellency  will  not  lend  your  respected  aid  in  giving  authority  to  proceedings  of  this  nature. 
But  my  duty  and  the  orders  of  the  president  oblige  me  also  to  declare  that  in  order  to  protect 
Prussian  subjects,  and  other  foreigners,  to  whom  the  Baron  Wagner  alludes  in  his  said  com 
munications,  the  government  of  the  republic  will  invariably  maintain  what  I  had  the  honor 
to  state  to  the  minister  himself  in  the  official  letter  I  addressed  to  him,  under  date  12th  of  the 
current  mouth.  Until  these  affairs  be  not  arranged  in  some  other  way,  Math  the  approval  of 
the  governments  which  are  at  peace  with  Mexico,  the  protection  of  which  I  speak  has  in  its 
favor  the  spirit  of  the  federal  government,  and  means  adequate  to  make  it  effectual  in  con 
formity  with  international  law  and  our  own  laws. 

In  confiding  foreigners,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  loyalty  and  honor  of  the  people  of  Mexico, 
Mr.  Wagner  does  this  nation  the  justice  which  he  has  so  often  denied  to  it ;  but  Mexico  does 
not  need  this  testimony,  nor  accept  it,  when  presented  in  derogation  of  the  government  she 
has  chosen  as  the  depository  of  her  confidence  and  authority,  because  this  government,  which 
he  affects  to  cast  into  oblivion,  is  the  true  representative  of  the  nation  in  her  foreign  relations  ; 
because  on  all  sides  it  would  be  reputed  a  rude  violation  of  the  law  of  nations  should  a  foreign 
minister  make  an  innovation  to  the  people,  and  not  to  the  government  near  Avhich  he  should 
be  accredited  ;  and,  in  fine,  because  this  omission,  in  the  present  case,  would  suggest  the  of 
fensive  presumption  that  the  federal  government  does  not  look  to  the  protection  of  foreigners, 
when  the  whole  world  inclusive  is  spectator  to  the  contrary.  Mr.  Wagner,  who  in  his  note 
of  the  9th  instant,  after  indicating  what  he  had  resolved  to  do  to  assure  the  protection  of  Prus 
sian  subjects  and  other  foreigners,  said  to  me  literally  these  words,  "I  flatter  myself  with  the 


12  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS 

hope  that  this  measure  will  be  no  more  than  a  simple  formality,  and  that  the  foreigners  re 
ferred  to,  who  may  have  recourse  to  the  good  disposition  of  your  department,  will  have  se 
cured  to  them  the  direct  protection  of  your  excellency." 

I  avail  of  the  occasion  to  renew  to  your  excellency  the  assurances  of  my  most  distinguished 
consideration. 

JA.  DE  LA  FUENTE. 
His  Excellency  THOMAS  CORWIN, 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister 

Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  of  America. 


B  2,  No.  39. 
Mr.  Corwin  to  Mr.  Fuente. 

LEGATION  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Mexico,  March7,  1863. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  24th  of  February, 
1863,  communicating  the  substance  of  a  correspondence  between  your  excellency  and  Mr. 
Wagner  touching  the  proposed  protection  of  Belgian,  French,  Prussian,  and  Spanish  sub 
jects,  resident  in  Mexico,  by  the  diplomatic  corps  now  in  this  city. 

I  declined  the  protection  of  those  subjects,  when  proposed  to  be  clothed  with  that  power  by 
Mr.  Wagner,  not,  however,  because  I  conceived  my  assumption  of  such  powers  would  give 
any  just  cause  of  complaint  to  the  supreme  government  of  Mexico,  but  on  the  ground  that  in 
the  present  relations  of  Mexico  with  European  powers,  and  also  with  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  I  deemed  it  proper  that  the  subject  should  be  first  submitted  to  the  cabinet  at 
Washington,  and  its  instructions  thereupon  forwarded  to  me. 

I  have  deemed  it  my  duty  to  inform  the  other  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps  of  the  request 
of  Mr.  Wagner.  I  have  received  from  each  of  them  their  opinions  on  the  subject,  copies  of 
which  are  accompanied  herewith. 

I  deem  it  due  to  that  candor  which  should  characterize  the  intercourse  between  the  republics 
of  Mexico  and  the  United  States  to  state  to  your  excellency  the  course  I  deem  it  my  duty  to 
pursue  on  this  subject  until  specific  instructions  shall  be  received  by  me  from  my  govern 
ment. 

If  the  action  of  the  supreme  government  of  Mexico  should  at  any  time  be  exerted  upon 
any  foreign  subject  or  citizen  to  such  extent  as  to  place  his  life,  liberty  or  property  in  danger, 
and  where  such  action  would,  with  equal  propriety,  be  applied,  under  like  circumstances,  to 
an  American  citizen,  I  shall,  if  any  such  case  unhappily  arises,  deem  it  my  duty  to  offer  to 
the  supreme  government  such  expostulation  as,  in  my  iudgnient,  the  case  may  seein  to  re 
quire.  This  I  shall  do,  with  the  most  perfect  respect  for  the  just  powers  of  the  supreme  gov 
ernment  of  Mexico,  and  with  a  well-founded  confidence  in  its  upright  motives,  and  its  desire 
to  do  justice  to  all  foreigners,  with  such  moderation  as  may  consist  with  self-respect  and  the 
dignity  and  safety  of  the  Mexican  republic.  In  adopting  this  course,  I  am  sure  your  ex 
cellency  will  perceive  that  I  am  making  no  innovation  upon  the  modern  usage  of  civilized 
nations,  nor  doing  anything  which  should  interrupt  the  friendly  relations  which  my  govern 
ment  so  earnestly  desires  to  preserve  with  the  Mexican  republic. 

I  take  this  occasion  to  renew  to  your  excellency  the  assurance  of  my  distinguished  regard. 

THOS.  COKWIN. 

His  Excellency  Senor  A.  DE  LA  FUENTE,  fa.,  fa.,  8fc.,  Mexico. 


C,  No.  39. 

(  / 

[Translation.] 
The  Chief  Clerk,  Mexico,  to  Baron  Wagner. 

NATIONAL  PALACE, 

Mexico,  December  4.  1862. 

The  undersigned,  chief  clerk  of  the  department  of  foreign  relations,  in  charge  of  the  office, 
has  had  the  honor  to  receive  and  make  report  to  the  first  magistrate  of  the  republic  of  the  note 
of  M.  E.  de  Wagner,  minister  resident  of  his  Majesty  the  King  of  Prussia,  of  to-day's  date,  in 
which  he  is  pleased  to  advise  that  on  parting  with  his  excellency  the  minister  plenipotentiary 
of  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  the  French  he  invited  his  excellency  the  minister  of  Prussia  to 
charge  himself  with  the  protection  of  the  subjects  and  interests  of  his  nation,  as  well  as  those 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  13 

of  the  Spaniards,  Italians,  and  Swiss,  confided  till  now  to  the  French  legation  ;  Mr.  Wanner 
adding1  his  hope  that,  notwithstanding  the  difficult  circumstances  of  the  moment,  those  sub 
jects  and  their  interests  would  he  patronized  by  the  government. 

In  reply,  the  undersigned  must  say  to  his  excellency  that  the  existent  emergencies  do  not 
hinder  the  Mexican  government,  in  conformity  with  its  principles  of  justice,  and  its  sympa 
thies  for  the  civilized  nations  of  Europe,  from  always  watching  over  with  the  greatest  solici 
tude  these  subjects  and  those  interests  confided  to  the  honor  and  hospitality  of  the  Mexican 
natiou  which  distinguishes  and  esteems  peaceable  and  industrious  foreigners,  to  whom  the 
government  has  always  desired  to  extend  and  will  extend  those  guarantees  which  a  civilized 
country  can  offer. 

Upon  this  understanding,  and  in  courteous  observance  of  the  indication  of  Baron  Wagner, 
proper  orders  are  already  issued  to  the  respective  authorities  that,  far  from  foreigners  being 
molested  in  their  persons  or  interests,  they  shall  give  them  every  protection,  hoping  they,  in 
turn,  will  respond  by  their  quietude,  and  neutrality  to  the  decided  resolution  the  government 
holds  that  they  be  respected. 

The  undersigned  profits  by  this  opportunity,  &c. 

JUAN  D.  DIGS  ARIAS. 

His  Excellency  BARON  WAGNER, 

Minister  Rtsidtnt  of  Jus  Majesty  the  King  of  Prussia. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Cor  win. 

No  72.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  April  18,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  submitted  to  the  President  your  very  interesting  despatch  of 
the  llth  of  March,  (No.  39,)  with  its  accompaniments. 

While  the  misapprehension  by  the  government  of  Mexico  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  United  States  in  regard  to  the  question  of  shipments  for  Mexico,  which 
you  describe,  is  regretted  by  the  President,  he  does  not  suffer  himself  to  doubt 
that  it  will  give  way  before  the  clear  explanations  which  have  been  made  upon 
the  subject  to  the  representative  of  Mexico  hererand  of  which  you  have  been 
advised. 

Your  proceedings'with  relation  to  the  request  of  the  late  Prussian  minister  at 
Mexico,  that  you  would  assume  the  protection  of  subjects  of  the  King  of 
Prussia  and  of  other  European  powers  in  that  republic,  during  the  suspension 
of  the  several  European  legations  there,  are  approved  by  the  President.  The 
first  responsibility  of  a  minister  is  to  practice  fidelity  to  the  interests  of  the 
state  whose  credentials  he  bears ;  the  second  is  the  exercise  of  perfect  good 
faith,  respect,  and  courtesy  to  the  government  of  the  country  to  which  he  is 
accredited.  A  minister  is  not  only  at  liberty,  but  he  is  morally  bound,  to  render 
all  the  good  offices  he  can  to  other  powers  and  their  subjects,  consistently  with 
the  discharge  of  those  principal  responsibilities  I  have  described.  But  it  be 
longs  to  the  state  where  the  minister  resides  to  decide,  in  every  case,  in  what 
manner  and  in  what  degree  such  good  offices  shall  be  rendered,  and,  indeed, 
whether  they  shall  be  tolerated  at  all.  No  abridgment  of  this  sovereign  right 
can  be  insisted  upon,  unless,  indeed,  the  government  of  that  state  manifestly  re 
fuses  to  acknowledge  or  to  give  effect  to  some  of  the  entirely  admitted  principles 
of  morality  recognized  as  constituting  the  basis  of  the  laws  of  nature  and  the  law 
of  nations.  Not  only  has  this  government  no  such  complaint  to  make  against 
Mexico,  but,  on  the  contrary,  in  all  its  intercourse  with  that  republic  it  has 
been  impressed  with  the  evidences  of  a  high  degree  of  virtue  and  enlighten 
ment.  That  government  deservedly  enjoys  not  only  the  respect  but  the  good 
wishes,  and,  so  far  as  natural  affections  are  allowable,  the  sympathy  of  the 
United  States  in  its  present  unhappy  embarrassments  with  foreign  powers. 
The  President,  therefore,  remits  you,  for  your  government  in  regard  to  the 
questions  presented,  to  the  rules  you  have  prescribed  to  yourself,  so  long  as 
they  shall  be  satisfactory  to  the  government  of  Mexico. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

THOMAS  CORWIN,  Esq. 


14  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Corwin. 

No.  77.J  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  May  22,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  enclose  herewith  a  copy  of  a  despatch,  dated  the  4th  of  March,  from 
the  United  States  consul  at  Matamoras,  and  a  translation  of  the  order  referred 
to,  which  points  out  the  practical  discrimination  in  favor  of  the  rebels  in  Texas, 
and  of  their  illicit  traffic  across  the  frontier  resulting  from  that  order. 

I  have  to  request  you  to  invite  the  attention  of  the  Mexican  government  to 
this  cause  of  complaint,  and  to  request  the  adoption  of  such  measures  as  will 
correct  the  evil. 

The  attention  of  Rear- Admiral  Farragut  has  been  called  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy  to  the  suggestion  of  Consul  Rice  as  to  the  importance  of  having  a 
vessel-of-war  in  that  quarter. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

THOMAS  CORWIN,  Esq.,  <fc.,  fyc.,  fyc.,  Mexico. 


Mr.  Corwin  to  Mr.  Seward. 

No.  40.]  LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  A.MKRICA, 

Mexico,  April  16,  1863. 

SIR  :  The  American  consul  here  having  a  leave  of  absence,  the  government 
here,  as  a  special  favor,  have  permitted  me  to  send  by  him  despatches  to  my 
government  and  letters  to  my  friends.  He  will  deliver  them  at  Washington. 

Your  despatches  up  to  No.  66  have  been  received.  A  few  days  since  I  had 
an  interview  with  the  Mexican  secretary  of  foreign  relations.  He  expressed 
much  satisfaction  at  having  received  from  Mr.  Romero  a  note  saying  that  no 
.trade  from  the  United  States  would  hereafter  be  permitted,  in  articles  useful  in 
war,  to  either  France  or  Mexico.  This,  I  think,  will  probably  soothe  the  irri 
tation  occasioned  by  the  correspondence  with  Mr.  Romero,  which  you  forwarded 
to  me,  and  which  was  delivered  by  me  to  the  state  department  here. 

The  progress  of  the  French  war  presents  puzzles  to  all  not  in  the  cabinet 
secrets  of  the  Emperor.  It  is  conceded  that  he  wishes  to  take  Puebla.  He  has 
been  before  that  city  just  one  month.  It  has  not  surrendered.  He  has  taken 
Fort  St.  Javier,  said  to  be  the  weakest  of  those  which  protect  the  city,  and, 
from  that  point,  has  made  a  lodgement  within  the  walls,  occupying -six  blocks  in 
that  suburb.  According  to  our  intelligence,  any  attempt  made  to  advance  has 
been  repulsed;  in  one  a  company  of  zouaves  was  captured  by  the  Mexican 
forces. 

If  the  French  wish  to  capture  Puebla,  the  reason  why  it  is  not  done  seems  to 
be  because,  with  their  present  force,  they  cannot.  Re-enforcements  from  France, 
to  the  number  of  3,000  or  4,000,  lately  landed  at  Vera  Cruz,  are  now  on  their 
march  to  join  the  army  at  Puebla.  It  is  surmised  that  General  Forey  waits  for 
the  arrival  of  these  troops,  and  will,  when  they  reach  him,  make  a  more  vigor 
ous  assault. 

The  Mexican  people  greedily  devour  every  article  of  news  from  Europe. 
They  hope  a  rupture  will  take  place  touching  the  further  occupation  of  Rome 
by  French  troops,  or  by  the  Polish  disturbances  on  the  further  occupation  of 
Venetia  by  Austria ;  but,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  their  last  and  surest  hope  lies 
in  the  establishment  of  our  old  Union,  which  they  believe  would  exert  a  conV 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  W 

trolling  influence  against  the  occupation  of  this   country  by  any  monarchy  of 
Europe. 

I  send  duplicate  despatches  of  those  recently  despatched  by  the  Acapulco 
route,  as  the  transit  from  here  to  Acapulco  has  proved  hitherto  unsafe. 
Your  obedient  servant, 

THOMAS  CORWIN. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State  U.  S.  A.,  Washington,  D.  C. 


Mr.  Corwin  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Extract.] 

No.  41.]  LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Mexico,  May  1,  1863. 

gIR.  *  *  *  *  *  * 

In  relation  to  public  matters  here,  nothing  has  occurred  to  change  the  gen 
eral  aspects  since  my  last  letter  to  the  department.  The  French  army,  under 
General  Forey,  has  been  before  Puebla  for  forty-five  days.  It  has  obtained 
possession  of  one  fort  ( St.  Javier)  and  five  or  six  blocks  of  the  city,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  that  fort.  Small  detachments  of  troops  are  reported,  from 
day  to  day,  to  be  fighting  in  houses  and  streets,  hand  to  hand,  with  the  Mexi 
can  troops  under  Ortega,  within  the  city,  whilst  General  Comonfort,  with  a 
force  of  about  15,000  of  all  arms,  is  at  or  near  San  Martin,  a  short  distance 
from  Puebla.  The  French  forces  under  Forey  are  estimated  at  22,000  effective 
men.  It  is  a  question  with  military  men  whether  the  French  will  ever  take 
Puebla  without  further  re-enforcements  from  France.  Rumor,  and  perhaps  ex 
tracts  from  French  papers,  promise  still  further  troops  from  France,  but  I 
believe  there  is  not  yet  anything  certainly  known  here  as  to  these  rumored  re- 
enforcements. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

THOMAS  CORWIN. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Corwin. 

No.  78.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  June  8,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  despatch  of  May  1  (No.  41)  has  been  received,  and  your  proceed 
ing  in  relation  to  the  case  of  Ignacio  Loperano,  as  therein  reported,  is  approved 

A  French  steamer,  which  arrived  at  New  York  from  Havana  last  week,  sur 
prised  the  country  with  the  news  of  the  surrender  of  Puebla,  with  the  whole  of 
the  Mexican  garrison,  to  the  French  army  of  occupation,  after  the  defeat  of 
General  Comonfort  in  a  movement  which  he  was  making  for  the  relief  of  that 
town.  Assuming  this  information  to  be  true,  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Mexico 
is  supposed  to  have  become  by  this  time  exceedingly  critical. 

I  regret  that  I  am  unable  to  give  you  any  definitive  information  concerning 
military  events  in  our  own  country.  You  will  have  already  learned  of  the 
active  operations  which  have  been  instituted  by  General  Grant  and  General 
Banks  upon  the  Mississippi.  We  are  awaiting  the  results  with  much  anxiety 


1G  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

The  tone  of  the  public  mind  is  generally  pure,  and  the  confidence  of  the  country 
in  our  financial  system  is  perhaps  the  best  possible  evidence  of  the  confidence 
of  the  people  in  the  ultimate  success  of  the  government. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
THOMAS  CORWIN,  Esq.,  Sfc.,  Sp.,  Mexico. 


Mr.  Scward  to  Mr.  Corwin. 

No.  82.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  August  8,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  very  important  despatch  of  the  26th  of  June  has  been  received. 
It  confirms  the  information,  otherwise  received,  that  the  French  army  has 
entered  and  occupied  the  capital  of  Mexico,  and  that  a  provisional  government 
has  been  inaugurated  there,  under  the  protection  of  the  imperial  forces ;  that 
the  Mexican  government,  to  which  you  were  accredited,  has  retired  to  the  city 
of  San  Luis  Potosi,  and  establi3hed  itself  at  that  place ;  and  that  the  country 
is  now  divided  between  two  governments,  which  still  remain  in  hostile  attitude. 
The  President  is  inclined  to  approve  the  decision  you  made  in  declining,  under 
the  circumstances,  the  invitation  of  the  Mexican  government  to  leave  the  ancient 
capital  and  to  repair  to  San  Luis. 

What  would  be  the  most  convenient  and  favorable  position  for  the  legation, 
with  reference  to  the  protection  of  American  rights  in  Mexico,  is  a  question  that 
depends  much  on  contingencies  of  war,  which,  though  they  may  be  imminent, 
cannot,  at  least  at  this  distance  from  the  theatre  of  conflict,  be  anticipated.  It 
is  not  perceived  how  you  could  effectually  assert  those  interests  at  the  present 
moment  by  representations  to  the  government  at  San  Luis,  which  is  cut  off  from 
communication  with  the  legation,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  you  will  not  be  ex 
pected  to  address  yourself,  under  present  circumstances,  to  the  new  provisional 
government  which  bears  sway  at  the  capital. 

The  President  fully  appreciates  the  great  and  unwearied  labors  you  have 
performed  in  your  mission,  and  the  circumstances  which  render  a  temporary 
relief  from  them  desirable  on  your  part.  He  has  thought  that  probably  the 
present  juncture,  when  things  in  regard  to  the  future  of  Mexico  are  depending 
on  dispositions  and  events  there,  with  which  a  minister  of  a  foreign  and  friendly 
power  cannot  lawfully  interfere,  may,  perhaps,  be  the  most  suitable  one  for  the 
allowance  of  the  indulgence  which  you  have  asked.  But  he  desires  to  leave 
this  point  to  your  own  better-informed  discretion.  You  will,  therefore,  have 
leave  of  absence,  to  begin  at  such  time  as  you  may  think  proper  after  this  com 
munication  reaches  you,  and  may  return  to  the  United  States  to  confer  with 
this  department,  and  to  await  the  further  directions  of  the  President.  You  will 
make  such  arrangements  for  the  custody  of  the  archives,  and  the  transaction  of 
the  mere  routine  duties  of  the  legation  during  your  absence,  as  shall  seem 
expedient. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

THOMAS  CORWIN,  Esq.,  fyc.,  Sfc.,  Mexico. 


Mr.  Scward  to  Mr.  Corwin. 

No.  88.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  December  23,  1863. 

SIR:  Yo'hr  despatch  of  October  26  (No.  47)  has  been  received  and  submitted 
to  the  President,  and  you  will  accept  his  grateful  acknowledgments  for  the  very 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  17 

interesting  information  and  judicious  observations  which  it  contains  concerning 
the  present  condition  of  Mexico. 

In  reply  to  an  inquiry  contained  in  your  despatch,  I  have  to  inform  you  that, 
in  the  absence  of  further  instructions  from  this  department,  you  will  be  expected 
to  remain  in  the  same  relations  as  now  towards  the  government  of  the  United 
States  of  Mexico. 

If  for  any  cause  your  residence  in  the  city  of  Mexico  shall  become  intolerable 
or  seriously  inconvenient,  you  will  be  at  liberty  to  resort  to  any  other  part  of  the 
country,  or  to  return  to  the  United  States.  No  contingency  is  now  anticipated 
in  which  you  will  be  expected  to  address  yourself  to  any  other  government  than 
the  one  to  which  you  are  accredited. 

I  give  you,  for  your  information,  a  copy  of  an  instruction  that  has  been  given 
to  Major  General  Banks  since  his  occupation  of  Brownsville,  in  Texas. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H,  SEWARD. 

THOMAS  CORWIN,  Esq.,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,  Washington,  November  23, 1863. 

GENERAL:  I  have  received,  and  have  submitted  to  the  President,  your  three  despatches  ot 
the  6th,  7th,  and  9th,  respectively. 

I  have  great  pleasure  in  congratulating  you  upon  your  successful  landing  and  occupation 
upon  the  Rio  Grande,  which  is  all  the  more  gratifying  because  it  was  effected  at  a  moment 
of  apparently  critical  interest  in  the  national  cause. 

You  have  already  found  that  the  confusion,  resulting  from  civil  strife  and  foreign  war  in 
Mexico,  offers  seductions  for  military  enterprise.  I  have,  therefore,  to  inform  you  of  the 
exact  condition  of  our  relations  towards  that  republic  at  the  present  time.  We  are  on  terms 
of  amity  and  friendship,  and  maintaining  diplomatic  relations,  with  the  republic  of  Mexico. 
We  regard  that  country  as  the  theatre  of  a  foreign  war,  mingled  with  civil  strife.  In  this 
conflict  we  take  no  part,  and,  on  the  contrary,  we  practice  absolute  non-intervention  and 
non-interference.  In  command  of  the  frontier,  it  will  devolve  on  you,  as  far  as  practicable 
consistently  with  your  other  functions,  to  prevent  aid  or  supplies  being  given  from  the  United 
States  to  either  belligerent. 

You  will  defend  the  United  States  in  Texas  against  any  enemies  you  may  encounter  there, 
whether  domestic  or  foreign.  Nevertheless,  you  will  not  enter  any  part  of  Mexico,  unless  it 
be  temporarily,  and  then  clearly  necessary  for  the  protection  of  your  own  lives  against 
aggression  from  the  Mexican  border.  You  can  assume  no  authority  in  Mexico  to  protect 
citizens  of  the  United  States  there,  much  less  to  redress  there  wrongs  or  injuries  committed 
against  the  United  States  or  their  citizens,  whether  those  wrongs  or  injuries  were  committed 
on  one  side  of  the  border  or  the  other.  If  consuls  find  their  positions  unsafe  on  the  Mexican 
side  of  the  border,  let  them  leave  the  country,  rather  than  invoke  the  protection  of  your 
forces.  These  directions  result  from  the  fixed  determination  of  the  President  to  avoid  any 
departure  from  lawful  neutrality,  and  any  unnecessary  and  unlawful  enlargement  of  the 
present  field  of  war.  But,  at  the  same  time,  you  will  be  expected  to  observe  military  and 
political  events  as  they  occur  in  Mexico,  and  to  communicate  all  that  shall  be  important  for 
this  government  to  understand  concerning  them.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  any 
suggestions  you  may  think  proper  to  give  for  the  guidance  of  the  government  in  its  relations 
towards  Mexico  will  be  considered  with  that  profound  respect  which  is  always  paid  to  the 
opinions  which  you  express. 

In  making  this  communication,  I  have  endeavored  to  avoid  entering  into  the  sphere  of 
your  military  operations,  and  to  confine  myself  simply  to  that  in  which  you  are  in  contact, 
with  the  political  movements  now  going  on  in  Mexico. 
I  am,  general,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Major  General  N.  P.  BANKS, 

Commanding  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  Brownsville,  Texas. 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 2 


18  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


No.  2. — Shipment  of  arms  to  Mexico. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward Nov.  22, 1862. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  (with  enclosures) Nov.  24, 1862. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward Dec.  10,1862. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero Dec.  15, 1862. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward Dec.  20,1862. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero Jan.     7, 1863. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward Jan.   14,1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero Jan.   17,1863. 

Mr.  Rankin  to  Mr.  Seward Jan.   14, 1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Rankin,  (with  enclosure) Jan.   15, 1863. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward Jan.  20,1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero Jan.  21 , 1863. 

General  Canby  to  Mr.  Seward Feb.  17, 1864. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero Feb.  19,1864. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward Feb.  20, 1864. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  November  22,  1862. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  my  government  has 
given  me  instructions  to  communicate  to  that  of  the  United  States  that  the  Mexi 
can  government  has  reliable  information  to  the  effect  that  the  chief  of  the  French 
expedition,  which  is  invading  the  republic,  has  sent  emissaries  to  New  Orleans 
and  New  York  to  purchase  mules  and  wagons  for  transporting  the  cannon,  war 
materials,  and  provisions  to  the  interior  of  Mexico.  My  government  thinks  that 
if  such  purchases  should  be  realized,  the  neutrality  to  which  they  are  bound 
would  be  violated  by  the  sellers,  this  being  the  position  which  the  government 
of  the  United  States  has  desired  to  take  in  the  war  which  the  Emperor  of  the 
.French  is  waging  against  my  country.  It  is  not  doubted,  in  the  opinion  of  my 
government,  that  such  a  sale  would  be  a  direct  assistance  to  one  of  the  belliger 
ents,  since  it  would  be  given  to  its  army,  which  necessarily  would  use  it  in  acts 
of  hostility.  In  view  of  the  preceding  considerations,  the  government  of 
Mexico  has  instructed  me  to  solicit  from  that  of  the  United  States  that,  if  it 
should  not  already  have  been  done,  it  issue  the  orders  it  may  deem  proper  to 
prevent  the  effects  indicated  from  leaving  the  ports  of  the  United  States  pur 
chased  for  the  use  of  the  army  now  invading  Mexico.  Before  these  instructions 
had  reached  me  I  had  learned,  in  a  most  reliable  manner,  that  the  emissaries  of 
the  French  destined  to  New  York  had  arrived  some  days  since  at  that  port,  and 
were  busy  in  purchasing  the  effects  which  they  came  to  procure. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
most  distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  November  24,  1862. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  22d 
instant,  informing  me  that  you  have  been  instructed  by  your  government  to  make 
known  to  that  of  the  United  States  that  the  commanding  general  of  the  French 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  19 

expedition  now  invading  the  territory  of  Mexico  has  sent  emissaries  to  the  cities 
of  New  Orleans  and  New  York  for  the  purchase  of  mules  and  wagons  with 
which  to  transport  his  cannon,  war  materials,  munitions,  and  provisions  to  the 
interior  of  Mexico ;  that  the  government  of  Mexico  thinks  that  citizens  of  the 
United  States  would,  in  making  sales  of  these  articles  to  said  emissaries,  violate 
the  neutrality  they  are  bound  to  observe  towards  Mexico,  and  that  the  govern 
ment  of  Mexico  does  not  doubt  that  such  sales  would  be  the  giving  of  direct 
assistance  to  the  French  army,  which  would  use  them  in  acts  of  hostility  to 
wards  your  government ;  that  prior  to  your  receipt  of  said  instructions,  you  had 
been  reliably  informed  that  these  French  emissaries  had  arrived  at  New  York, 
and  were  there  busily  engaged  in  the  purchase  of  the  articles  they  came  to  pro 
cure  ;  and,  finally,  that  in  view  of  these  facts  the  government  of  Mexico  desires 
that  this  government  shall  issue,  if  it  should  not  already  have  done  so,  the  proper 
orders  to  prevent  the  effects  mentioned  from  leaving  the  ports  of  the  United 
States,  they  being  purchased  for  the  use  of  the  French  invading  army. 

In  reply,  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that,  prior  to  the  receipt  of  your 
note  aforesaid,  information  of  a  similar  nature  had  reached  this  department 
through  the  consul  general  of  the  United  States  at  Havana,  and  that  the  matter 
had  been  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  a 
copy  of  whose  reply  I  herewith  enclose,  together  with  the  extracts  from  the 
authorities  in  the  case ;  and  from  which  it  appears  that  no  intervention  with  the 
mission  of  the  French  officers  is  contemplated  by  the  Treasury  Department,  to 
whom  the  subject  more  immediately  appertains. 

This  decision  appears  to  be  in  conformity  with  precedents,  and  with  the  rules 
of  international  law  governing  the  case. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Senor  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  Sp.,  fyc. 


Enclosures  with  Mr.  Reward's  note,  November  24. 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,  November  20,  1862. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  29th  ultimo,  cover 
ing  the  despatch  of  the  consul  general  of  Havana  concerning  the  departure  of  two  officers 
of  the  French  army  for  New  York  to  purchase  supplies  for  that  army  in  Mexico. 

I  send  you  enclosed  authorities  in  this  case,  collected  for  me  by  Mr.  Marcellus  Bailey,  of 
the  office  of  the  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury,  which  may  be  acceptable. 
No  intervention  with  the  mission  of  these  officers  is  contemplated  by  me. 
With  great  respect, 

S.  P.  CHASE,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
Hon.  W.  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 

Instructions  to  collectors  of  customs,  issued  by  Alexander  Hamilton,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 

August  4,  1793. 

"  The  purchasing  and  exporting  from  the  United  States,  by  way  of  merchandise,  articles 
commonly  called  contraband,  being  generally  warlike  instruments  and  stores,  is  free  to  all 
parties  at  war,  and  is  not  to  be  interfered  with.  If  our  own  citizens  undertake  to  carry  them 
to  any  of  these  parties,  they  will  be  abandoned  to  the  penalties  which  the  laws  of  war  author 
i/e." — (Am.  State  Papers,  Foreign  Relations,  vol.  \,p.  141.) 

Mr.  Webster  to  Mr.  Thompson,  July  8, 1842. 

"It  is  not  the  practice  of  nations  to  undertake  to  prohibit  their  own  subjects  from  traffick 
ing  in  articles  contraband  of  war.     Such  trade  is  carried  on  at  the  risk  or  those  engaged  in 
it  under  the  liabilities  and  penalties  prescribed  by  the  law  of  nations  or  particular  treaties." — 
(Webster's  Works,  vol.  6,  p.  452.) 


20  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


Mr.  Webster's  instructions  of  July  8,  1842,  cited  in  Gardner's  Inst.,  American  International 

Law,  p.  552. 

"That  if  American  merchants,  in  the  way  of  commerce,  had  sold  munitions  of  war  to 
Texas,  the  government  of  the  United  States,  nevertheless,  were  not  bound  to  prevent  it,  and 
could  not  have  prevented  it  without  a  manifest  departure  from  the  principles  of  neutrality." 

President's  message,  1st  session  3M  Congress. — Franklin  Pierce,  President;    William  L. 

Marcy,  Secretary  of  State. 

"The  laws  of  the  United  States  do  not  forbid  their  citizens  to  sell  to  either  of  the  belligerent 
powers  articles  contraband  of  war,  or  take  munitions  of  war  or  soldiers  on  board  their  private 
ships  for  transportation ;  and  although,  in  so  doing,  the  individual  citizen  exposes  his  prop 
erty  or  person  to  some  of  the  hazards  of  war,  his  acts  do  not  involve  any  breach  on  national 
neutrality,  nor  of  themselves  implicate  the  government." — (Ex.  Doc.,  1855-'56,  vol.  I,  Pt. 
/,/>.6.) 

Mr.  Webster  to  Mr.  Thompson. 

"  As  to  advances,  loans,  or  donations  of  money  or  goods  made  by  individuals  to  the  gov 
ernment  of  Texas  or  its  citizens,  the  Mexican  government  hardly  needs  to  be  informed  that 
there  is  nothing  unlawful  in  this  so  long  as  Texas  is  at  peace  with  the  United  States,  and 
that  these  are  things  which  no  government  undertakes  to  restrain." — (Ex.  Doc.,  2~th  Cong., 
2d  Sess.,  1841-M2,  vol.  5,  Doc.  *66.) 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Reward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

Washington,  December  10,  1862. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  The  note  which  you  were  pleased  to  address  to  me  under 
date  of  the  24th  of  November  last  past,  and  the  documents  thereto  annexed, 
have  informed  me  that  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States  does  not  propose  to  interfere  with  the  purchase  of  articles  contraband  of 
war  which  the  officers  of  the  French  army  invading  Mexico  may  make  in  the 
United  States,  and  who  have  come  to  obtain  the  means  of  transportation  for 
the  use  of  the  same  army,  and  to  whom  I  alluded  in  the  note  which  I  had  the 
honor  to  address  you  on  the  223.  day  of  November  aforesaid.     It  is  not  possible 
for  me  to  refrain  from  expressing  the  pain  and  surprise  caused  me  on  learning 
that  the  decision  of  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  sustained  by 
yourself,  for,  in  truth,  it  is  very  different  from  that  which  I  thought  myself  enti 
tled  to  expect.     Assuming,  as  my  government  has  assumed,  that  that  of  the 
United  States  is  a  neutral  in  the  war  which  the  Emperor  of  the  French  is 
waging  against  Mexico,  it  was  natural  to  hope  that  if,  in  consequence  of  such 
a  condition,  this  government  did  not  aid  one  of  the  belligerents,  it  would  act  in 
the  same  manner  towards  the  other,  in  which  it  would  do  no  more  than  to  com 
ply  faithfully  with  the  obligations  inherent  to  neutrality.     It  is  very  far  from 
my  purpose  to  teach  the  government  of  the  United  States  what  these  obliga 
tions  are ;  but  I,  however,  deem  it  my  duty  to  make  known  to  it  my  opinion 
and  that  of  my  government :  that  it  is  incompatible  with  them  to  permit  one  of 
the  belligerent  armies  to  provide  itself,  in  its  territory,  with  whatsoever  it  may 
require  to  carry  on  hostilities. 

Vattel,  speaking  at  paragraph  104r  chapter  VII,  book  III,  of  his  "  Law  of  Na 
tions,"  upon  the  obligations  of  neutrality,  says  that  "  as  long  as  a  neutral  nation 
wishes  securely  to  enjoy  the  advantages  of  her  neutrality,  she  must  in  all  things 
show  a  strict  impartiality  towards  the  belligerent  powers."  Examining  further- 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  21 

more  in  what  the  impartiality  consists  which  a  neutral  power  is  obliged  to  observe, 
he  says  that  "  it  solely  relates  to  war,  and  includes  two  articles  :  1.  To  give  no 
assistance  when  there  is  no  obligation  to  give  it ;  nor  voluntarily  to  furnish  troops, 
arms,  ammunition,  or  anything  of  direct  use  in  war.  I  do  not  say  '  to  give 
assistance  equally,'  but  '  to  give  no  assistance ;'  for  it  would  be  absurd  that  a 
state  should  at  one  and  the  same  time  assist  two  nations  at  war  with  each  other; 
and  besides,  it  wouFd  be  impossible  to  do  it  with  equality.  The  same  things, 
the  like  number  of  troops,  the  like  quantity  of  arms,  of  stores,  &c.,  furnished 
in  different  circumstances,  are  no  longer  equivalent  succors." 

It  is  therefore  evident  that,  according  to  these  principles,  if  the  government 
of  the  United  States  permits  the  French  army  to  take  from  this  country  what 
ever  it  may  require  to  carry  on  hostilities  against  Mexico,  it  does  not  act  with 
the  impartiality  which  its  character  of  neutral  imposes  upon  it,  even  though  it 
should  concede  to  Mexico  the  same  privilege.  Among  the  authorities  which 
served  as  a  foundation  for  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  adopting 
the  decision  referred  to  are  found,  in  the  first  place,  and  which  I  consider  as  the 
principal  one,  the  instructions  which  Mr.  Alexander  Hamilton  communicated  on 
the  4th  of  August,  1793,  to  the  collectors  of  customs  of  the  United  States,  in 
consequence  of  the  proclamation  which  President  George  Washington  had  issued 
on  the  22d  day  of  April  preceding,  recognizing  the  state  of  war  then  existing 
between  Austria,  Prussia,  Sardinia,  Great  Britain,  and  the  Netherlands  on  the 
one  part,  and  France  upon  the  other,  and  declaring  the  neutrality  of  the  United 
States  in  the  same. 

In  these  instructions  Mr.  Hamilton  said  (American  State  Papers,  series  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  vol.  1,  page  141)  that  "the  purchasing  within  and  exporting 
from  the  United  States,  by  way  of  merchandise,  articles  commonly  called  con 
traband,  should  not  be  interfered  with  ;"  and,  according  to  this  principle,  the  pur 
chase  and  exportation  of  the  effects  purchased  by  the  French  officers  should  not 
be  permitted,  inasmuch  as  they  have  not  been  made  by  way  of  merchandise, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  for  the  immediate  and  direct  use  of  a  belligerent  army.  It 
is  well  understood  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  would  not  be  will 
ing  to  prevent  the  sale  of  such  articles  to  French  merchants  who  would  purchase 
them  to  speculate  upon  them  by  selling  them  to  a  third  power,  or,  perhaps,  to 
their  own  government,  for  the  fear  that  the  latter  should  occur,  ought  not  to  au 
thorize  a  general  prohibition,  but  that  it  should  extend  these  principles  to  the 
purchase  of  the  articles  referred  to  by  officers  of  the  French  army,  and  for  the 
immediate  use  of  the  same  army,  is  a  matter  which  cannot  be  conceived  of,  be 
cause  it  is  equivalent  to  laying  aside  neutrality,  and  to  open  the  door  to  all 
nations  that  be  at  war,  in  which  the  United  States  are  not  a  party,  in  order  that, 
in  exchange  for  a  small  profit,  they  may  come  to  provide  themselves  here  with 
whatever  they  may  require  to  carry  on  hostilities. 

The  authorities  of  Mr.  Webster,  which  are  cited  in  the  document  annexed  to 
the  communication  of  the  honorable  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  20th 
of  November  last  past,  of  which  you  are  pleased  to  transmit  me  a  copy,  are  in 
contrariety  with  the  instructions  of  Mr.  Hamilton,  and  there  cannot  be  given  to 
them,  in  my  opinion,  the  same  weight  as  to  the  latter,  for  the  first  are  fragments 
of  communications  addressed  by  Mr.  Webster,  as  Secretary  of  State  of  the 
United  States,  to  Mr.  Thompson,  minister  of  the  United  States  in  Mexico,  to 
justify  the  government  of  the  United  States  from  the  complaints  which  that  of 
Mexico  made  to  it  for  the  moral  and  material  support  which  the  first  gave,  at 
that  time,  to  the  insurgents  of  Texas.  It  is  known  that  all  the  sympathies  of 
the  administration  then  existing  were  on  the  side  of  the  insurgents,  which  caused 
it  to  encourage  them  in  every  way,  in  order  to  accomplish  the  enterprise  in 
which  they  were  engaged,  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  United  States  called 
themselves  neutrals  in  the  contest.  The  principles  laid  down  then  by  Mr. 
Webster  had  for  their  object  to  reconcile  that  neutrality  with  the  aid  given  to 


22  .     MEXICAN  AFFAIRS. 

the  insurgents  ;  and  assuredly,  if  the  government  of  the  United  States  should 
examine  them  now,  when  the  circumstances  are  different,  and  when  the  admin 
istration  is  animated  with  a  spirit  of  greater  justice,  it  would  not  sustain  them, 
nor  would  it  be  willing  that  foreign  nations  should  adopt  them  as  a  hasis  in  their 
relations  with  the  United  States,  as  it  does  not  appear  disposed  to  sustain,  in 
this  emergency,  the  principles  which  governed  it  then  to  recognize  the  inde 
pendence  of  Texas  much  earlier  than  Mexico  was  disposed  to  make  such  a  recog 
nition. 

There  is  an  instance  of  a  similar  case  in  which  the  United  States  proceeded 
in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  Vattel,  and  the  reason  which  they  had  for 
it  holds  good  with  the  same  force  in  the  present  case  Mr.  Henry  Wheaton,  in 
the  16th  paragraph  of  chapter  III,  of  part  IV  of  his  "  Elements  of  International 
Law,"  referring  to  the  principles  of  Vattel,  which  I  have  already  cited,  says  : 
"  These  principles  were  appealed  to  by  the  American  government  when  its  neu 
trality  was  attempted  to  be  violated  on  the  commencement  of  the  European  war 
of  1793,  by  arming  and  equipping  vessels  and  enlisting  men  within  the  ports  of 
the  United*  States  by  the  respective  belligerent  powers  to  cruise  against  each 
other.  It  was  stated  that  if  the  neutral  power  might  not,  consistently  with  its 
neutrality,  furnish  men  to  either  party  for  their  aid  in  war,  as  little  could  either 
enrol  them  in  the  neutral  territory." 

Applying  this  reasoning  to  the  present  case,  it  follows  that  the  United  States 
cannot,  because  of  its  neutrality,  give  to  France  arms,  munitions  of  war,  and 
other  articles  contraband  of  war,  neither  can  it  permit  that  the  French  army 
shall  come  to  take  them  from  the  neutral  territory. 

Great  Britain,  which  adopted  the  American  doctrine  in  that  which  relates  to 
the  enlistment  of  troops  in  its  territory  by  a  belligerent  power,  has  been  more 
consistent,  for  it  also  adopted  the  consequences  which  are  inferred  from  this 
principle  ;  and  when  it  declares  itself  neutral  in  the  wars  between  other  powers, 
it  accompanies  this  declaration  with  the  prohibition  that  the  belligerents  shall 
not  supply  themselves  in  their  ports  with  articles  contraband  of  war,  unless  that, 
by  special  treaties,  she  is  under  the  obligation  of  extending  them  to  both  or 
either  of  the  belligerents. 

President  Franklin  Pierce,  in  his  message  to  the  thirty-fourth  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  of  the  1st  of  September,  1855,  which  is  another  of  the 
authorities  cited  by  the  honorable  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  whilst  he 
considers  as  a  violation  of  the  neutrality  of  the  United  States  the  pretensions 
of  any  of  the  European  powers  then  allied  against  Russia  to  enrol  troops  in  the 
territories  of  these  same  States,  follows  the  doctrine  of  Mr.  Webster  respecting 
the  sale  of  articles  contraband  of  war  made  by  its  citizens  to  any  one  of  the 
belligerent  powers.  President  Pierce  forgot  the  condition  that  the  sale  be  made 
by  way  of  merchandise,  considered  as  indispensable  by  Mr.  Hamilton  to  make 
it  lawful.  He  also  says  that  there  is  no  law  prohibiting  to  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  the  sale  of  articles  contraband  of  war  to  either  of  the  belligerent 
parties ;  but  if  there  be  no  such  secondary  law,  there  exists  the  natural  ten 
dency  of  the  law  of  nations,  which  imposes  such  a  prohibition  upon  the  neutral 
powers  as  one  of  the  circumstances  inherent  to  neutrality.  If  the  government 
should  extend  to  Mexico  the  same  principles  which  govern  it  in  its  relations 
with  France,  as  little  satisfactory  as  such  conduct  would  be,  because  it  would 
thus  be  to  abandon  neutrality  and  to  furnish  to  the  French  army  the  means  of 
transportation,  without  which  it  would  have  been  obliged  to  remain  inactive 
until  these  could  arrive  from  Europe,  giving  time  to  the  Mexican  government  to 
organize  a  more  vigorous  resistance,  yet  it  would  not  have  been  to  so  great  an 
extent  as  it  -was  on  refusing  to  Mexico  the  same  facilities  which  are  conceded  to 
France. 

At  the  commencement  of  February  of  the  present  year  the  Mexican  consul  at 
New  York  informed  me  that  several  merchants  of  that  port  were  sending  to  Vera 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  23 

Cruz  vessels  laden  with  provisions  and  other  articles  for  the  consumption  of  the 
allied  army,  which  was  then  in  that  city.  At  a  conference  with  which  you  favored 
me  on  the  13th  of  the  said  month  of  February  I  had  the  honor  to  inform  you 
of  these  facts,  and  I  took  the  liberty  to  suggest  to  you  that,  if  the  United  States 
held  the  character  of  a  neutral  in  the  differences  between  Mexico  and  the  allies, 
the  federal  government  should  forbid  the  exportation  of  articles  contraband  of 
war  intended  to  give  aid  directly  to  one  of  the  belligerents.  You  were  pleased 
to  reply  to  me  that  the  United  States  did  not  recognize  a  state  of  war  existing 
between  Mexico  and  the  allies.  As  there  had  been,  you  said,  no  declaration  of 
war,  they  could  not,  for  the  same  reason,  be  governed  in  their  conduct  by  the  rules 
of  neutrals,  for  up  to  that  time  this  government  considered  Mexico  and  the  allies 
as  friends,  and  not  as  belligerents.  In  view  of  such  reasonable  explanations,  I 
desisted  from  my  first  suggestion,  and,  as  was  natural,  I  understood  that  the 
government  of  the  United  States  would  not  object  that  Mexico  should  take 
from  this  country  what  she  might  need  whilst  the  state  of  things  then  existing 
should  continue ;  and  provided  that  Mexico  should  be  permitted  to  make  use  of 
this  right,  I  would  make  no  opposition  to  the  exercise  of  the  same  being  granted 
to  the  allies. 

Shortly  afterwards  the  circumstance  arose  that  Mexico  purchased  some  arms 
in  New  York,  which  the  agent  commissioned  to  make  this  purchase  desired  to 
ship  to  a  Mexican  port  which  the  honorable  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  had 
closed  to  the  commerce  of  the  United  States,  in  violation  of  the  rights  of  Mex 
ico  and  in  contravention  of  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  of  friendship,  naviga 
tion,  and  commerce,  which  binds  the  United  States  to  Mexico,  as  I  had  the 
honor  to  make  known  to  you  in  the  notes  which  I  addressed  you  on  the  23d  of 
July  and  the  10th  of  September,  1861.  The  circumstance  that,  in  accordance 
with  the  instructions  of  the  honorable  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  his  permit 
was  necessary,  in  order  that  the  custom-house  of  New  York  might  clear 
vessels  to  the  said  port,  was  the  only  cause  of  my  application  to  the  Treasury 
Department,  soliciting  extra  officially  this  permit.  Upon  doing  so  I  determined 
simply  to  make  known  that  these  arms  were  for  Mexico  and  not  for  the  insur 
gents  of  the  United  States,  believing  that  this  would  be  sufficient  for  the  honorable 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  grant  the  proper  clearance.  The  aspect  of 
the  affairs  of  Mexico  had  then  changed  with  respect  to  that  in  which  it  was  in 
February  last.  The  difficulties  existing  were  then  no  longer  between  Mexico 
and  the  European  allies,  but  between  Mexico  and  France;  and  although  the  war 
existed  in  fact,  it  had  not  been  declared,  neither  did  I  know  that  such  a  declara 
tion,  which  had  not  been  made,  had  been  communicated  to  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  nor  that  this  government  had  taken  official  notice  of  such  a 
war,  which  had  begun  like  a  filibustering  enterprise,  in  contravention  of  the 
most  trivial  principles  of  the  law  of  nations,  and  least  of  all  did  I  know  that 
this  government  intended  to  remain  neutral  in  this  war.  Had  I  known  this  I 
should  not  have  dared  to  inform  it  of  a  transaction  which  had  been  entered  into 
to  the  loss  of  its  rights  as  a  neutral,  nor  much  less  to  ask  it  to  authorize  it  in 
violation  of  the  duties  which  its  neutrality  imposed  upon  it.  My  duty  would 
have  been  to  advise  the  agent  who  came  to  purchase  the  arms  to  go  and  seek 
them  elsewhere,  for  here  they  could  not  be  obtained  without  loss  to  the  rights 
of  the  United  States,  which  I  have  ever  been  disposed  to  respect  in  the  most 
scrupulous  manner.  The  honorable  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  at  first 
showed  himself  willing  to  concede  the  permit  asked  for ;  he  asked  me  for  the 
list  of  the  effects  which  were  to  be  sent  to  Mexico,  and,  upon  showing  it  to  him, 
it  appeared  to  him  that  the  number,  36,000  muskets,  was  too  great  a  one,  and 
he  said  to  me  that  he  would  only  give  the  permit  for  exporting  them  in  case 
that  the  honorable  the  Secretaries  of  the  Navy  and  War  should  make  no  objec 
tion  to  the  exportation  of  the  arms.  The  honorable  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 


24  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

made  none,  and  the  Secretary  of  War  said  that  "  he  refused  to  relax  the  order 
previously  issued  forbidding  the  exportation  of  arms." 

Neither  the  collector  of  the  customs  of  New  York,  nor  the  honorable  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  seemed  to  be  aware  of  the  order  to  which  the  honorable 
the  Secretary  of  War  referred ;  but  his  decision  in  the  present  case  was  sufficient 
for  them  to  refuse  in  the  most  positive  and  absolute  manner  the  clearance  of  the 
muskets  purchased  by  Mexico.      In  vain  did  I  endeavor  to  show  to  both  the 
honorable  Secretaries  that  these  arms  were  Prussian  muskets,  flint-locks,  subse 
quently  altered  to  percussion  locks,  and  of  such  a  quality  that  the  army  of  the 
United  States  would  never  use  them.    All  my  efforts  were  in  vain ;  and  the  im 
pression  which  was  left  to  me,  as  the  result  of  my  exertions,  was  that  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  had  opposed  the  departure  of  the  arms,  not  because 
it  believed  that  the  occasion  might  arise  when  it  would  need  them  for  its  army — 
inasmuch  as  there  was  in  the  stores  of  New  York  a  larger  number  and  of  a  very 
superior  quulity — but  to  avoid  complications  with  France,  which,  it  was  feared, 
would  be  consequent  upon  the  clearance  of  the  arms  to  a  Mexican  port.     I  was 
finally  confirmed   in  this  opinion  upon  learning  that  subsequently  to  my  said 
exertions  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  expressly  notified  the  col 
lector  of  the  custom-house  of  New  York  on  no  account  to  clear  the  arms  afore 
said,  and  that  the  same  custom-house  has  cleared,  subsequently  to  these  exer 
tions,  arms  to  ports  which  are  not  Mexican  ports.    I  felt,  therefore,  that  there  had 
not  been  towards  me  the   sufficient  frankness  to  tell  me  the  true  cause  why 
the  clearance  of   the  arms    purchased    by  Mexico  was  denied,  which  would 
have  saved  me  many  steps  ;  for,  from  the  moment  it  should  have  been  communi 
cated  to  me  that  the  United  States  were  neutrals  in  the  war  between  France  and 
Mexico,  and  that  the  clearance  of  these  arms  was  not  compatible  with  the  duties 
which  their  neutrality  imposed  upon  them,  I  should  have  considered  the  affair 
as  concluded,  conceding  all  the  reason  to  this  government.    It  is,  therefore,  easy 
to  understand  how  great  was  my  surprise  upon  learning  that  when  France  came 
to  purchase  articles  contraband  of  war  in  this  country,  when  it  has  made  of  it 
the  base  whence  it  supplies  its  invading  army,  in  a  war  in  which  I  had  been  made 
to  understand  that  the  United   States  were  neutrals,  the  honorable   Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  relying  upon  authorities  in  my  opinion  totally  insufficient, 
should  have  conceded  to  France  the  same  thing  which  he  so  peremptorily  refused 
to  Mexico.     For  Mexico  it  is  the  same  thing  that  to  it  should  be  denied  what  is 
permitted  to  France,  by  order  of  the  honorable   Secretary  of  War,  or  by  the 
decision  of  any  other  honorable  Secretary;  she  cannot  enter  into  the  examina 
tion  of  the  reasons  which  may  have  caused  such  an  order,  and  she  can  only  see 
the  palpable  and  incontrovertible  fact  that,  whilst  to  France  it  is  permitted  to 
supply  herself  in  the  market  of  the  United  States  with  whatever  she  requires  to 
carry  on  her  war  against  Mexico,  without  excepting  the  articles  contraband  of 
war,  to  Mexico  is  prohibited  the  exportation  of  the  only  article  which  she  needed, 
and  the  only  one  she  had  purchased  in  this  country.     As  I  am  considering 
the  question  under  the  point  of  view  of  the  right  only,  and  as  I  understand  that 
the  United  States  are  neutrals  in  the  war  between  Mexico  and  France,  I  refrain 
from  entering  into  other  considerations  which  would  present  the  conduct  of  the 
United  States  in  a  light  still  more  unfavorable.     The  gravity  of  the  present 
case,  which  affects  so  directly  the  rights  and  interests  of  Mexico,  causes  me  to 
believe  that  so  soon  as  my  government  shall  be  informed  of  what  has  occurred 
in  this  respect,  it  will  send  me  precise  instructions  by  which  to  abide. 

Then  I  shall  again  have  the  honor  to  communicate  with  you  upon  this  same 
affair.  For  the  present,  I  have  only  taken  the  liberty  to  lay  before  you  the 
considerations  which  precede,  because  I  do  not  desire  that  my  silence  be  taken 
as  an  indication  of  acquiescence  in  the  determination  contained  in  your  note,  to 
which  I  reply. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  25 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
very  distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fyc.,  8fc. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  December  15,  1862. 

The  undersigned,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  has  the  honor  to 
acknowledge  the  reception  of  the  note  which  was  addressed  to  him  by  his 
excellency  Mr.  M.  Romero,  charge  d'affaires  of  the  republic  of  Mexico,  on  the 
10th  of  December  instant,  in  which  Mr.  liomero  states  his  objections  to  the 
decision  of  this  government  which  permits  the  clearance  of  vessels  from  New 
York,  carrying  cargoes  of  certain  wagons  and  other  merchandise  purchased  and 
designed,  as  Mr.  Romero  says,  for  the  use  of  the  French  forces  in  Mexico. 
Mr.  Romero  assumes  that  this  decision  manifests  partiality  on  the  part  of  this 
government  towards  France. 

The  undersigned  has  the  honor  to  inform  Mr.  Romero  that  the  trade  of  the 
United  States  is  regulated  by  treaties  and  laws  which  are  equal  in  regard  to 
France  and  to  Mexico,  and  to  all  other  nations,  without  any  exceptions,  whether 
they  are  mutually  at  peace  or  engaged  in  war ;  that  whatever  merchandise  is 
allowed  to  be  cleared  for  or  on  account  of  French  subjects  or  of  the  French 
government,  is  equally  allowed  to  be  cleared  for  the  citizens  or  for  the  govern 
ment  of  Mexico,  and  for  all  other  nations. 

Mr.  Romero  builds  his  argument  upon  the  fact  that  clearances  of  arms  said  to 
be  designed  for  the  use  of  the  Mexican  government  were  denied  in  its  war  with 
France,  while  clearances  of  wagons  designed  for  the  use  of  the  French  govern 
ment  in  the  same  war  are  allowed. 

Mr.  Romero  is  respectfully  informed  that  prohibition  of  the  shipment  of  arms, 
in  the  case  referred  to,  was  a  general  prohibition,  including  all  other  nations  as 
well  as  Mexico,  on  the  ground  of  the  military  necessities  of  the  United  States, 
which,  while  engaged  in  suppressing  a  formidable  insurrection,  cannot  consent 
that  fire-arms  of  any  kind  shall  be  sent  out  of  the  country  as  merchandise. 

For  these  reasons — first,  because  the  government  may  need  all  such  arms; 
and,  secondly,  that  they  might  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  insurgents — neither  the 
French,  who  are  at  war  with  Mexico,  nor  any  other  nation  which  is  at  peace 
with  the  United  States,  no  matter  what  its  condition  or  its  situation,  could  now 
be  allowed  to  export  arms  of  any  sort  from  this  country.  Mr.  Romero  implies, 
probably  with  truth,  that  wagons  are  as  necessary  and  will  be  as  useful  to  the 
French  as  fire-arms  would  be  to  the  Mexicans.  But  the  pertinency  of  the  argu 
ment  is  not  apparent,  insomuch  as  the  shipment  of  arms  is  denied  to  Mexico  on 
the  ground,  not  of  want  of  them  on  her  part  as  a  belligerent,  but  on  the  ground 
of  the  military  situation  of  the  United  States ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
wagons  are  allowed  to  be  shipped,  not  on  the  ground  that  France  wants  them  as 
a  belligerent,  but  on  the  ground  that  the  military  situation  of  the  United  States 
does  not  demand  an  inhibition. 

The  republic  of  Mexico  enjoys  the  sincere  friendship  and  good  will  of  the 
United  States,  and  they  lament  the  war  which  has  arisen  between  that  re 
public  and  France.  They  are  not,  however,  a  party  to  the  war,  and  since 
it  has  unhappily  occurred,  they  can  act  in  regard  to  it  only  on  the  principles 
which  have  always  governed  their  conduct  in  similar  cases.  The  trade  of  the 
United  States,  according  to  these  principles,  is  left  free  to  both  nations,  just  as 
if  they  were  at  peace  with  each  other,  and  no  restrictions  are  imposed  upon  it  to 
the  favor  or  prejudice  of  either  nation. 


26  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

The  argument  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  which  has  been  already  sub 
mitted  to  Mr.  Romero,  renders  it  unnecessary  to  say  more  to  elucidate  the  settled 
and  traditional  policy  of  the  country.  It  is  not  easy  to  see  how  that  policy 
could  be  changed  so  as  to  conform  to  the  views  of  Mr.  Romero,  without  destroy 
ing  all  neutral  commerce  whatsoever.  If  Mexico  shall  prescribe  to  us  what 
merchandise  we  shall  not  sell  to  French  subjects,  because  it  may  be  employed 
in  military  operations  against  Mexico,  France  must  equally  be  allowed  to  dic 
tate  to  us  what  merchandise  we  shall  allow  to  be  shipped  to  Mexico,  because  it 
might  be  belligerently  used  against  France.  Every  other  nation  which  is  at 
war  would  have  a  similar  right,  and  every  other  commercial  nation  would  be 
bound  to  respect  it  as  much  as  the  United  States.  Commerce,  in  that  case,  in 
stead  of  being  free  or  independent,  would  exist  only  at  the  caprice  of  war. 

The  undersigned,  in  thus  expressing  to  Mr.  Romero  the  views  of  this  govern 
ment  upon  the  question  which  Mr.  Romero  has  submitted,  does  not  at  all  desire 
to  conclude  him  from  the  further  presentation  of  the  subject,  which  he  promises 
to  make  after  he  shall  have  received  the  instructions  upon  the  subject  from  his 
government. 

The  undersigned  avails  himself  of  this  occasion  to  offer  to  Mr.  Romero  a  re 
newed  assurance  of  his  high  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Senor  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fa.,  8fc. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.  ] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  December  20,  1862. 

The  undersigned,  charge  d'affaires  of  the  United  Mexican  States,  has  had 
the  honor  to  receive  the  note  which  the  honorable  William  H.  Seward,  Secre 
tary  of  State  of  the  United  States  of  America,  was  pleased  to  address  to  him 
on  the  15th  of  the  present  month,  in  reply  to  the  communication  of  the  under 
signed  of  the  10th  instant,  in  which  he  stated  the  reasons  which  caused  him  to 
consider  as  partial  in  favor  of  France  the  conduct  followed  by  the  government 
of  the  United  States  in  permitting  the  emissaries  of  the  French  army  to  pur 
chase  and  export  from  the  ports  of  this  country  whatever  that  army  requires  to 
carry  out  the  military  operations  against  Mexico,  in  which  it  is  engaged,  while 
at  the  same  time  the  same  privilege  has  been  denied  to  the  Mexican  republic. 

In  his  note  referred  to,  the  honorable  Secretary  of  State  is  pleased  to  inform 
the  undersigned  that  "  the  trade  of  the  United  States  is  regulated  by  treaties 
and  laws  which  are  equal  in  regard  to  France  and  to  Mexico,  and  to  all  other 
nations,  without  any  exception,  whether  they  are  mutually  at  peace  or  engaged  in 
war."  The  undersigned  was  not  unaware  that  the  United  States  have  the  obliga 
tion  to  regulate  their  trade  with  friendly  nations,  by  the  stipulations  to  which 
they  have  bound  themselves  in  the  treaties  which  bind  them  to  these  nations,  and 
he  precisely  had  these  considerations  present  when  he  wrote  his  note  of  the  10th 
instant,  and  in  it  he  only  proposed  to  himself  to  exact  from  the  government  of 
the  United  States  the  fulfilment  of  a  duty  which  the  United  States  contracted 
towards  Mexico,  in  the  treaty  of  the  5th  of  April,  1831,  at  present  in  force 
between  both  powers.  The  obligation  imposed  by  said  treaty  upon  the  two 
contracting  governments  appeared  so  clear  to  the  undersigned  that  he  did  not 
deem  it  necessary  to  remind  the  honorable  Secretary  of  State  of  the  articles  in 
which  it  is  contained ;  but  inasmuch  as  he  is  informed  that  the  trade  of  the 
United  States  is  regulated  by  treaties,  he  deems  it  his  duty  to  be  more  precise 
upon  asking  the  fulfilment  of  the  stipulations  of  these  treaties. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  27 

Article  16th  of  the  treaty  of  the  5th  of  April  stipulates  that  "  it  shall  be  law 
ful  for  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  of  America  and  of  the  United  Mexican 
States,  respectively,  to  sail  with  their  vessels  with  all  manner  of  security  and 
liberty,  no  distinction  being  made  who  are  the  owners  of  the  merchandise  laden 
thereon,  from  any  port  to  the  places  of  those  who  now  are  or  may  hereafter 
be  at  enmity  with  the  United  States  of  America  or  with  the  United  Mexican 
States.  It  shall  likewise  be  lawful  for  the  aforesaid  citizens,  respectively,  to 
sail  with  their  vessels  and  merchandise,  before  mentioned,  and  to  trade  with  the 
same  liberty  and  security  from  the  places,  ports,  and  havens  of  those  who  are 
enemies  of  both  or  either  party  without  any  opposition  or  disturbance  what 
soever,  not  only  directly  from  the  places  of  the  enemy,  before  mentioned,  to 
neutral  places,  but  also  from  one  place  belonging  to  an  enemy  to  another  place 
belonging  to  an  enemy,  whether  they  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  same  gov 
ernment  or  under  several." 

So  ample  a  liberty  of  trading  is  found  shortly  after  wisely  restricted  in  arti 
cle  18th,  which  says  :  "  This  liberty  of  commerce  and  navigation  shall  extend 
to  all  kinds  of  merchandise,  excepting  those  only  which  are  distinguished  by  the 
name  of  contraband  of  war." 

If  it  then  appears  that  the  articles  purchased  in  the  United  States  by  the 
emissaries  of  the  French  army,  and  carried  to  Vera  Cruz  in  vessels  of  the  United 
States,  are  of  the  character  of  those  called  contraband  of  war,  it  is  indubitable 
that  the  commerce  and  navigation  of  such  articles  are  unlawful,  agreeably  to 
the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  which  binds  the  United  States  to  Mexico. 

The  articles  referred  to  have  consisted  principally  of  mules  and  wagons,  and 
to  these  the  undersigned  exclusively  referred  in  his  last  note  upon  the  subject. 
The  said  18th  article  of  the  treaty  of  the  5th  of  April  enumerates  the  articles 
prohibited  which  are  comprehended  under  the  qualification  of  contraband  of 
war,  and  in  the  third  section  it  mentions  expressly  horses  with  their  furniture; 
and  the  fourth  terminates  by  saying,  "  or  of  any  other  materials  manufactured, 
prepared,  and  formed  expressly  to  make  war  by  sea  or  land." 

The  undersigned  deems  it  altogether  unnecessary  to  make  any  effort  to  show 
that  the  mules  as  well  as  the  wagons  which  form  the  means  of  transportation, 
without  which  the  military  operations  are  impossible,  are  included  among 
the  articles  which  the  treaty  enumerates  as  of  the  character  of  contraband 
of  war. 

From  what  has  been  manifested,  it  appears  that  Mexico  has  not  thought  of 
perscribing  to  the  United  States  what  merchandise  they  may  sell  to  French 
subjects,  and  what  are  those  they  cannot  sell  to  them,  as  the  honorable  Secre 
tary  of  States  seems  to  have  understood  it. 

It  (Mexico)  has  only  desired  that  the  United  States  should  comply  with  one 
of  the  obligations  which  the  treaty  which  binds  them  to  Mexico  imposes  upon 
them,  and  that  they  do  not  permit  a  trade  which  the  treaty  referred  to  declares 
to  be  illegal.  This  just  claim  is  exactly  the  same  which  the  government  of  the 
United  States  has  been  making  for  several  months  upon  the  British  government, 
and  the  undersigned  cannot  have  been  less  than  greatly  surprised  upon  seeing 
that  what  this  government  deems  it  just  to  exact  from  that  of  Great  Britain,  it 
should  not  deem  it  just  to  concede  to  that  of  Mexico.  As  the  despatches  upon 
which  the  opinion  of  the  undersigned  is  founded  are  familiar  to  the  honorable 
Secretary  of  State,  he  abstains  from  citing  the  precise  text  of  them,  which  have 
been  recently  published  by  the  Department  of  State  with  the  President's  mes 
sage  of  the  1st  instant.  In  adopting  this  course,  the  undersigned  has  been  also 
governed  by  the  desire  of  not  extending  too  much  the  present  note ;  but  if  the 
honorable  Secretary  of  State  should  question  this  assertion,  the  undersigned 
will  have  the  honor  to  further  discuss  this  subject  more  lengthily  hereafter  in 
another  communication. 


28  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

The  undersigned  cannot  consider  that  the  general  order  which  prohibits  the 
exportation  of  arms  from  the  United  States  is  the  cause  that  the  clearance  of 
those  purchased  by  Mexico  should  have  been  denied  ;  first,  because  the  date  of 
the  only  general  order  of  prohibition  which  has  come  to  his  knowledge  and  to 
that  of  the  merchants  of  New  York  is  subsequent  to  that  refusal ;  secondly, 
because  subsequently  to  that  refusal,  arms  have  been  cleared  for  other  ports 
which  are  not  Mexican  ports ;  thirdly,  because  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  issued  an  order  to  the  collector  of  the  custom-house  of  New  York  ex 
pressly  prohibiting  the  clearance  of  the  arms  referred  to,  which  would  have  been 
entirely  useless  if  there  had  been  a  general  order  forbidding  such  clearances ; 
and  fourthly,  because  the  custom-house  of  New  York  granted  the  clearance  of 
the  same  arms  purchased  by  Mexico,  when  it  was  asked  for  Quebec ;  and  when 
this  government  received  notice  that  they  would  be  shipped  thence  to  a  Mexi 
can  port,  it  ordered  them  to  be  detained  and  returned  to  New  York. 

The  honorable  Secretary  of  State  will  understand  that  it  is  not  the  object  of 
the  undersigned  to  solicit  that  the  clearance  of  arms  to  Mexico  be  permitted. 
He  believed  that  Mexico  had  the  right  to  purchase  them  and  export  them  from 
the  United  States  before  this  government  should  have  recognized  the  state  of 
war  existing  between  Mexico  and  France ;  but  from  the  moment  when  it  de 
clared  itself  neutral  in  such  war,  he  only  asks  that  the  same  principles  be  ap 
plied  to  France  which  with  so  much  rigor  were  applied  to  Mexico,  even  before 
such  declaration  had  been  made ;  for  should  it  not  do  so,  the  undersigned  will 
find  himself  under  the  painful  necessity  of  considering  the  conduct  of  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  as  but  little  friendly  towards  Mexico,  and  as  con 
trary  to  the  obligations  which  their  character  of  a  neutral  imposes  upon  them. 

The  undersigned  avails  himself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  the  honorable 
William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  the  assurances  of 
his  most  distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  January  7,  1863. 

The  undersigned,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  has  the  honor  to 
acknowledge  the  reception  of  the  note  of  his  excellency,  Mr.  Romero,  charge 
d'affaires  of  the  republic  of  Mexico,  which  bears  date  of  December  20,  and 
relates  to  the  subject  of  the  clearances  of  certain  articles  of  merchandise  at  the 
city  of  New  York,  alleged  by  Mr.  Romero  to  have  been  made  on  account  of 
French  subjects,  for  the  use  of  the  French  government  in  its  war  with  Mexico. 

In  the  note  which  the  undersigned  addressed  to  Mr.  Romero  on  this  subject 
on  the  15th  of  December  last,  and  also  in  an  exposition  of  the  same  subject 
which  was  made  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  which  was  submitted 
to  Mr.  Romero,  it  was  explained  that  the  clearances  of  which  he  complains 
were  made  in  conformity  with  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  with  the 
practical  construction  of  those  laws  which  has  prevailed  from  the  foundation  of 
this  government — a  period  which  includes  wars,  more  or  less  general,  through 
out  the  world,  and  involving  many  states  situated  on  the  American  and  Euro 
pean  continents. 

The  undersigned,  after  the  most  careful  reading  of  Mr.  Romero's  note,  is 
unable  to  concede  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  has  obliged  itself 
to  prohibit  the  exportation  of  mules  and  wagons,  for  which  it  has  no  military 
need,  from  its  ports,  on  French  account,  because,  being  in  a  state  of  war  and 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  29 

needing  for  the  use  of  the  government  all  the  fire-arms  made  and  found  in  the 
country,  it  has  temporarily  forbidden  the  export  of  such  weapons  to  all  nations. 
Nor  is  it  perceived  how  the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  to 
which  Mr.  Romero  refers,  bears  upon  the  question,  since  the  United  States  have 
not  set  up,  or  thought  of  setting  up,  any  claim  that  Mexico  shall  be  required  to 
admit  into  her  ports  any  articles  of  merchandise  contraband  of  war  which  may 
be  exported  from  the  United  States  on  French  or  any  other  account. 

The  undersigned  is  equally  unable  to  perceive  the  bearing  of  Mr.  Romero's 
allusions  to  the  correspondence  which  has  occurred  between  this  government 
and  that  of  Great  Britain,  in  which  complaints  have  been  made  by  the  United 
States  that  Great  Britain  wrongfully  and  injuriously  recognized,  as  a  public 
belligerent,  an  insurrectionary  faction  which  has  arisen  in  this  country  ;  has 
proclaimed  neutrality  between  that  faction  and  this  government ;  and  has  suf 
fered  armed  naval  expeditions  to  be  fitted  out  in  British  ports  to  depredate  on 
the  commerce  of  the  United  States  in  violation  of,  as  was  believed,  the  Queen's 
proclamation  and  of  the  municipal  laws  of  the  United  Kingdom. 

The  undersigned  avails  himself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  Mr.  Romero  the 
assurances  of  his  most  distinguished  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Seiior  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO, 

Charge  d?  Affaires  of  the  Mexican  Republic,  Washington,  D.  C. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Scward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  January  14,  1863. 

The  undersigned,  charge  d'affaires  of  the  United  Mexican  States,  has  had 
the  honor  of  receiving,  to-day,  the  note  which,  under  date  of  the  7th  instant, 
the  Hon.  William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  was  pleased  to  address  to  him  in  regard  to  the  clearance,  from  ports 
of  the  United  States,  of  articles  contraband  of  war,  purchased  by  emissaries  of 
the  French  army  invading  Mexico,  for  the  use  of  that  army. 

Although  the  undersigned,  in  compliance  with  his  duty,  has  left  the  deter 
mination  of  this  delicate  affair  to  his  government,  as  he  has  informed  the  honor 
able  Secretary  of  State,  he  thinks  he  is  bound  to  make  pome  observations 
which  occur  to  him,  in  view  of  the  argument  contained  in  the  note  that  he  has 
just  received  from  the  Department  of  State  of  the  United  States. 

The  honorable  Secretary  of  State  says  that  he  has  not  been  able  to  perceive 
what  congruency  there  is  between  the  articles  mentioned  by  the  undersigned  in 
his  note  of  December  20, 1862,  of  the  treaty  which  binds  Mexico  and  the  United 
States  to  each  other,  and  the  present  question,  "  since  the  United  States  have 
not  set  up,  or  thought  of  setting  up,  any  claim  that  Mexico  shall  be  required  to 
admit  into  her  ports  any  articles  of  merchandise  contraband  of  war  which  may 
be  exported  from  the  United  States  on  French,  or  any  other,  account."  As, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  undersigned,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  present  ques 
tion  is  regulated  by  the  stipulations  which  have  been  mentioned,  he  requests 
the  honorable  Secretary  of  State  to  permit  him  again  to  refer  to  them. 

The  undersigned  has  maintained  that  the  exportation  from  the  United  States 
of  articles  contraband  of  war,  purchased  by  emissaries  of  the  French  army  in 
vading  Mexico  for  the  use  of  that  army,  is  illegal  according  to  the  stipulations 
of  the  treaty  of  friendship,  commerce,  and  navigation  concluded  between  Mexico 
and  the  United  States  on  the  5th  of  April,  1831.  Article  16  declares  legal  the 
most  ample  liberty  of  commerce  and  navigation  between  the  two  countries,  and 


30  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS* 

article  18  provides  that  such  liberty  of  navigation  and  commerce  is  not  extended 
to  articles  contraband  of  war.  If,  therefore,  the  traffic  in  these  articles  is  ille 
gal,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  not  to  authorize  it ; 
and  in  granting  to  it  the  same  liberty  and  the  same  franchises  as  to  the  traffic  in 
articles  of  lawful  commerce,  this  government  fails  to  comply  with  one  of  the 
obligations  imposed  on  it  by  said  treaty. 

Nor  has  the  honorable  Secretary  of  State  discovered  any  similarity  between 
this  case  and  that  which  appears  in  the  recently  published  correspondence  be 
tween  this  government  and  that  of  Great  Britain,  to  which  the  undersigned 
referred  in  his  said  note  of  the  20th  of  December  last,  expressing  his  surprise 
that  the  government  of  the  United  States  should  deem  it  just  to  demand  from 
the  government  of  Great  Britain  what  it  is  unwilling  to  concede  to  that  of  Mexico. 

It  is  true  that  what  the  United  States  have  chiefly  complained  of  against  the 
British  government  is  the  fitting  out  at  and  sailing  from  British  ports  of  naval 
expeditions  organized  by  the  insurrectionary  States,  with  which  the  United 
States  are  now  at  war ;  but  this  government  has  not  limited  itself  to  asking 
the  British  government  not  to  permit  the  fitting  out  and  sailing  of  such  expedi 
tions  ;  it  has  gone  further.  It  has  demanded  that  it  should  not  permit  the 
purchase  and  exportation  from  British  ports  of  articles  contraband  of  war  in 
tended  for  insurrectionary  States,  which  is  exactly  what  the  undersigned  has 
thought  he  had  a  right  to  demand  of  this  government. 

Lord  Russell,  in  replying  on  the  10th  of  May,  1862,  to  a  note  which  on  the 
8th  of  the  same  month  had  been  addressed  to  him  by  the  minister  of  the  United 
States  accredited  near  the  British  government,  in  which  he  had  proposed  that 
the  statute  of  George  IV,  of  3d  July,  1819,  which  prohibits  the  enlistment  of 
British  subjects  in  armies  of  belligerent  powers,  when  Great  Britain  is  neutral, 
might  be  amended,  said  what  will  be  found  on  page  93  of  the  diplomatic  cor 
respondence  annexed  to  the  annual  message  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States  of  the  1st  of  December,  1862,  which  is  entirely  the  same  position  in 
which  the  government  of  the  United  States  has  desired  to  place  itself  with 
respect  to  Mexico,  and  which  is  as  follows  :  "  The  foreign  enlistment  act  is  in 
tended  to  prevent  the  subjects  of  the  crown  from  going  to  war  when  the  sove 
reign  is  not  at  war.  *  *  *  In  these  cases  (enlistment  in  a  belligerent 
army  and  the  fitting  out  of  vessels)  the  persons  so  acting  would  carry  on  war, 
and  thus  might  engage  the  name  of  their  sovereign  and  of  their  nation  in  bel 
ligerent  operations.  But  owners  and  freighters  of  vessels  carrying  warlike 
stores  do  nothing  of  the  kind.  If  captured  for  breaking  a  blockade  or  carrying 
contraband  of  war  to  the  enemy  of  the  captor,  they  submit  to  capture,  are  tried, 
and  condemned  to  lose  their  cargo."  *  *  * 

Mr.  Adams  replied  to  Lord  Russell  on  the  12th  of  the  said  month  of  May, 
(page  94,)  as  follows  :  "  The  position  which  I  did  mean  to  take  is  this  :  that  the 
intent  of  the  enlistment  act,  as  explained  by  the  words  of  its  preamble,  was  to 
prevent  the  unauthorized  action  of  subjects  of  Great  Britain,  disposed  to  embark 
in  the  contests  of  foreign  nations,  from  involving  the  country  in  the  risk  of  a 
war  with  these  countries.  This  view  of  the  law  does  not  seem  to  be  materially 
varied  by  your  lordship.  When  speaking  of  the  same  thing  you  say  that  the 
law  applies  to  cases  where  'private  persons  so  acting  would  carry  on  war,  and 
thus  might  engage  the  name  of  their  sovereign  and  of  their  nation  in  belligerent 
operations.'  It  is  further  shown  by  that  preamble,  that  that  act  was  an  addi 
tional  act  of  prevention,  made  necessary  by  experience  of  the  inefficiency  of 
former  acts  passed  to  effect  the  same  object. 

"  But  it  u  now  made  plain  that  whatever  may  have  been  the  skill  with  which 
this  latest  act  was  drawn,  it  does  not  completely  fulfil  its  intent,  because  it  is 
very  certain  that  many  British  subjects  are  now  engaged  in  undertakings  of  a 
hostile  character  to  a  foreign  state,  which,  though  not  technically  within  the 
strict  letter  of  the  enlistment  act,  are  as  much  contrary  to  its  spirit  as  if  they 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  31 

levied  war  directly.  Their  measures  embrace  all  the  operations  preliminary  to 
openly  carrying  on  war — the  supply  of  men  and  ships  and  arms  and  money  to 
one  party,  in  order  that  they  may  be  the  better  enabled  to  overcome  the  other, 
which  other  is  in  this  case  a  nation  with  which  Great  Britain  is  now  under 
treaty  obligations  of  the  most  solemn  nature  to  maintain  a  lasting  peace  and 
friendship."  *  *  *  *  * 

This  is  exactly  what  the  undersigned  has  solicited  since  the  discussion  of  this 
affair  began,  in  the  note  which  he  addressed  to  the  Department  of  State  on  the 
10th  of  December  last. 

This  view  of  the  question  is  not  exclusive  to  Mr.  Adams  :  the  honorable  Sec 
retary  of  State,  in  the  despatch  which  he  addressed  to  the  minister  of  the  United 
States  at  London,  on  the  2d  of  June,  1862,  (page  108,)  adopts  it  entirely  in 
saying  to  him  as  follows  :  "  There  has  just  now  fallen  into  our  hands  a  very 
extraordinary  document,  being  a  report  made  by  Caleb  Huse,  who  calls  himself 
a  captain  of  artillery,  and  who  is  an  agent  of  the  insurgents  in  Europe  for  the 
purchase  of  arms,  munitions  of  war,  and  military  supplies,  which  have  been 
shipped  by  him  in  England  and  elsewhere,  in  the  mad  attempt  to  overthrow  the 
federal  Union.  It  reveals  enough  to  show  that  the  complaints  you  have  made 
to  Earl  Russell  fell  infinitely  short  of  the  real  abuses  of  neutrality  which  have 
been  committed  in  Great  Britain  in  the  very  face  of  her  Majesty's  government." 
*  *  ****** 

In  writing  those  lines  it  seems  the  honorable  Secretary  of  State  had  forgotten 
the  doctrine  which  he  now  says  is  "  conformable  to  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  the  practical  application  of  those  laws  which  has  prevailed  since 
the  foundation  of  this  government." 

Among  the  so-called  authorities  which  have  governed  the  course  of  the  hon 
orable  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  which  were  submitted  to  the  undersigned, 
and  have  again  been  referred  to  by  the  honorable  Secretary  of  State,  is  the  fol 
lowing  fragment  of  the  instructions  communicated  by  Mr.  Webster  to  Mr. 
Thompson,  on  the  8th  of  July,  1842,  that  is  as  follows  : 

"  As  to  advances,  loans,  or  donations  of  money  or  goods,  made  by  individuals 
to  the  government  of  Texas  or  its  citizens,  the  Mexican  government  needs  not 
to  be  informed  that  there  is  nothing  unlawful  in  this,  so  long  as  Texas  is  at 
peace  with  the  United  States,  and  that  there  are  things  which  no  government 
undertakes  to  restrain." 

This  sentence,  which  in  the  opinion  of  the  government  of  the  United  States 
is  an  authority  that  may  be  applied  to  Mexico  with  the  same  rigor  as  if  it  were 
an  article  of  the  international  code,  loses  all  its  force  when  it  concerns  the  United 
States.  A  while  ago  the  consul  of  the  United  States  at  Liverpool  learned  that 
in  that  city  a  subscription  was  being  raised  of  <€40,000  to  assist  the  insurgents 
of  this  country,  to  whom  England  had  conceded  all  the  rights  of  belligerents. 
Instead  of  the  honorable  Secretary  of  State  seeing  in  this  transaction  a  matter 
"  in  which  there  was  nothing  unlawful,  so  long  as  England  was  at  peace  with 
the  southern  States,  and  one  of  those  things  which  no  government  thinks  of  pro 
hibiting,"  he  addressed,  under  date  of  the  1st  of  May,  1862,  (page  78,)  a  de 
spatch  to  Mr.  Adams,  recommending  him  to  call  the  attention  of  Lord  Russell 
to  the  transaction.  Evidently  the  honorable  Secretary  of  State  did  not  propose 
that  Mr.  Adams  should  speak  to  Lord  Russell  of  this  affair  with  a  view  of  ap 
proving  of  it  and  of  manifesting  that  there  was  nothing  unlawful  in  it,  but  that 
he  should  request  the  English  government  to  apply  a  remedy  to  this  want  of 
neutrality. 

In  the  archives  of  the  United  States,  as  in  those  of  other  nations,  there  are 
opposite  opinions  on  all  questionable  points ;  even  on  those  which  can  hardly 
be  a  subject  of  discussion.  In  the  present  case,  it  seems  to  the  undersigned 
that  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  only  collected  those  authori 
ties  which  do  not  favor  the  just  cause  of  Mexico.  The  undersigned  might  pre- 


32  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

sent,  in  support  of  his  good  right,  another  list  of  American  authorities  more 
numerous  and  more  weighty  than  those  which  appear  to  have  induced  the  hon 
orable  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  concede  to  France  what  separates  the  United 
States  from  that  neutrality  which  they  declare  that  they  wish  to  observe  in  the 
war  between  Mexico  and  the  Emperor  of  the  French. 

The  honorable  Secretary  of  State  is  pleased  to  inform  the  undersigned  that 
the  prohibition  against  exporting  arms  from  the  ports  of  the  United  States, 
which  was  first  adopted  to  the  prejudice  of  Mexico  only,  and  which  afterwards 
became  general,  is  a  temporary  measure.  The  opinion  which  the  undersigned 
holds  respecting  the  motives  which  have  induced  the  government  of  the  United 
States  to  prohibit  the  exportation  of  arms  to  Mexico — an  opinion  founded  on 
undeniable  facts — would  fail  to  be  justified  if  the  prohibition  against  exporting 
arms  will  be  raised  when,  on  account  of  the  French  having  occupied  or  block 
aded  the  whole  coast  of  Mexico,  it  would  be  entirely  impossible  to  introduce 
arms  into  the  republic. 

The  undersigned  avails  himself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  the  honorable 
William  II.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  the  assurances  of 
his  most  distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  January  17,  1863. 

The  undersigned,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  has  had  the  honor 
to  receive  the  note  which  was  addressed  to  him  on  the  14th  instant  by  Mr. 
Romero,  concerning  the  action  of  the  Treasury  Department  in  relation  to  ship 
ments  of  goods  at  New  York  for  Mexican  ports. 

The  undersigned,  while  seeing  no  cause  further  to  expatiate  upon  the  reasons 
heretofore  offered  in  explanation  of  that  measure,  avails  himself  of  this  occasion 
to  offer  to  Mr.  Romero  a  renewed  assurance  of  his  high  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Seiior  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  Sfc. 


Mr.  Rankin  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Telegram.  ] 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  January  14,  1S63. 

French  consul  desires  me  to  prevent  shipment  of  contraband  goods  to  Mexico. 
Shall  I  comply?     If  yes,  what  articles  deemed  contraband? 

.  IRA  P.  RANKIN,  Collector. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  33 

Mr.  Scward  to  Mr.  Eankin. 

[Telegram.  ] 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  January  15,  1863. 

Your  telegram  of  the  14th  has  been  received.  Subjoined  is  a  copy  of  an  ex 
ecutive  order  of  the  30th  November  last,  which  will  serve  as  an  answer  to  your 
inquiry. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
IRA  P.  EANKIN, 

Collector  of  Customs,  San  Francisco. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
Washington  City,  November  20,  1862. 

Ordered,  That  no  arms,  ammunition,  or  munitions  of  war  be  cleared  or  al 
lowed  to  be  exported  from  the  United  States  until  further  order.  That  any 
clearances  of  arms,  ammunition,  or  munitions  of  war  issued  heretofore  by  the 
Treasury  Department  be  vacated,  if  the  articles  have  not  passed  without  the 
United  States,  and  the  articles  stopped.  That  the  Secretary  of  War  hold  pos 
session  of  the  arms,  &c.,  recently  seized  by  his  order  at  Eouse's  Point,  bound 
for  Canada. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Scward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  January  20,  3  863. 

The  undersigned,  charge  d'affaires  of  the  United  Mexican  States,  has  the 
honor  to  address  himself  to  the  Hon.  William  II.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  to  inform  him  that  he  has  received  a  communica 
tion,  dated  the  17th  of  this  month,  from  the  Mexican  citizen  Camilo  Camara, 
now  sojourning  in  New  York,  and  of  which  he  encloses  a  copy.  From  this 
communication  it  appears  that  the  custom-house  at  New  York  refuses  to  clear, 
for  the  port  of  Sisal,  a  cargo  of  powder,  lead,  and  flint-stones,  intended  to  sus 
tain  the  war  which  the  government  of  Yucatan  is  waging  against  the  revolted 
Indians  of  that  peninsula. 

As  all  that  has  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  undersigned  is,  that  the  expor 
tation  of  arms  to  Mexico  is  the  only  thing  which  the  government  of  the  United 
States  has  prohibited  up  to^this  time,  he  could  not  less  than  be  surprised  at 
seeing  that  the  prohibition  is  being  extended  to  the  other  articles  contraband 
of  war  which  Mexico  is  in  want  of,  even  though  she  does  not  intend  to  make 
use  of  them  in  the  war  which  the  republic  is  sustaining  against  the  Emperor  of 
the  French. 

The  undersigned  would  be  thankful  to  the  honorable  the  Secretary  of  State 
if  he  would  be  pleased  to  inform  him,  if  it  be  possible,  what  are  the  articles,  be 
sides  arms,  the  exportation  of  which  to  the  ports  of  Mexico,  which  are  in  the 
possession  of  the  authorities  of  the  republic,  this  government  has  prohibited. 

The  undersigned  would  also  be  pleased  to  know  if  the  honorable  the  Secretary 
of  State  would  have  the  goodness  to  inform  him  whether  this  government  pro 
poses  to  clear,  or  riot,  the  cargo  to  which  the  said  letter  of  Mr.  Camara  refers. 
H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 3 


34  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

The  undersigned  avails  himself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  the  Hon.  Wm. 
H.  Seward,  Secret  ny  of  State  of  the  United  States,  the  assurances  of  his  most 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SKWARD,  $c.,  fa-*  4r- 


[Translation.] 

NEW  YORK,  January  17,  1863. 

HONORED  SIR  :  I,  the  undersigned,  a  Mexican  citizen,  a  native  and  a  merchant  of  Yuca 
tan,  at  the  present  time  sojourning  in  this  city  for  the  purpose  of  commercial  pursuits,  as  is 
customary,  most  respectfully  do  make  known  to  you  that  I  have  been  much  surprised  that 
the  custom-house  in  this  place  should  not  permit,  me  to  ship,  in  either  an  American  or  a 
foreign  vessel,  a  small  quantity  of  powder,  lead,  and  flint-stones,  which  my  consignees  in 
this  city,  Messrs.  Riera  &  Thebaud,  merchants  thereof,  have  endeavored  to  ship  for  my 
account  on  an  English  vessel,  and  destined  to  Sisal,  for  the  use  of  that  state.  You  cannot 
but  know,  sir,  that  we  have  no  other  means  of  supplying  ourselves  with  these  articles,  unless 
it  be  from  the  United  States,  whence  they  have  always  been  carried,  and  at  the  same  time 
you  knowr  that  in  our  country  it  is  indispensable  to  us  to  have  powder  and  other  articles  of 
war,  owing  most  especially  to  the  desolating  war  now  being  carried  on  against  us  by  the 
rebellious  Indians.  Independently  of  these  considerations  we  have  to  call  your  attention  to 
the  fact  that,  while  we  are  prevented  from  a  lawful  trade  in  these  articles  of  war,  it  is  said 
they  have  permitted  here  the  exportation  of  effects  for  the  French,  who  are  actually  waging 
war  against  our  republic. 

My  aforesaid  consignees  huve  written  upon  the  subject  to  the  War  Department  at  Wash 
ington,  offering  to  give  a  security  until  we  shall  send  a  certificate  from  Yucatan,  in  which  it 
is  certified  that  these  articles  have  been  landed  in,  and  are  for  the  use  of,  that  country,  and 
to  the  said  letter,  of  which  I  enclose  you  a  copy,  no  answer  has  as  yet  been  received.  A 
disposition  so  arbitrary  and  illegal,  preventing  the  shipment  of  certain  articles  to  Mexico, 
not  only  does  injury  to  the  different  states  of  the  republic,  by  depriving  them  of  the  revenues 
which  these  articles  would  produce,  and  necessary  to  their  consumption,  but,  in  a  very  direct 
manner,  to  the  commerce  and  government  of  Yucatan,  which  requires  them  to  oppose  the 
rebellious  Indians.  I  do  not  see  what  lawful  objection  there  is  to  prevent  a  traffic  guaranteed 
by  the  treaties  which  exist  between  the  two  countries  ;  and  considering  that  my  reasons  are 
well  founded,  and  that  your  co-operation  in  this  case  is  made  necessary,  I  take  the  liberty  to 
request  you  to  take  the  trouble  to  attend  to  this,  my  petition  with  the  least  possible  delay, 
inasmuch  as  the  vessel  which  will  carry  my  invoice  is  now  being  loaded,  by  applying  for 
this  purpose  to  the  War  Department  to  obtain  the  pei  mission  for  shipping  these  effects  hence 
for  Yucatan,  writh  the  guarantee,  if  they  desire  it,  of  the  respectable  signatures  of  Messrs. 
Riera  &  Thebaud,  as  has  been  done  in  other  similar  cases. 

The  interest  you  may  take  in  this  matter,  as  our  worthy  representative,  is  the  only  means 
of  favorably  settling  this  business  for  us,  and  I  do  not  doubt  that  you  will  be  pleased  to 
extend  your  protection  to  me. 

In  the  event  of  your  needing  my  address,  you  will  address  me  to  the  care  of  Messrs.  Riera 
&  Thel>aud,  and  meanwhile  1  have  the  honor  to  place  myself  at  your  service. 
Your  very  obedient  servant, 

CAMILO  CAMARA. 

Senor  DON  M.  ROMERO, 

Minister  from  the  Mexican  Republic,  in  Washington. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  January  21,  1863. 

SIR  :  In  reply  to  your  note  of  yesterday  expressing  surprise  at  the  refusal  of 
the  custom-house  authorities  to  clear  for  the  port  of  Sisal  a  cargo  of  powder, 
lead,  and  flint-stones,  and  desiring  to  be  informed  what  are  the  articles  the  ex 
portation  of  which  has  been  prohibited  by  this  government,  I  have  the  honor  to 
Btate  that,  on  the  20th  November  last,  an  executive  order  from  the  President  of 
the  United  States  directed  "that  no  arms,  ammunition,  or  munitions  of  war  be 
cleared  or  allowed  to  be  exported  from  the  United  States  until  further  order." 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  35 

I  am  not  aware  that  this  order  has  been  relaxed  or  rescinded,  nor  do  I  per 
ceive  the  propriety  or  expediency  of  remitting  it  under  existing  circumstances. 
I  avail,  &c.,  &c., 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Senor  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  &&.,  Sfc. 


General  Canby  to  Mr.  Seward. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
Washington  City,  February  17,  1864. 

SIR  :  The  Secretary  of  War  instructs  me  to  submit  to  you  the  enclosed  letter 
and  accompaniments  from  T.  Lemmen  Meyer,  San  Francisco,  soliciting,  for 
himself  and  others,  permission  to  ship  blasting  powder  from  that  port,  for  the 
use  of  designated  mines  in  Mexico,  and  to  request  the  expression  of  your  opin 
ion  upon  the  propriety  and  expediency  of  granting  the  privilege  asked  for. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

ED.  R.  S.  CANBY, 
Brigadier  Genera?,  A.  A.  G. 
The  SECRETARY  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  D.  C. 


Mr.  Meyer  to  Mr.  Stanton. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  January  16,  1864. 

SIR  :  I  beg  to  accompany  two  petitions,  signed  by  me,  entreating  you  to  allow  the  ex 
portation  of  a  certain  amount  of  powder  for  the  use  of  two  mines  in  Mexico  in  which  I  am 
interested.  The  damages  that  would  accrue  from  the  want  of  powder  are  so  well  known  to 
your  honor  that  I  abstain  from  mentioning  them,  and  I  will  limit  myself  to  state,  for  the  sake 
of  not  occupying  your  valuable  time,  that  the  French  consul  in  this  city  having  no  objection 
to  its  exportation,  and  the  French  minister  in  your  city  consenting  to  it,  (as  her  will  most 
likely  do,)  the  only  party  which,  in  my  opinion,  remains  with  the  right  to  either  allow  or 
prohibit  its  exportation  is  the  United  States  government. 
Allow  me  to  offer  you,  honorable  sir,  my  most  sincere  respects. 

T.  LEMMEN  MEYER. 
Hon.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  the  United  States  War  Department,  Washington,  D.  C. 


SAN  FRANCISCO,  January  16,  1864. 

DEAR  Sin :  Most  respectfully  and  earnestly  do  we  request  of  you  permission  to  make 
monthly  shipments  of  twenty  kegs  of  blasting  powder  to  the  "  Agua  Grande  "  copper  mine, 
located  at  Sonora,  Mexico,  whereof  W.  Randall  is  superintendent.  Said  blasting  or  mining 
powder  to  be  in  kegs,  holding  25  pounds  each,  purchased  from  Edward  H.  Parker,  San 
Francisco,  agent  of  the  Hazard  Powder  Company,  New  York,  and  to  be  shipped  by  us  to 
the  port  of  Guayrnas,  Mexico,  on  board  the  steamer  Sierra  Nevada,  or  John  L.  Stephens,  of 
B.  Holladay's  line. 

If  in  the  affirmative,  please  answer  by  telegraph. 

Yours  respectfully, 

T.   LEMMEN  MEYER. 
Hon.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

t  Secret ary  of  the  U.  S.  War  Department,  Washington  City,  D.C. 


36  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

Note  by  the  Department  of  State. 

Permits  were  also  requested  from  the  War  Department,  in  letters  of  the  same 
tenor  as  the  foregoing,  to  make  monthly  shipments  of  powder  to  mines  in  Mexico 
and  iiower  California,  by  the  parties  whose  names  appear  annexed,  and  which 
letters  are  dated  January  15  and  16,  1864. 

T.  LEMMEN  MEYER. — Twenty  kegs  for  Panuoa  silver  mine,  in  Sinaloa, 
Mexico. 

L.  B.  BENTLEY  &  Co. — Eighty  kegs  for  Guadalupe  silver  mine,  in  Chihuahua, 
Mexico.  Twenty  kegs  for  Bella  Vista  gold  and  silver  mine,  in  Lower  California. 

EGGERS  &  Co. — Ten  kegs  for  Ida  silver  mine,  in  Lower  California.  Ten 
kegs  for  Henriette  and  Sophie  gold  and  silver  mine,  in  Lower  California.  Ten 
kegs  for  El  Tesoro  silver  mine,  in  Lower  California. 


Mr.  Scward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

* 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  February  19,  18G4. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  communicate  herewith  a  copy  of  a  letter  addressed 
to  me  on  the  17th  instant,  under  instructions  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  by 
Brigadier  General  Canby,  together  with  a  copy  of  the  papers  referred  to,  relating 
to  an  application  from  Mr.  T.  L.  Meyer,  of  San  Francisco,  for  permission  to  ship 
some  blasting  powder,  intended  for  mining  purposes,  from  that  port  to  Mazatlan. 

Under  existing  circumstances  I  conceive  it  necessary  that  such  an  application 
should  first  be  submitted  to  the  belligerent  powers  now  exercising  authority  in 
Mexico,  and  beg  therefore  to  refer  the  subject  to  you  as  the  representative  of 
one  of  those  powers. 

I  avail,  &c.,  &c.,  &c., 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Senor  MATIAS"  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fye.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Scicard. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  February  20,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  I  have  received  the  note  which,  under  yesterday's  date, 
your  excellency  was  pleased  to  address  to  me,  accompanied  by  a  communication 
sent  to  you  by  Brigadier  General  Canby,  together  with  various  copies  of  appli 
cations  made  by  Mr.  T.  L.  Meyer,  of  San  Francisco,  California,  that  permission 
may  be  accorded  to  him  to  ship  mining  gunpowder  to  the  ports  of  Guaymas, 
La  Paz,  and  Mazatlan. 

You  consider  that,  under  existing  circumstances,  it  is  necessary  for  you  to 
recur  "  to  the  belligerent  powers  exercising  authority  in  Mexico,"  in  order  to  be 
ready  to  come  to  a  decision  pn  this  point,  and,  as  the  representative  of  one  of 
those  powers,  you  are  pleased  to  ask  for  my  opinion. 

Without  expressing  formally  any  opinion  on  this  occasion  as  to  the  necessity 
of  consulting  both  belligerent  parties,  which  in  your  judgment  exists,  whenever 
there  may  be  question  of  the  introduction  into  Mexico  of  an  article  which  may 
gerve  the  uses  of  warfare,  and  falling  back  upon  what,  in  this  respect,  I  have 


V  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS  37 

had  the  honor  to  state  to  you  on  other  occasions,  I  must  now  say  that,  for  my 
part,  I  do  not  think  there  can  be  any  impropriety  in  carrying  to  the  ports  indi 
cated  the  mining  gunpowder  to  which  these  applications  refer. 

I  avail  of  this  opportunity  to  reiterate  to  you  the  assurances  of  my  very  dis 
tinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  8fc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


No.  3 — Intervention  in  New  Granada. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward - March  J9,  1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero March  20,  1863. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward 1 March  21,  1863. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 

• 

[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  March  19,  1863. 

Mr.  SECRETARY:  Among  the  diplomatic  correspondence  which  accompanies 
the  message  which  the  President  addressed  to  the  37th  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  dated  December  1,  1862,  and  of  which  I  seasonably  transmitted  a  copy 
to  the  government  of  Mexico,  there  are  documents  relating  to  a  subject  which 
has  attracted  its  attention  in  a  very  special  manner,  and  respecting  which  I  have 
received  instructions  to  submit  its  views  to  the  government  of  the  United  States. 

The  Mexican  government,  which  has  always  considered  as  an  indispensable 
condition  for  the  preservation  of  the  independence  and  autonomy  of  the  American 
nations  the  keeping  out  of  them  the  intervention  of  the  European  powers  in 
their  domestic  affairs,  and  which,  in  order  to  maintain  this  sacred  principle  intact 
to-day,  finds  itself  involved  in  a  most  gigantic  war  with  one  of  the  most  powerful 
and  most  warlike  nations  of  Europe,  cannot  see  with  indifference  the  events  oc 
curring  in  other  portions  of  the  American  continent,  and  from  which  there  may 
result,  sooner  or  later,  an  European  intervention  in  these  countries. 

The  fates  of  the  nations  of  America  are  bound  together  in  such  a  manner  that 
if  the  encroachments  of  the  despots  of  Europe  should  succeed  in  one  of  them,  it 
would  scarcely  be  possible  to  prevent  their  being  extended  to  all  of  them.  Upon 
this  subject  the  opinion  of  the  government  of  Mexico  is  in  full  accord  with  the 
traditional  policy  of  the  United  States. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  government  of  Mexico,  the  result  could  have  been  none 
other  than  that  of  an  European  intervention,  if  the  proposal  which  the  United 
States  made  in  June  last  to  the  cabinets  of  St.  James  and  the  Tuilleries,  to  send 
land  forces  to  the  isthmus  of  Panama,  with  a  view  of  protecting  the  neutrality 
of  the  isthmus,  had  been  accepted  by  the  governments  of  Great  Britain  and 
France. 

Events  have  come  to  demonstrate,  in  a  manner  which  does  not  admit  of  reply, 
that  neither  the  tranquillity  of  that  region  was  changed,  nor  its  transit  inter 
rupted,  because  of  its  occupation  by  the  forces  of  General  Mosquera,  who,  at  that 
time,  was  already  in  possession  of  Bogota,  the  capital  of  New  Granada,  and  who 
had  overthrown  the  constitutional  government  of  that  confederation. 


38  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

t 

The  petition,  (request,)  therefore,  on  the  part  of  the  late  representative  of  the 
Granadian  confederation,  that  the  llnited  States  should  send  forces  which  should 
reoccupy  for  his  party  the  possession  of  the  isthmus,  under  the  plea  that  if  it  fell 
under,  or  remained  in,  the  power  of  General  Mosquera,  the  security  of  the  isth 
mus  would  not  he  sufficiently  protected,  had,  it  seemed,  no  other  object  than  to 
cause  the  plague  of  a  foreign  intervention  to  recoil  upon  his  own  country,  in 
order  that,  through  its  aid,  the  party  which  had  been  overthrown  might  thus 
re-establish  itself  into  power. 

The  pretexts  which  the  Mexican  emigrants  residing  in  Europe  adduced  to 
the  courts  of  Paris  and  Madrid  were  no  less  inadequate  to  bring  about  a  similar 
result  in  Mexico,  and  which  determined  three  of  the  nations  of  that  continent  to 
sign  the  treaty  of  London  of  the  31st  of  October,  1861,  which  unchained  against 
Mexico  the  present  war  with  France,  and  the  calamities  resulting  therefrom. 

The  government  of  Mexico  has,  for  this  same  reason,  seen  the  last  resolution 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States  upon  this  subject,  which  you  communicated 
to  Mr.  Dayton  in  the  despatch,  No.  215,  of  September  15,  1862,  (page  381  of 
said  correspondence,)  in  which  the  danger  of  an  European  intervention  in  New 
Granada  is  made  to  disappear,  with  a  satisfaction  as  great  and  as  sincere  as  its 
alarm  would  have  been  intense  and  profound  in  the  event  of  a  contrary  deter 
mination. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
most  distinguished  consideration.  • 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fyc.,  &fc. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  March  20,  1863. 

SIR  :  The  undersigned,  Secretary  of  State,  has  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  a  note  from  his  excellency  Sefior  Matias  Romero,  which  bears  the 
date  of  the  19th  of  March  instant,  and  alludes  to  a  correspondence  which  occurred 
during  the  last  year  between  his  excellency  Seiior  P.  A.  Herran,  minister  pleni 
potentiary  of  the  republic  of  New  Granada,  and  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  affecting  the  security  at  that  time  of  the  Panama  railroad  transit  route 
in  New  Granada. 

While  the  United  States  not  only  have  no  disposition  to  controvert  the  gen 
eral  views  of  the  government  of  Mexico  in  regard  to  foreign  intervention  in  the 
political  affairs  of  the  American  states  on  this  continent,  but  freely  confess  their 
sympathy  with  these  views,  as  they  are  communicated  by  Mr.  Romero,  the  un 
dersigned,  nevertheless,  feels  obliged  to  express  his  regret  that  a  misapprehen 
sion,  doubtless  unintentional,  of  the  character  of  the  correspondence  referred  to, 
has  seemed  to  the  Mexican  government  to  render  it  necessary  to  direct  that 
communication  to  be  made. 

The  undersigned  avails  himself  of  this  occasion  to  offer  to  Mr.  Romero  the 
assurance  of  his  high  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Senor  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  39 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Scivard. 
[Translation.  ] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  March  21,  1863. 

SIR  :  The  undersigned,  charge  d'affaires  of  the  United  Mexican  States,  has 
had  the  honor  to  receive  the  note  which  the  honorable  William  H.  Seward, 
Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States  of  America,  was  pleased  to  address  to 
him  under  date  of  yesterday,  in  reply  to  the  one  which  the  undersigned  placed 
in  the  hands  of  the  honorable  Mr.  Seward,  at  the  interview  which  he  had  with 
him  on  the  nineteenth  of  the  present  month,  in  relation  to  the  proposition  made 
last  year  by  the  United  States  to  the  governments  of  Great  Britain  and  France, 
with  the  object  of  protecting  the  security  of  the  transit  across  the  isthmus  of 
Panama,  which  the  government  of  the  United  States  believed  to  be  in  danger 
in  consequence  of  the  political  events  which  then  occurred  in  New  Granada. 

The  undersigned  has  seen,  with  the  liveliest  satisfaction,  that,  according  to 
the  expression  of  the  honorable  the  Secretary  of  State,  "the  United  States  have 
not  only  no  disposition  to  controvert  the  general  views  of  the  government  of 
Mexico  in  regard  to  foreign  intervention  in  the  political  affairs  of  the  American 
States  on  this  continent,  but  freely  confess  their  sympathy  with  these  views,  as 
they  are  communicated  by  the  undersigned  to  the  Department  of  State  in  his 
note  aforesaid." 

The  satisfaction  of  the  undersigned  has  been  still  the  greater,  upon  seeing  that 
the  honorable  the  Secretary  of  State  considers  as  a  groundless  fear  the  uneasi 
ness  which  the  government  of  Mexico  felt  on  receiving  notice  of  the  proposition 
made  by  the  United  States  to  the  cabinets  of  Saint  James  and  the  Tuilleries, 
believing  that  if  it  were  accepted  it  would  lead  to  a  foreign  intervention  in  the 
domestic  affairs  of  New  Granada;  for  this  shows,  in  the  opinion  of  the  under 
signed,  that,  although  the  result  of  such  a  proposition  might  have  been  that 
which  the  government  of  Mexico  feared,  the  United  States  were  very  for  from 
desiring  it,  and  were  looking  for  another  wholly  distinct. 

The  undersigned  will  with  pleasure  hasten  to  send  a  copy  of  the  note  of  the 
honorable  the  Secretary  of  State  to  Mexico ;  and  he  does  not  doubt  that  it  will 
be  viewed  by  his  government  with  the  utmost  and  most  sincere  satisfaction; 
and  that  it  will  finally  set  at  rest  the  fears  which  had  been  entertained  in  view 
of  the  proposition  hereinbefore  alluded  to. 

The  undersigned  believes  it  to  be  his  duty  to  express  to  the  honorable  the 
Secretary  of  State  how  greatly  he  regrets  that  the  communication  which  the 
undersigned  made  to  the  United  States,  by  order  of  his  government,  should 
have  been  received  with  regret  by  the  honorable  the  Secretary  of  State,  who 
laments  that  the  government  of  Mexico  should  have  thought  itself  under  the 
necessity  of  making  such  a  communication.  The  gravity  and  great  importance 
of  the  question  of  intervention,  on  the  favorable  result  of  the  solution  of  which  to 
the  nations  of  America  now  depends  not  only  the  welfare  but  the  independence 
itself  of  Mexico,  the  undersigned  believes  are  motives  which  authorize  the  gov 
ernment  of  Mexico  to  respectfully  manifest  its  views  to  the  United  States  upon 
a  point  in  which  all  the  other  nations  of  this  continent  are  equally  interested 
with  themselves. 

The  government  of  Mexico  must,  therefore,  have  considered  itself  authorized 
(entitled)  to  make  such  a  manifestation,  especially  when  it  was  made  expressing 
the  pleasure,  as  heartfelt  as  it  was  sincere,  with  which  the  Mexican  government 
had  learned  of  the  final  determination  of  the  President  of  the  United  States 
upon  this  subject. 


40  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

The  undersigned  avails  himself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  the  honorable 
William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  Sl,ate  of  the  United  States,  the  assurances  of 
his  most  distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  4Y-'-»  $c->  &- 


No.  4. —  Case  of  the  steamer  Noc-Daquy. 

Mr.  B3tnero  to  Sir.  Seward,  (with  one  enclosure) February  23,  1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero February  25,  1863. 

Same  to  same March    "  6,  1863. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward March  6,  1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  (with  twelve  enclosures) March  13,  1863. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  four  enclosures) April  15,  1863. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION, 
Washington,  February  23,  1863. 

The  Mexican  consul  at  Havana  has  sent  me  a  copy  of  an  affidavit  made  at 
the  consulate  under  his  charge  by  sundry  individuals  of  the  crew  of  the  steamer 
Noc-Daquy,  captured  by  the  Mexican  authorities  of  Yucatan  for  being  in  the 
slave  trade.  If  the  facts  be  true  which  are  narrated  in  that  affidavit,  of  which 
I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  you  a  copy,  the  United  States  steamers  Wachusett 
and  Sonoma,  which  arrived  at  the  island  of  Mugeres  the  28th  December  last, 
under  the  order  of  Commodore  Wilkes,  committed  the  offence  of  taking  by  force 
from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Mexican  tribunals  a  prize  which  was  subject  to 
them,  and  which  they  were  passing  upon  in  accordance  with  the  laws. 

I  have  no  doubt  that,  if  such  facts  should  turn  out  to  be  proven,  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  will  be  disposed  to  give  to  that  of  Mexico  all  the 
satisfaction  that  may  be  due  to  it  for  the  violation  of  its  rights,  as  she  has  done 
to  other  nations  whose  maritime  sovereignty  has  not  been  respected  by  vessels 
of  the  United  States.  Although  I  have  not  yet  received  instructions  from  my 
government  upon  this  matter — and  probably  they  will  not  communicate  with  me 
until  the  receipt  in  Mexico  of  the  reports  from  the  governor  of  Yucatan — I  believe 
it  to  be  my  duty  to  communicate  to  you  at  once  the  affidavit  mentioned  for  the 
information  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  reserving  the  application 
for  what  may  be  rightly  due  when  I  shall  receive  instructions  from  the  Mexican 
government. 

I  profit  by  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  most 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Sp.,  <$r.,  Sfc. 


[Translation.] 

CONSULATE  OF  MEXICO,  AT  THE  HAVANA. 

I  certify  that  on  pages  243,  244,  215,  and  246,  of  book  A,  protocols  of  this  consulate,  are 
found  recorded  the  following  documents  : 

CONSULATE  OF  MEXICO,  AT  THE  HAVANA. 

On  the  tenth  of  February,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  there  came 
to  me,  at  this  consulate,  and  before  me  and  the  undersigned  witnesses,  with  the  aid  of  the 
interpreter  of  the  government,  Don  Rumm  de  Aroastia,  the  following  individuals  belonging 
to  the  crew  of  the  steamer  Noc-Daquy,  delivering  to  me  a  letter  dated  at  Key  West,  and 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  41 

signed  by  Chief  Engineer  Win.  E.  Hardy,  of  that  vessel,  stating  at  the  same  time,  and 
spontaneously,  that  they  made  the  affidavit  that  all  the  said  machinist  Hardy  paid  in  the 
said  document,  which  they  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  consul  subscribing,  was  the  plain 
truth  as  to  what  had  occurred  at  the  islands  Mnjeres  with  the  steamer  Noc-Daquy  :  Samuel 
Croply,  second  engineer  ;  P'Hpe  Carvin,  fireman  ;  Francisco  Harappy,  fireman;  Jose'  Maria 
Trias,  fireman;  Jose  Colmen,  fireman;  Pedro  Juan,  mariner;  Luis  Cosine,  mariner  ;  Du- 
comte  Jean,  mariner  ;  Manuel  Lisboa,  mariner  ;  Caire  Jaques,  mariner. 

The  letter  to  which  the  individuals  mentioned  attest  was  written  in  English,  at  Key 
West,  dated  the  2d  instant,  and  signed  by  the  first  engineer  of  the  steamer  Noc-Daquy, 
translated  into  Spanish  by  the  said  interpreter,  and  says  literally  as  follows  : 

KEY  WEST,  February  2,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  hope  the  following  narrative  will  be  read,  because  it  interests  you,  as  well  as  your 
government.  I  embarked  at  the  Havana  on  the  13th  December  last,  to  join  a  steamer 
lying  at  the  island  Mujeres,  to  run  the  blockade  at  Mobile.  On  arriving  at  the  island 
we  found  the  steamer  in  the  hands  of  the  Mexican  authorities.  The  employes  allowed 
some  of  us  to  go  on  board  to  repair  the  engines,  one  of  which  was  broken.  On  the  28th 
December  the  United  States  steamers  Wachusett  and  Sonoma  came  into  port,  under  com 
mand  of  Admiral  Wilkes  ;  and,  on  the  29th,  he  sent  on  board  a  lieutenant  and  fifteen 
men,  who  took  possession  of  the  vessel.  We  still  went  on  working,  believing  she  was  a 
Mexican  prize,  and  that  we  would  be  remunerated  for  our  labor  On  the  9th  January, 
1863,  the  Sonoma  went  to  Sisal.  Upon  her  return  she  brought  word  that  the  Mexican  au 
thorities  at  Mevida  had  considered  the  vessel  ("Noc-Daquy,"  alias  "Virginia")  as  a 
slaver.  On  the  18th  of  January,  our  captain,  acting  under  the  orders  of  Admiral  Wilkes, 
told  me  to  set  the  engine  going,  which  I  did  ;  and  while  I  was  below  obeying  his  orders  he 
hoisted  the  banner  of  the  Confederate  States,  and,  on  seeing  this,  I  got  the  engines  ready, 
(before  the  anchor  was  weighed.)  when  immediately  they  were  set  in  motion  by  the  lieu 
tenant  of  marines.  In  fine,  the  United  States  seamen  got  her  out  of  port  any  way,  weighed 
anchor,  appointed  firemen,  and  the  lieutenant  acted  as  engineer.  When  she  was  at  a  short 
distance  from  land  they  took  possession  of  her  in  the  following  ridiculous  way  * 

Officer  of  the  Sonoma.   "What  bark  is  that  ?  " 

Captain  of  the  Noc-Daquy.   "The  c  »nfederate  steamer  Virginia." 

Then  the  Wachusett  fired  a  cannon-shot,  and  sent  the  crew  on  board  as  prize  ;  and  be 
cause  we,  the  crew  of  the  steamer  Noc-Daguy,  did  not  choose  to  work  under  the  con 
federate  banner,  nor  take  part  in  the  infamous  plan  for  stealing  the  vessel,  and  for  refusing 
to  bring  her  to  this  port,  we  were  taken  on  board  the  steamers  Wachusett  and  Sonoma 
and  treated  as  traitors,  in  which  condition  we  now  are,  and  we  ask  you  to  act  at  once  in  this 
matter,  because  the  bark  is  valued  at  $100,000,  and  there  are  nineteen  of  the  crew  who 
will  corroborate  all  aforesaid.  I  forgot  to  say  the  cargo  of  the  schooner  was  taken  on  board 
the  steamer  by  express  order  of  Admiral  Wilkes. 
I  am,  respectfully, 

WILLIAM  E.  HARDY,  Engineer. 

I  certify  what  precedes  is  a  faithful  translation  of  the  original  in  English,  which  I  have 
marked. 

In  faith  whereof.  I  place  at  foot  my  signature  and  seal,  at  the  Havana,  the  10th  February, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three. 

RAMON  DE  AROISTIA, 
Interpreter  for  the  Public  and  the  Government. 

'   Seal  thereto,  bearing  interpretation  for  the  public  and  the  government. 

(Signed)  SAMUEL  CROPLY, 

For  Felipe  Corvin,  Francisco  Harappy,  Jos6  Colmen,  Pedro  Juan, 

Luis  Cosine,  Manuel  Lisbon,  and  Caire  Jacques,  which  individuals  don't  know  how  to  write, 
and  he  does  it  at  their  request. 

SAMUEL  CROPLY. 

(Signed)  JOSE  MA  TRIAS. 

(Signed)  ALEX.  McINTOSH. 

(Signed)  MICHAEL  HYLAND. 

(Signed)  ALEX.  McINTOSH. 

Signed  as  witness:  A   C.  MUNOS, 
A.  HARTMAN. 

(Signed)  RAMON  S.  DIAZ. 

Consulate  of  Mexico,  Habana,  February  11,  1863. 

A  copy.— Washington,  February  23,  1863. 

ROMERO 


42  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  February  25,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  note  of  the  23d  instant,  relative 
to  an  alleged  forcible  taking  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Mexican  tribunals,  by 
Acting  Rear-Admiral  Wilkes,  of  the  steamer  Noc-Daquy,  captured  by  the 
authorities  of  Yucatan  for  being  engaged  in  the  slave  trade. 

In  reply,  I  have  the  honor  to  acquaint  you  that  a  translation  of  your  com 
munication  will  be  at  once  submitted  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  with  a  request 
for  an  inquiry  into  the  case,  with  a  view  to  such  further  proceedings  as  the  result 
may  be  found  to  call  for. 

I  avail  myself  of  the  occasion,  sir,  to  offer  you  a  renewed  assurance  of  my 
very  high  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Senor  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  Sfc.,  $r. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  March  6,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  to  acquaint  you  that  a  report  from  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes  has 
been  received,  through  the  Navy  Department,  on  the  subject  of  the  steamer 
Virginia,  alias  Noc-Daquy.  From  this  report,  and  the  accompanying  proofs,  it 
appears  that  that  vessel,  though  claimed  to  have  been  intended  for  the  slave 
trade,  was  in  reality  the  property  of  insurgents  in  arms  against  the  United 
States,  and  was  intended  to  run  the  blockade  of  Mobile,  with  a  cargo  which 
was  taken  from  Havana  to  Mugeres  island,  on  board  the  Spanish  schooner 
Pepita.  It  also  appears  that,  in  point  of  fact,  the  Virginia  was  captured  be 
yond  the  maritime  jurisdiction  of  the  Mexican  republic.  Inasmuch,  however, 
as  the  vessel  has  been  sent  to  Key  West  for  adjudication,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted 
that  the  prize  court  there  will  give  due  attention  to  any  claim  which  the  Mexi 
can  republic  may  prefer  with  reference  to  her. 

I  avail  myself  of  the  occasion,  sir,  to  offer  to  you  the  assurance  of  my  dis 
tinguished  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Senor  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  Sp.,  fyc.t  fyc. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION, 

Washington,  March  6,  1863 

Mr.  SECRETARY:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  the  note  you 
were  pleased  to  address  to  me  of  this  day's  date,  informing  me  of  a  despatch 
from  Rear-Admiral  Wilkes,  and,  from  the  evidence  which  accompanies  it,  the 
steamer  Noc-Daquy,  it  appears,  is  in  "  reality  the  property  of  rebels  against  the 
United  States,  which  was  intended  to  run  the  blockade  of  Mobile  with  a  cargo 
which  was  brought  from  the  Havana  to  the  island  of  Mugeres  by  the  Spanish 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  43 

schooner  Pepita,  and  that  the  steamer  was  captured  outside  of  the  maritime 
jurisdiction  of  the  Mexican  republic."  In  said  note  you  are  pleased  to  state, 
besides,  that,  supposing  the  Noc-Daquy  had  been  sent  to  Key  West  for  trial 
there,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  the  prize  court  would  give  due  attention  to 
any  complaint  which  the  Mexican  government  might  present  with  reference  to 
said  vessel. 

Not  having  yet  received  the  instructions  of  my  government  on  this  subject,  I 
restrict  myself  to  sending  to  Mexico  a  copy  of  your  note.  If  the  Mexican  gov 
ernment  could  have  before  them  the  evidence  to  which  you  make  reference,  I 
have  no  doubt  it  would  contribute  to  making  it  form  a  just  idea  of  what  has 
happened. 

As  to  what  relates  to  the  disposition  the  court  of  prizes  at  Key  West  may  en 
tertain  to  give  due  attention  to  the  claims  of  the  Mexican  government,  I  must 
say  to  you  that,  by  the  reports  which  have  reached  my  knowledge  in  respect  to 
this  matter,  it  appears  that  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes  forcibly  withdrew  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Mexican  courts  a  prize  which  was  subject  to  them,  and  which 
they  had  under  trial  according  to  the  laws.  This  constitutes  a  violation  of  the 
maritime  sovereignty  of  Mexico  by  vessels  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States.  Of  this  violation  I  complain,  conditionally,  in  the  note  I  had  the  honor 
to  address  to  you  on  the  23d  of  February  last  past,  and  to  obtain  reparation 
therefor,  in  case  it  should  prove  to  be  true ;  I  could  not  address  myself  to  the 
court  at  Key  West,  which  could  not  give  me  proper  satisfaction.  If  from 
proofs  existent  in  your  department,  and  those  Mexico  may  furnish  me,  it  should 
appear  that  the  sovereignty  of  Mexico  has  not  been  violated,  no  more  would 
be  left  for  me  to  say  on  this  matter,  for  I  should  not  have  any  ground  for  claim. 

1  avail  of  this  opportunity  to  repeat  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  most 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  II.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fyc.,  <$r. 


Mr.  Scward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  March  13,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  note  of  the  6th  instant  was  duly  received  In  compliance  with 
the  request  which  it  contains,  a  copy  of  the  communications  of  Rear-Admiral 
Wilkes  to  the  Navy  Department,  relative  to  the  insurgent  steamer  Virginia,  is 
herewith  transmitted.  I  adhere  to  the  opinion,  however,  expressed  in  my  note 
to  you  of  the  6th  instant,  that  if  your  government  has  any  claim  to  that  vessel, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  claim  would  be  patiently  heard  and  justly  de 
cided  by  the  United  States  prize  court  at  Key  West. 

I  avail  myself  of  the  occasion,  sir,  to  offer  to  you  a  renewed  assurance  of  my 
high  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Sefior  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  lye.,  fyc. 


No.  4.]  U.  S.  FLAG  STKAMER  WACHUSETT, 

Off  Mvgeres  klavd,  January  18,  1863. 

SIR:  I  have  to  apprise  you  that  1  have  this  day  taken  possession  of  the  fine  iron  steamer 
(propeller)  Virginia,  of  800  tons,  whereof  John  Johnson  is  muster,  as  a  prize  to  the 
Wachusett  and  Sonoma,  heing  a  confederate  vessel,  as  proved  by  the  papers  found  on 
board,  the  secession  flag,  and  other  evidence  of  the  most  satisfactory  kind.  I  have 
avoided  any  interference  with  international  rights  whatever,  and  abstained  from  making 
her  a  prize  within  the  accustomed  limits  from  the  shore. 


44  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

The  engineers  of  the  Virginia  having  agreed  to  perform  their  duties  on  board  till  their 
arrival  in  the  United  States,  I  have  given  them  to  understand  that  they  will  receive  the 
usual  wages  for  their  services.  I  have  concluded  to  order  the  Virginia  to  Key  West  for 
adjudication.  I  believe  she  will  be  found,  on  inspection,  well  fitted  for  a  government 
transport  or  an  armament.  She  is  two  hundred  and  twenty  feet  long,  and  well  built ; 
and  from  her  model  well  calculated  for  speed  and  for  maintaining  the  sea,  having  bunkers 
capable  of  containing  four  hundred  tons  of  coal,  with  a  very  small  consumption  of  fuel. 
Her  propeller  trices  up.  Under  canvas  she  is  reported  as  being  very  fast,  and  is  bark- 
rigged. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant. 

CHARLES  WILKES, 
Rear- Admiral ,  Commanding  Wed  India  Squadron. 

Hon.  GIDEON  WELLKS,  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

I  herewith  enclose  copies  of  papers  found  on  board  the  Virginia,  the  originals  having 
been  forwarded  to  the  district  judge  or  prize  commissioners  at  Key  West,  numbered  1,  2, 
3,  4,  5,  6,  and  7. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

CHARLES  WILKES, 
Rear-Admiral,  Commanding  Wtst  India  Squadron. 


No.  1.]  HAVANA,  December  10,  1862. 

SIR:  The  steamer  described  in  tbe  enclosed  building  certificate  belongs,  as  I  am  as 
sured,  to  Francis  P.  Drain,  a  citizen  of  the  Confederate  States,  now  temporarily  in  Havana, 
and  that  said  steamer  is  about  to  sail  for  Mobile  with  a  cargo  suited  to  the  necessities  of 
our  army  and  people.  Francis  P.  Drain  is  known  to  me  to  be  true,  loyal,  and  devoted  to 
our  cause,  and  I  will  add,  a  Virginia  gentleman.  His  steamer  goes  without  a  register  ;  I 
therefore  request  that  you  eive  to  his  captain  all  proper  facilities  in  disposing  of  all  his 
cargo,  and  in  the  purchase  of  a  return  cargo  of  cotton  usual  in  each  case.  I  also  request 
that  a  register  and  otber  papers  necessary  under  our  laws  be  granted  to  show  ownership  in 
said  Drain  and  confederate  nationality. 

I  am,  sir,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

CHL  J.  HELM. 

The  COMMANDING  OFFICER,  Confederate  Forces,  Mobile. 

No.  2.]  HAVANA,  December  11,  1862. 

MY  DEAR,  SIR:  My  personal  friend,  F.  P.  Drain,  of  Virginia,  is  largely  interested  in  the 
steamer  bearing  the  name  of  his  fctate,  for  the  purpose  of  running  our  enemy's  blockade 
and  benefiting  our  friends  with  articles  so  much  needed  by  them.  Should  the  vessel 
succeed  in  reaching  your  port,  and  her  captain  or  any  other  person  connected  with  her 
need  your  kind  interference  in  their  behalf,  in  the  way  of  disposing  of  her  present  cargo, 
obtaining  one  for  return  or  otherwise,  I  beg  that  you  will  do  your  utmost  for  them.  With 
kind  regards  to  Mrs.  Scott  and  friends,  and  trusting  that  your  home  may  not  meet  with 
the  like  fate  of  mine, 

I  remain,  very  truly,  your  friend, 

W.  H.  ROZET. 

JOHN  SCOTT,  Esq.,  Mobile,  Ala. 

Particular  regards  to  E.  0.  George  and  lady  and  Miss  Chandler. 

No.  3  ]  HAVANA,  December  13,  1862. 

DKAR  SIR:  In  accordance  with  the  agreement  entered  upon  between  ourselves  yester 
day,  I  beg  you  will  proceed  at  ouce  to  take  possession  of  the  steamer  Virginia,  on  the 
coast  of  Yucatan,  put  her  in  seaworthy  condition  as  early  as  practicable,  sailing  thence  to 
Mobile,  Ala 

Should  you  succeed  in  running  the  blockade,  as  I  expect,  you  shall  report  the  vessel  to 
the  consignment  of  Messrs.  H.  0.  Brewer  &  Co.,  and  so  soon  as  the  report  cargo  is 
shipped  up  .n  her  by  those  gentlemen,  you  shall  again  endeavor  to  run  the  blockade  and 
makesiil  with  pot-si  hie  despatch  and  caution  for  this  port  of  Havana,  delivering  me  all 
papers  concerning  ve^el  and  cargo. 

You  shull  look  to  the  satisfactory  disposition  of  the  400  or  600  boxes  claret  you  carry. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  45 

Herewith  an  introduction  to  John  Scott,  esq.,  of  Mobile,  who  will  assist  you,  as  well  as 
consignees,  towards  promoting  my  views  generally. 

Belying  upon  your  good  management  of  the  adventure,  which  I  hope  may  succeed, 
I  remain  truly  yours, 

FRANCIS  P.  DRAIN. 
Captain  JOHN  JOHNSON,  Present. 

No.  4.]  HABANA,  December  12,  1862. 

GENTLEMEN  :  With  the  enclosed  introductory  lines  from  our  mutual  friend,  J.  Pember- 
ton,  I  beg  to  accompany  shipping  vouchers  of  cargo  per  bearer,  the  steamer  Virginia, 
amounting  to  $15,078  09. 

I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  consigning  both  cargo  and  vessel  to  your  address,  upon  the 
information  I  have  of  your  promptness,  ability,  and  sound  management  of  the  interests 
intrusted  to  your  care.  You  will,  consequently,  oblige  me  by  disposing  of  the  cargo  to 
best  possible  advantage,  and  invest  the  proceeds  in  a  cargo  of  cotton,  documents  of  which 
you  shall  establish  and  forward  to  my  order,  holding  at  my  disposal,  with  your  good  selves, 
any  surplus  of  funds  resulting  after  purchase  of  the  return  cargo.  The  within  copy  of  my 
agreement  with  master  and  engineers  of  the  steamer  Virginia  will  govern  you  in  your 
management  of  that  vessel's  business  while  in  your  port;  and  in  this  connexion  I  would 
call  your  attention  to  the  papers  of  the  craft  which  I  desire  you  shall  have  issued  in  my 
name,'  under  confederate  colors.  The  vessel,  running  the  blockade  successfully,  will 
reach  you  without  papers. 

I  rely  upon  your  management  of  this  affair;  and  looking  to  the  put-cess  of  present  trial 
for  the  continuance  of  operations  of  mutual  benefit, 

I  remain,  most  respectfully,  gentlemen,  your  obedient  servant, 

FRANCIS  P.   DRAIN. 

Messrs.  H.  0.  BRKWEH  &  Co.,  Mobile. 

[Memorandum  of  agreement.     Vouchers  of  cargo.] 

P.  S  — Besides  the  goods  mentioned  in  her  invoice,  the  vessel  carries  400  to  600  boxes 
claret,  which  you  will  dispose  of  to  best  advantage,  investing  proceeds  in  return  cargo. 

Invoice  of  goods  shipped  by  Francis  P.  Drain,  per  confederate  steamer  Virginia,  John  Johnson  master, 
for  Mobile,  on  account  of  and  wink  of  whom  it  may  concern,  and  consigned  to  Messrs.  H.  0.  Brewer 
Sf  Co. ,  there. 

4,800  woollen  blankets $6,596  87 

502     do  do      596   12 


5,302  woollen  blankets 7,192  99 

12  boxes  containing  4,000  pairs  shoes $5,083  37 

10  bales  leather 700  00 

5,863  37 

Provisions. 

100  bags  salt $328  98 

20  bags  pepper 400  00 

80  boxes  cognac 300  00 

SOjarsgin 27500 

20  boxes  liquors 50  00 

20  boxes  preserved  fruits 200  00          » 

1,553  98 


14,610  34 
Shipping  expenses -- —  100  00 


14,710  34 
Commission  2J  per  cent » 367  75 


E.  E.  15,078  09 

FRANCIS  P.  DRAIN. 
HAVANA,  December  12,  1862. 


46  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

No.  5.]  HAVANA,  December  12,  1862. 

GENTLEMEN  :  I  took  i'ae  liberty  of  addressing  you  a  few  lines  recommending  F.  P.  Drain, 
esq.,  of  this  place.  My  acquaintance  with  you  being  limited,  I  beg  to  apologize,  and  refer 
you  to  my  friends,  Messrs.  Charles  Welsh,  Charles  Libaron,  Thomas  S.  King,  Mr.  Duran,  of 
Sands  &  Co. 

Very  respectfully, 

JOHN  PEMBERTON. 
Messrs.  H.  0.  BEBWER  &  Co.,  Mobile. 


No.  6.]  HAVANA,  December  12,  1862. 

GENTLEMEN  :  Mr.  Francis  P.  Drain,  of  this  place,  having  expressed  his  desire  to  enter  into 
correspondence  with  you,  I  beg  to  say  that  he  is  a  gentleman  of  much  standing,  and  trans 
actions  with  him  will  always  prove  highly  satisfactory. 
With  great  respect,  your  very  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  PEMBERTON. 
Messrs.  H.  0.  BREWER  &  Co.,  Mobile. 


No.  7.]  BARK  PROPELLER  VIRGINIA, 

Off  Mugere?  Island,  December  29,  1862. 

I  certify  that  the  bark  Noc-Daquy,  and  now  the  Virginia,  was  sold  on  or  about  the  15th 
of  December  last  to  Francis  P.  Drain,  a  merchant  in  Havana,  and  was  bought  by  him  for 
the  purpose  of  engaging  in  the  confederate  service  in  carrying  supplies  to  the  confederate 
army,  and  in  running  the  blockade ;  that  she  stopped  at  this  place  for  the  purpose  of 
receiving  her  cargo  ^rorn  the  Spanish  schooner  Pepita,  now  here,  and  that  it  was  the 
intention  to  sail  from  this  place  for  Mobile  and  run  the  blockade,  when  she  was  seized  on 
the  21st  of  December  by  a  party  of  people  from  this  place,  and  seized  upon  the  alleged 
suspicion  of  being  a  slaver  I  further  certify  that  the  schooner  Pepita  was  loaded  with 
cargo  for  this  steamer,  which  was  to  be  put  on  board  here,  when  she  was  also  seized  by 
the  same  party  on  her  arrival  here  the  22d  of  December.  I  further  certify  that  the  con 
federate  flag  was  hoisted  on  b  »ard  this  vessel  for  a  day  and  a  half,  to  which  no  objection 
was  made  until  the  third  day,  when  it  was  hauled  down  on  the  23d  of  December,  and  no 
flag  was  substituted  until  the  Mexican  flag  was  hoisted  upon  the  day  of  the  arrival  of  the 
United  States  vessels-of-war  Wachusett  add  >-onoma  at  this  place.  I  further  certify  that, 
to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  und  belief,  there  is  nothing  in  the  vessel's  fittings  or  cargo 
upon  which  to  base  suspicion  that  she  was  intended  to  engage  in  the  slave  traffic. 

JOHN  JOHNSON,  Master  Virginia. 

Witness : 

F.  H   STEVKNS,  Commander  U.  S.  steamer  Sonoma. 

I  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  statement  is  correct. 

JOHN  ROSS,  Mate  Virginia. 
Witness : 

F.  H.  STEVENS,  Commander  U.  S.  steamer  Sonoma. 


No   5.]  UNITED  STATES  FLAG  STEAMER  WACHUSETT, 

Off  Mugeres  Harbor,  January  18,  1863. 

SIR:  In  tuy  communication,  No.  4,  of  this  date,  I  have  informed  you  of  the  capture  of 
the  iron  ptopeiler  steamer  Virginia  There  are  pome  circumstances  connected  with  this 
vessel  and  a  small  schooner,  the  Pepita,  under  Spanish  colors,  which  it  is  necessary  I  should 
now  state.  In  cruising  for  the  Alabama  1  had  reason  to  suppose  that  she,  with  the  Agrip- 
pina,  store-vessel,  had  changed  their  rendezvous  from  Grand  Cayman  island  to  that  of 
Mugeres,  on  the  coast  of  Yucatan,  a  well-known  place,  where  vessels  intending  to  run  the 
blockade,  as  well  as  slaveis,  fitted  out — a  harbor  well  adapted  to  their  purpose,  and  wheie 
the  notorious  Walker  and  others  fitted  their  filli buttering  expeditions.  There  is  no  govern 
ment  or  authoiity  here  whatever,  nor  is  it  a  port  of  entry  or  clearance,  but  a  rendezvous  for 
plunderers,  slavers,  and  pirates. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  47 

On  our  arrival  off  the  harbor  we  discovered  the  confederate  steamer  Virginia,  with  the 
Spanish  schooner  Fepita,  at  anchor,  and  immediately  anchored.  The  Virginia  was  formerly 
the  Noc-Daquy,  and  has  no  doubt  been  engaged  in  the  slave  trade  before  being  purchased 
by  the  present  confederate  owners.  Captain  Johnson  came  over  in  the  schooner  Pepita  from 
the  Havana  with  a  crew,  stores,  and  contraband  articles,  to  take  charge  of  her,  and  did 
h>o,  hoisting  the  confederate  flag,  the  possession  having  been  passed  over  to  him  by  the 
officer  then  in  charge.  At  this  time  a  Mexican,  who  represented  himself  as  an  officer, 
Urcelay  by  name,  without  authority  or  any  commission,  as  I  have  since  been  informed, 
collected  an  armed  force  in  order  to  take  possession  of  the  vessel  as  a  slaver,  which  Captain 
Johnson  refused  to  permit,  although  threatened  by  an  armed  force  of  plunderers,  gathered 
from  the  island  and  elsewhere.  This  took  place  two  days  before  our  arrival.  Captain 
Johnson  had  hoisted  the  confederate  flag,  which  they  took  down.  This  Urcelay  removed 
the  Spanish  crew  out  of  her,  accusing  them  of  having  been  engaged  in  the  slave  trade, 
leaving  Captain  Johnson,  his  engineers,  and  part  of  his  confederate  crew.  He  (Captain  John 
son)  became  apprehensive  of  difficulties  on  board,  and  threatening  of  bloodshed  was  made, 
which  was  repeated  to  me  by  Captain  Johnson  on  my  arrival,  and  a  request  made  for  me 
to  send  a  guard  on  board  to  prevent  violence.  This  I  did,  and  made  an  agreement  with 
Urcelay  to  hold  possession  of  her  until  an  examination  was  made  relative  to  whether  she 
was  a  slaver,  of  which  there  was  no  proof  whatever,  and  to  await  ten  days,  that  the  affair 
might  be  referred  to  Merida,  he  sending  some  of  his  men  on  board  the  Spanish  schooner, 
the  Pepita.  I  then  sailed  with  the  Wachusett  and  Sonoma  for  the  Havana  to  coal, and  to 
return  here  within  the  stipulated  time,  which  we  have  done.  On  my  arrival  I  found  no 
information  had  been  received  from  Merjda,  or  action  taken  place,  although  the  time  had 
elapsed  as  agreed  upon.  I  have  determined  to  send  Commander  Stevens  in  the  Sonoma 
to  Sisal,  the  seaport  of  Merida,  to  avoid  any  misunderstanding,  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  the 
delay,  and  what  proceeding,  if  any,  had  taken  place  relative  to  her  being  proved  to  be  a 
slaver.  The  Spanish  crew  had  been  examined,  and  no  evidence  had  been  adduced,  and  no 
further  proceeding  taken  that  he  could  ascertain.  In  the  event  of  such  being  the  case, 
Commander  Stevens  was  directed  to  give  notice  to  the  authorities  that  I  no  longer  felt 
myself  bound  by  the  agreement,  the  time  having  expired,  and  should  act  as  if  the  steamer 
was,  which  I  have  abundance  of  evidence  to  prove,  a  confederate  vessel,  fitting  out  with 
contraband,  and  intended  to  run  the  blockade,  and  probably,  if  successful,  to  be  fitted  as  a 
confederate  privateer,  for  which  she  is  thought  to  be  well  adapted. 

During  our  absence  at  Havana  additional  testimony  was  obtained  of  her  confederate 
character  and  of  the  cargo  being  shipped  in  the  schooner  Pepita  for  her.  Captain  Johnson 
complained,  on  my  arrival  here,  that  the  persons  left  on  board  of  the  Pepita  were  plun 
dering  the  cargo  which  belonged  to  his  vessel,  and  consuming  the  provisions  intended  for 
the  Virginia  to  a  great  extent.  I  therefore  gave  Captain  Johnson  my  assent  to  remove 
what  remained  of  it  on  board  the  Virginia,  leaving  the  schooner,  after  being  discharged, 
in  the  possession  of  those  who  were  on  board  of  her.  The  Pepita  was  entirely  without  the 
limits  of  her  destination,  having  been  cleared  at  Havana  for  Cardenas,  with  the  contra 
band  cargo  on  board  I  did  not  consider  it  proper  to  make  prize  of  her,  as  I  had  proof  of 
the  cargo  belonging  to  the  Virginia  ;  not  wishing  to  involve  ourselves  in  any  international 
question  or  make  the  matter  more  intricate,  I  determined  to  leave  her  in  the  possession  of 
those  on  board,  Spaniards  and  Mexicans. 

The  Virginia  being  thus  free  from  the  charge  of  being  a  slaver,  seeing  there  was  no  es  • 
cape  for  her,  Captain  Johnson  concluded  to  go  beyond  the  limits  of  the  maritime  jurisdic 
tion,  which  I  permitted  when  he  was  captured  and  his  vessel  taken  a  prize  to  the  Wachu 
sett  and  Sonoma.  1  think  he  is  entitled  to  some  remuneration  for  his  services  in  this 
respect,  as  he  avoided  delay  on  our  part  and  placed  her  beyond  any  controversy  as  to  any 
international  right,  although  he  evidently  could  not  do  otherwise.  If  I  had  permitted 
him  to  remain  here  he  would  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  parties  again  and  have  been 
fitted  out  to  run  the  blockade  ;  indeed  the  owner  or  agent,  Mr.  Drain,  was  down  here  a 
few  days  ago  with  some  five  thousand  dollars  to  bribe  her  off,  but  finding  the  condition  of 
things  he  left.  On  the  Virginia  proceeding  to  sea  we  followed  and  made  her  capture  un 
der  the  confederate  flag  ;  I  ordered  a  prize  crew  on  board  and  have  sent  her  to  Key  West 
for  adjudication,  with  all  the  papers  found  on  board. 

I  herewith  enclose  Commander  Stevens' s  report  to  me,  numbered  1,  and  a  copy  of  his 
letter  to  the  governor  of  Yucatan,  numbered  2. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

CHARLES  WILKES, 

Rear- Admiral,  Commanding  West  India  Squadron. 
Hon.  GIDEON  WELLES, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy,   Washington,  D.  C. 


48  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

UNITED  STATES  STEAMER  SONOMA, 

Mugeres  Island,  January  14,  1863. 

SIR  :  In  obedience  to  your  orders  I  proceeded  to  Sisal  in  the  Sonoma,  and  finding  that 
the  United  States  consul  was  residing  at  Merida,  I  visited  that  place  in  connexion  with  the 
duties  I  was  charged  with  by  you. 

I  found  the  governor  of  Yucatan  absent  from  the  place,  and  as  there  was  no  probability 
of  his  return  for  some  week  or  fortnight,  and  no  one  to  represent  him  in  Merida,  I  addressed 
him  the  communication  a  copy  of  which  I  enclose 

No  progress  towards  coming  to  a  decision,  as  far  as  I  could  learn,  had  been  made  in  the 
case  of  the  Virginia,  though  I  understood  from  the  consul  all  the  Spanish  crew  had  been 
examined  without  any  evidence  having  been  found  by  the  judges  to  implicate  them  or  the 
vessel  as  connected  with  the  slave  trade. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

F.  H.  STEVENS,   Commander. 
Rear- Admiral  CHA.RLES  WILKES, 

Commanding  West  India  Squadron. 


MERIDA,  January  11,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  am  instructed  by  Admiral  Wilkes  to  notify  you  that  in  consequence  of  the  time 
stipulated  with  Captain  Nicholas  Ucelay  having  elapsed,  and  without  receiving  any  answer 
to  his  communication  enclosed  to  you  through  the  United  States  consul  rut  this  place, 
although  ample  time  has  been  afforded,  he  cannot  permit  himself  to  be  any  longer  bound 
by  that  agreement  that  has  been  violated  in  consequence  of  the  depredations  upon  the 
cargo  committed  by  the  parties  placed  in  charge  of  the  schooner  Pepita,  by  Captain  Ucelay, 
which  vessel  contained  part  of  the  supplies  of  the  steamer  Virginia  and  contraband  articles. 
For  this  reason,  and  that  the  crew  of  the  Virginia,  who  were  before  destitute,  might  possess 
the  means  of  support,  Rear-Admiral  Wilkes  has  thought  proper  to  take  possession  of  her 
in  order  that  the  same  may  be  subject  to  adjudication  when  the  Virginia  shall  be  tried 
before  the  prize  courts  of  the  United  States. 

That  the  Virginia  was  a  confederate  vessel  at  or  before  entering  the  anchorage  of 
Mugeres,  Admiral  Wilkes  had  sufficient  proof  before  proceeding  to  Havana,  which  proof 
has  since  been  made  conclusive  ;  and  as  there  is  no  shadow  of  evidence  to  prove  her  being 
engaged  in  the  slave  trade,  he  considers  that  she  was  unjustly  seized  and  merely  upon  sus 
picion,  and  is  therefore  improperly  detained. 

A  desire  to  treat  the  Mexican  authorities  as  a  friendly  power  and  with  good  will  and 
friendship  prevented  his  taking  immediate  action  in  the  premises ;  he  preferred  rather  to 
wait  a  reasonable  time,  though  satisfied  that  there  could  be  no  evidence  to  warrant  the 
detention  of  the  Virginia  as  a  slaver ;  and  this  time  having  been  afforded,  and  no  proof 
having  been  adduced  alter  the  examination  of  the  Spanish  crew,  be  can  no  longer  refrain. 

Upon  no  consideration,  und  r  the  circumstances,  can  the  Virginia  be  permitted  to  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  confederates  or  escape  from  capture  by  us. 
I  have  the  honor  to  remain  your  obedient  servant, 

F.   H.   STEVENS,  Commander. 

The  GOVERNOR  OF  YUCATAN. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION, 

Washington,  April  15,  1863. 

The  undersigned,  charge  d'affaires  of  the  United  Mexican  States,  had  the 
honor  to  receive,  with  the  note  which  the  Hon.  William  H.  Seward,  Secretary 
of  State  of  the  United  States,  was  pleased  to  address  to  him  on  the  13th  of 
March  last  past,  the  copies  therein  enclosed  of  two  despatches  and  their  annexes, 
addressed  by  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes  to  the  Navy  Department  of  the  United 
States,  in  regard  to  the  steamer  Noc-Daquy. 

Since  then  there  have  come  into  the  hands  of  the  undersigned  the  official 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  49 

documents  relating  to  the  same  affair,  which  were  sent  to  him  by  the  governor 
of  Yucatan,  which  exhibit  in  full  detail  what  happened  at  the  island  Mugeres  in 
the  affair  of  said  steamer. 

After  a  minute  examination  of  these  documents,  and  of  the  circumstances  of 
the  case,  the  undersigned  regrets  he  finds  himself  obliged  to  consider  the  con 
duct  of  Rear-Admiral  Wilkes  as  aggressive  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  Mexican 
nation,  which  to  a  certain  extent  the  said  rear-admiral-  admits  in  his  despatch 
No.  5,  of  the  18th  of  January  last,  although  endeavoring  to  extenuate  the  enor 
mity  of  the  violation  of  the  rights  of  Mexico. 

From  the  report  which  the  governor  of  Yucatan  made  to  the  minister  of 
foreign  relations  of  Mexico  under  date  of  the  23d  of  February  last,  of  which 
the  undersigned  transmits  a  copy,  it  appears  that  as  soon  as  the  said  governor 
received  intelligence  that  a  steamer  was  at  anchor  at  the  island  Mugeres,  whose 
1  movements  caused  suspicion,  and  that  she  proved  to  be  the  Noc  Daquy,  he 
commissioned  Don  Nicolas  Urcelay,  captain  of  the  national  guard,  to  go  to  that 
place  with  an  armed  force  in  order  to  capture  the  steamer,  and  notified  the  court 
of  the  district  of  Yucatan  for  its  information,  and  that  it  might  order  such 
measures  as  it  deemed  proper  in  the  case. 

This  determination  appears  by  the  despatch  addressed  by  the  governor  of 
Yucatan  to  the  district  judge  the  10th  of  December,  1862,  of  which  the  under 
signed  sends  copy.  By  this  action  the  steamer  was  from  that  moment  subject 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  said  tribunal. 

Captain  Urcelay  arrived  with  his  force  at  island  Mugeres,  and  took  possession 
of  the  steamer  without  any  resistance,  hoisted  the  Mexican  flag  on  her,  and  sent 
the  crew  under  arrest  to  Sisal,  whence  they  were  sent  to  Merida  at  the  disposal 
of  the  governor  of  the  state,  who  turned  them  over  to  the  district  judge,  who 
was  already  cognizant  of  the  affair,  when  Captain  Urcelay,  in  carrying  out  the 
decision  of  the  district  court,  of  which  the  undersigned  encloses  a  copy,  attempted 
to  take  the  Noc  Daquy,  together  with  the  Spanish  schooner  Pepita,  which  had 
come  from  the  Havana  with  articles  for  said  steamer,  for  which  reason  she  also 
was  taken,  there  appeared  in  the  Mexican  waters  two  ships-of-war  of  the  United 
States,  under  the  command  of  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes,  who  took  upon  him  to 
possess  himself  of  the  steamer,  alleging  that  she  was  intended  for  the  service  of 
the  insurgents  of  the  south.  Captain  Urcelay,  in  view  of  the  circumstances, 
coerced  by  superior  force,  and  assuming  authority  which  he  had  not,  made  an 
arrangement  with  of  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes,  by  virtue  of  which  he  took  charge  of 
the  steamer,  placing  a  guard  on  her,  and  engaging  to  restore  her  as  soon  as  the 
competent  Mexican  authority  should  declare  her  to  be  a  slaver. 

Captain  Urcelay  left  his  force  on  board  the  steamer,  and  went  to  Merida  to 
make  report  of  the  proceeding  to  the  district  court. 

Thus  far  the  undersigned  finds  accordances  at  the  bottom  of  the  reports  of  the 
governor  of  Yucatan  and  of  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes,  although  they  may  vary  in 
some  details,  and  although  many  of  the  expressions  of  Rear-Admiral  Wilkes 
are  as  offensive  to  the  dignity  and  good  name  of  Mexico  as  they  are  groundless 
and  unjust.  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes  allows  himself  to  say  that  Captain  Urcelay 
had  neither  appointment  nor  commission ;  that  he  gathered  an  armed  force  and 
took  possession  of  the  steamer,  as  if  this  were  done  of  his  own  motion  and  not 
under  instructions  from  the  Mexican  authorities.  On  this  point,  however,  the 
undersigned  cannot  doubt  that  the  official  declaration  of  the  governor  of 
Yucatan  deserves  more  credit  from  the  government  of  the  United  States  than 
the  suspicions  of  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes,  growing  out  of  what  some  one  or  other 
may  have  told  him. 

The  rear-admiral  relates  in  this  manner  what  afterwards  happened:  that  he 

went  to  Havana  to  coal,  and  on  his  return  to  the  island  Mugeres  he  found  no 

answer  had  been  received  from  the  governor  of  Yucatan,  although  the  fixed  time 

of  ten  days,  which  he  assures  us  was  settled  in  the  agreement  to  receive  such 

fl.  Ex.  Doc.  11 4 


50  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

reply,  had  expired ;  that  he  sent  Commander  Stevens  in  the  United  States 
steamer  Sonoma  to  Sisal  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  cause  of  delay  in 
proceedings  which  had  been  set  on  foot  for  ascertaining  whether  the  Noc  Daquy 
was  engaged  in  the  slave  trade.  The  rear-admiral  continues:  "In  such  case," 
(that  it  were  not  proved  that  she  was  engaged  in  such  traffic,)  he  notifies  Com 
mander  Stevens  that  he  must  inform  the  authorities  that  "  I  did  not  consider 
myself  bound  any  further  by  the  agreement,  the  time  having  expired,  and  that 
I  should  act  as  if  the  vessel  was  *  *  *  confederate,  laden  with  contraband 
of  war,  and  with  intent  to  run  the  blockade,  and  if  she  succeeded  in  this,  would 
probably  be  armed  as  a  confederate  corsair,"  for  which  he  thought  her  well 
adapted. 

In  this  alone  there  is,  in  the  opinion  of  the  undersigned,  cause  more  than 
sufficient  to  regard  the  conduct  of  Rear-Admiral  Wilkes  not  only  as  contrary 
to  the  teachings  of  international  law,  but  as  an  open  violation  of  the  sovereignty 
of  Mexico. 

The  undersigned  does  not  believe  that  it  can  possibly  be  doubted  that  the 
island  Mugeres  belongs  to  Mexico — that  the  bay  in  that  island  where  the  Noc 
Daquy  was  fallen  in  with  is  among  the  territorial  waters  of  the  republic — still 
less  that  sovereignty  over  the  territorial  waters  of  a  nation  belongs  wholly  to  its 
government.  As  little  can  the  undersigned  believe  the  fact  can  be  questioned  that 
on  the  coming  of  Rear-Admiral  Wilkes  into  the  waters  of  island  Mugeres,  the 
Noc  Daquy  was  subjected  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Mexican  tribunals,  which 
placed  her  doubly  under  the  shield  of  the  Mexican  sovereignty. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  taking  possession  of  the  steamer  by  forces  of 
the  United  States  is  a  proceeding  which  the  undersigned  permits  himself  to 
call  highly  irregular. 

In  the  agreement,  by  virtue  of  which  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes  took  possession 
of  the  Noc  Daquy,  it  was  stipulated  that  she  should  rest  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Mexican  authorities,  alone  competent  in  the  matter.  The  literal  words  of  said 
agreement,  of  which  the  undersigned  has  the  honor  to  transmit  a  copy,  are  as 
follows  :  *'  It  is  stipulated  *  *  *  that  for  the  better  security  and  pro 
tection  of  the  steamer  now  at  this  place,  of  her  cargo,  and  property  on  board 
of  her,  Admiral  Wilkes  shall  take  possession  of  her  with  a  sufficient  guard  until 
the  Mexican  government  may  decide  what  is  the  character  of  said  steamer,  and 
whether  or  no  she  be  a  slaver ;  and  if  the  government  decide  that  she  is,  then 
the  steamer  shall  be  delivered  to  the  Mexican  government."  The  rear-admiral 
asserts  that  the  term  within  which  the  decision  was  to  be  made  was  ten  days ; 
and  even  excluding  the  idea  that  had  a  time  been  limited,  it  would  have  been  an 
absurd  stipulation :  such  a  term  was  not  stipulated  in  the  so-called  agreement, 
for  although  in  the  second  clause  of  such  paper  the  expression  ten  days  is  men 
tioned,  it  is  done  with  reference  to  the  schooner  Pepita,  and  indicating  only  that 
Rear- Admiral  Wilkes  would  return  from  the  Havana  within  the  period  mentioned. 
Rear- Admiral  Wilkes,  by  giving,  without  doubt,  a  most  forced  interpretation,  which 
nothing  can  justify,  to  the  clause  mentioned,  adopted  this  pretext  to  keep  the 
steamer,  and  sent  to  Sisal  to  Commander  Stevens  that  he  could  notify  the  gov 
ernor  of  Yucatan  that  he  could  not  wait  any  longer  time  for  the  solution  of  the 
culpability  or  inculpability  of  the  steamer;  that  he  did  not  consider  himself  any 
longer  bound  by  the  compromise  he  had  made  with  Captain  Urcelay,  as  well 
because  of  the  delay  specified,  as  because  such  agreement  had  been  violated  by 
depredations  which  he  averred  had  been  committed  on  the  cargo  of  the  schooner 
Pepita,  in  care  of  a  force  of  Captain  Urcelay's  which  had  taken  possession  of 
the  schooner;  that  he  had  the  certainty  that  the  steamer  was  destined  for  the 
service  of  the  insurgents ;  that  there  was  no  reason  for  regarding  her  as  a  slaver, 
and  he  had  resolved  to  make  her  prize  of  the  squadron  of  his  command. 

Commander  Stevens  did  n.ot  go  to  the  place  where  the  governor  of  Yucatan 
was — absent  at  the  time  from  the  capital  of  the  State;  he  contented  himself 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  51 

with  sending  him  a  communication,  and  without  awaiting  any  answer,  went 
back  to  island  Mugeres.  Immediately  after  the  return  of  Commander  Stevens, 
Rear- Admiral  Wilkes  made  out  that  he  left  the  steamer  absolutely  at  liberty ; 
he  made  the  crew  take  her  outside  of  the  Mexican  waters  and  raise  the  insur 
gent's  flag,  captured  her,  and  ordered  her  to  Key  West,  leaving  the  schooner 
Pepita,  (after  having  taken  her  cargo  into  possession,)  which  was  afterwards 
taken  to  Sisal.  The  accuracy  of  these  acts  is  confirmed  by  the  relation  Rear- 
Admiral  Wilkes  gives  of  them  in  his  despatch  No.  5,  as  cited. 

After  this  narrative,  proved  by  official  documents,  and  even  by  the  despatches 
of  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes,  there  can  be  no  question  the  said  rear-admiral  violated 
the  sovereignty  of  Mexico  by  taking  from  under  it,  through  devices  unworthy 
an  officer  of  his  rank,  a  prize  that  was  in  subjection  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Mexican  courts,  and  attempting  previously  to  impose  terms  and  a  rule  of  conduct, 
at  his  pleasure,  upon  those  very  tribunals. 

It  is  not  hidden  from  the  undersigned  that  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes  alleges  in 
justification  of  his  inexcusable  conduct  that  the  Noc  Daquy  was  a  confederate 
vessel  that  was  to  run  the  blockade  of  the  southern  ports,  and  that  there  was 
no  proof  at  all  that  she  was  engaged  in  the  slave  trade.  Excluding  from  view 
that  the  Mexican  courts  were  those  alone  which  could  make  such  a  declaration, 
the  undersigned  cannot  abstain  from  noting  the  contradiction  into  which  Rear- 
Admiral  Wilkes  falls  by  saying  in  his  cited  despatch  that  the  bay  of  island 
Mugeres  is  a  point  frequented  by  slavers,  and  that,  undoubtedly,  the  Noc  Daquy 
had  been  in  the  trade.  Moreover,  the  undersigned  believes  it  to  be  his  duty  to 
state  to  the  government  of  the  United  States  that  not  only  the  charge  of  being 
a  slaver  weighed  against  the  Noc  Daquy,  but  also  that  of  having  violated  the 
revenue  laws  of  the  Mexican  ports,  on  both  which  accounts  the  proper  proceed 
ings  at  law  were  being  taken. 

The  honorable  Secretary  of  State  appears  to  entertain  the  same  opinion  as 
Rear-Admiral  Wilkes  in  respect  to  the  Noc  Daquy  being  the  property  of  southern 
insurgents,  and  intended  to  run  the  blockade,  as  appears  in  the  note  which  he 
did  the  undersigned  the  honor  to  address  to  him,  dated  the  6th  of  March.  But 
in  such  event,  if  fully  established,  and  further,  even  in  case  the  vessel  had  been 
armed  for  a  cruise  by  the  rebels,  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes  should  not  have  arro 
gated  the  powers  which  he  took.  His  duty  would  have  been  to  await  the 
sentence  of  the  courts  of  Mexico,  and  if  in  virtue  of  such  the  steamer  were  set 
at  liberty,  to  arrange  for  her  capture  when  she  should  have  left  the  territorial 
waters  of  Mexico. 

Rear- Admiral  Wilkes,  moreover,  usurped  powers  inherent  to  the  national 
sovereignty  of  Mexico,  in  taking  depositions  and  exercising  judicial  acts  on 
Mexican  territory,  in  flagrant  violation  of  the  laws  of  the  republic. 

The  said  rear-admiral  did  not  confine  himself  to  committing  violations  referred 
to,  but  also  took  possession  of  the  schooner  Pepita,  which  Captain  Urcelay  had 
previously  taken  possession  of  with  a  Mexican  force.  He  landed,  and  abusing 
his  power,  took  the  crew  which  the  Pepita  had  brought  from  the  Havana  for 
the  Noc  Daquy,  and  which  was  under  detention  by  the  Mexican  authorities,  and 
subject  to  the  orders  of  the  proper  courts. 

In  recapitulation,  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes  has  violated  the  rights  of  Mexico-rr- 

1st.  By  having  taken  possession,  within  Mexican  territory,  of  a  vessel  held 
subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Mexican  courts. 

2d.  In  not  having  allowed  the  sentence  of  the  Mexican  court  in  relation  to 
the  transfer  of  the  Noc  Daquy  to  the  port  of  Sisal  to  be  carried  into  effect. 

3d.  In  having  deceptively  taken  the  said  steamer  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Mexican  courts. 

4th.  In  having  imposed  terms  on  the  Mexican  courts. 

5th.  In  having  exercised  in  Mexican  territory  judicial  acts  of  the  competency 
exclusively  of  Mexican  authorities. 


52  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

6th.  In  having  taken  possession  of  the  schooner  Pepita,  which  was  in  Mexi 
can  territory,  held  by  Mexican  soldiers,  and  subjected  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Mexican  courts. 

7th.  In  having,  by  force,  taken  possession  of  the  crew  brought  from  the  Ha 
vana  "by  the  schooner  Pepita  for  the  Noc  Daquy,  which  was  in  Mexican  territory 
and  subject  to  the  Mexican  courts. 

The  undersigned  cannot  doubt  for  a  moment  that  when  the  government  of 
the  United  States  has  intelligence  of  the  facts  referred  to,  and  the  full  proof  by 
which  they  are  accompanied,  it  will  hasten  to  give  to  Mexico  all  the  satisfaction 
she  is  justly  entitled  to  for  the  offences  committed  against  her  sovereignty  and 
clearest  rights  by  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes. 

The  undersigned  profits  by  the  occasion  to  repeat  to  the  honorable  William 
H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  the  assurances  of  his  most 
Distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fyc.,  Sfc. 


[Translation.] 

GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  STATE  OF  YUCATAN. 

Having  had  news  that,  in  the  waters  of  the  island  Mugeres,  a  steamer  was  at  anchor,  whose 
movements  caused  suspicion,  especially  as  to  her  being  employed  in  the  slave  trade,  I  gave 
commission  to  Captain  Nicolas  Urcelay,  of  the  national  guard,  to  pass  over  to  said  point 
with  an  armed  force  in  order  to  capture  her  ;  and  I  gave  notice  of  this  to  the  first  judge 
on  the  civil  side  of  the  department  of  this  capital,  that  he  might  put  in  exercise  the  func 
tions  of  the  district  court,  as  well  for  his  information  as  that  he  might  order  the  measures 
which  he  should  deem  belonged  to  the  case.  Captain  Urcelay  arrived  with  his  force  at  the 
island,  and,  availing  himself  of  the  circumstance  of  the  coining  ashore  of  the  crew  of  said 
steamer — which  is  Spanish,  and  called  Noc  Daquy — took  possession  of  her,  without  resistance 
of  any  kind,  and  hoisted  the  national  flag  on  her  ;  but  when  about  to  bring  her  to  Sisal,  to 
gether  with  a  schooner,  also  Spanish,  called  Pepita,  which  came  from  Havana,  and  which 
he  also  captured,  for  having  brought  merchandise  for  said  steamer,  there  came  in  two  ves- 
sels-of-war  of  the  United  States  squadron  in  the  Antilles,  and  Rear- Admiral  Charles  Wilkes 
assumed  to  take  possession  of  the  steamer,  taking  ground  upon  his  having  had  advice  that 
she  was  sold  at  Havana  under  the  name  Virginia,  and  had  come  here  bound  for  service  of 
the  rebels  of  the  south  of  that  nation.  Captain  Urcelay,  in  view  of  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  was  placed,  thought  it  prudent  to  make  a  stipulation  with  the  said  rear-admiral, 
in  virtue  of  which  he  took  charge  of  the  steamer,  placing  a  guard  upon  her,  engaging 
himself  to  return  her  as  soon  as  the  proper  Mexican  authority  should  declare  her  to  be  a 
slaver. 

The  said  Captain  Urcelay  left  his  force  on  board  the  captured  schooner,  to  take  care  of 
her,  and  came  himself  to  this  capital,  to  make  report  of  what  happened  to  the  district 
court.  That  court  sent  intelligence  to  me  of  the  event  when  I  was  away  from  the  capital, 
inspecting  the  fortified  positions  of  our  line  of  defence  against  the  insurgent  Indians,  and,  as 
soon  as  I  received  the  communication,  I  addressed  a  note  to  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes,  making, 
in  the  name  of  the  supreme  government,  the  proper  reclamation  against  the  violation  he 
&ad  committed  of  the  national  territory,  and  calling  his  attention  to  the  necessity  there 
was  that  he  should  leave  the  steamer  to  the  Mexican  force  which  had  captured  her,  that 
she  might  be  brought  by  it  to  the  port  of  Sisal,  that  she  might  there  be  examined,  and 
other  measures  taken,  conducive  to  the  dealing  up  of  the  point  on  which  the  court  could 
base  its  judgment  whether  she  was  or  not  a  slave  trader — whether  she  had  or  not  contra 
vened  the  revenue  laws  of  the  republic.  At  a  subsequent  time  the  consul  of  the  United 
States  at  Merida  addressed  a  copy  of  a  despatch  from  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes,  and  some  doc 
uments,  by  which  he  thought  to  prove  the  steamer  to  be  a  slaver,  and  also  destined  for  the 
confederate  service ;  and  I  sent  them  to  the  district  court,  that  they  should  have  their  effect 
in  the  proper  suit,  answering  the  consul  that  I  had  done  so,  and  begging  him  to  sustain 
the  application  I  had  addressed  to  the  rear-admiral. 

I  remained  absent  from  the  capital  when  Mr.  J.  E.  Stevens,  commander  of  one  of  the 
vessels  of  the  aforesaid  squadron,  came  there,  and  for  this  cause  he  addressed  to  me,  at 
Valladolid,  a  communication,  in  the  name  of  Rear-Admiral  Wilkes,  that  he  could  not  wait 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  53 

any  longer  for  the  determination  of  the  culpability  or  inculpaliility  of  the  steamer  ;  that  he 
no  longer  considered  himself  bound  by  the  compromise  he  had  made  with  Captain  Urcelay, 
as  well  for  the  delay  settled  on  as  because  the  compromise  was  broken  by  the  depredations 
committed  on  the  cargo  which,  belonging  to  the  steamer,  was  found  on  the  schooner  Pepita, 
guarded  by  a  force  placed  there  by  Captain  Urcelay  ;  that  he  therefore  had  taken  possession 
of  the  schooner  ;  that  the  proofs  he  held  amounted  to  evidence  that  the  steamer  was  in 
tended  for  the  confederate  service,  to  such  extent  that  none  existed  of  her  being  a  slaver, 
and  that  not  upon  any  account  would  he  allow  that  vessel  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  those 
in  rebellion  to  his  country,  nor  that  she  should  be  set  at  liberty  from  the  capture  by  the 
squadron  under  his  command.  Such  note  was  immediately  answered,  directly  to  Rear- 
Admiral  Wilkes,  and  with  the  energy  and  propriety  the  national  honor  required,  this  gov 
ernment  making  proof  of  the  flagrant  violation  of  the  law  of  nations  committed  by  the 
squadron  of  the  United  States,  and  making  the  proper  protests ;  but,  despite  all  the  steps 
I  could  take  that  my  communication  should  pass  to  the  island  Mugeres  with  the  greatest 
possible  celerity,  such  was  the  haste  of  the  American  squadron  that  its  commander  never 
received  it. 

Rear- Admiral  Wilkes  did  not  restrict  himself  to  extending  indefinitely  the  possession  of 
the  steamer  Noc  Daquy,  which  Captain  Urcelay,  under  an  agreement,  had  conceded  to 
him,  nor'  the  possession  of  the  schooner  Pepita,  which  that  officer  had  left  in  the  charge 
of  the  State  troops,  but  landed,  and,  by  an  abuse  of  his  strength,  took  the  crew  which  the 
schooner  had  brought  from  Havana  for  the  steamer,  and  which  was  arrested  by  the  au 
thorities  and  held  subject  to  the  order  of  the  district  court.  This  last  operation  being 
effected,  Rear-Admiral  Wilkes  pretended  that  he  left  the  steamer  at  absolute  liberty,  and 
when  she  left  our  waters  he  captured  her,  and  without  doubt  sent  her  to  the  United  States, 
leaving  behind — although  after  having  taken  possession  of  her  cargo — the  schooner  Pepita, 
which  was  brought  to  Sisal,  and  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  district  court. 

All  in  relation  to  this  appears  in  the  official  documents  which  I  have  the  honor  to  trans 
mit  to  you  in  copy,  that  the  supreme  government,  possessing  itself  of  the  scandalous  vio 
lation  of  the  national  territory  committed  by  the  said  Rear- Admiral  Wilkes,  of  the  United 
States  squadron  in  the  Antilles,  may  please  to  issue  suitable  reclamations  to  whom  it  may 
be  proper.  Under  which  impression  I  send  copies  similar  to  the  annexed  to  the  citizen 
minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  republic  near  the  United  States,  through  the  channel  of  the 
consul  general  resident  at  New  York,  that,  on  his  part,  he  may  take  such  action  as  he  may 
deem  opportune. 

I  have  the  honor  to  renew  to  you  the  assurances  of  my  particular  esteem  and  con 
sideration. 

Liberty  and  reform.     Merida,  February  23,  1863. 

L.  IRTGOYEN. 

A.  REJON,  Secretary. 

To  the  CONSUL  GENERAL  of  the  Mexican  Republic  at  New  York. 

WASHINGTON,  April  15,  1863. 
A  copy : 

M.  ROMERO. 


[Translation.] 

DIVISION  or  OPERATIONS. 

GENERAL-IN-CHIEF  :  The  citizen  general,  military  commandant  and  captain  of  the  port 
of  Sisal,  tells  me  in  an  official  note  dated  8th  instant: 

CITIZEN  GOVERNOR  :  Yesterday  I  copied  for  you  the  report  made  to  me,  dated  4th  instant, 
by  the  head  of  the  registration  of  the  island  Mugeres,  referring  to  the  steamer  which  under 
the  Spanish  flag  appeared  at  that  port  on  the  28th  of  the  month  last  past,  and  to-day  have 
ascertained,  through  the  captain  and  supercargo  of  the  English  schooner  Clyde,  that  ar 
rived  at  Mugeres  island  the  same  day,  (the  4th,)  that  the  steamer  in  question  remained  in 
port  at  that  date,  and  that  it  is  known  long  time  since  that  she  is  engaged  in  the  oppro 
brious  and  infamous  traffic  in  slaves  on  the  coast  of  Africa.  The  captain  of  the  Clyde  assures 
me,  as  well  as  various  other  persons  of  this  port,  that  the  said  steamer  is  the  same  which 
was  at  Campeachy  two  years  ago,  a  trifle  more  or  less,  taking  on  board  as  captain  a  brother 
of  Captain  Galindo ;  that  he  came  back  to  Campeachy,  or  the  coast,  about  five  months 
since,  and  is  about  to  repeat  his  voyage  to  the  same  port  or  coast,  as  the  said  captain  of 
the  Clyde  informed  me.  As  it  is  not  difficult  to  ascertain  in  what  business  the  said  vessel 
may  be  engaged  by  the  water  casks  and  other  effects,  which  reveal  that  criminal  commerce, 


54  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

I  think  it  my  duty  to  make  it  known  to  you,  that  if  you  think  proper  you  may  denounce 
the  fact  to  the  authorities  of  Campeachy,  who  without  doubt  will  act  in  conformity  with 
the  spirit  of  the  treaties  made  between  Mexico  and  the  powers  interested  in  pursuing  and 
punishing  that  odious  traffic.  And  as  it  may  be  considered  that  the  investigation  of  the 
serious  business,  to  which  this  note  is  confined,  may  belong  to  the  attributes  of  the  juris 
diction  under  your  worthy  charge,  I  refer  it  to  you  that  you  may  at  once  act  in  the  case  as 
to  you  may  seem  fit,  it  being  my  duty  to  inform  you,  first,  that  I  have  enclosed  this  com 
munication  to  the  governor  of  Campeachy  for  the  purposes  he  may  judge  proper  on  his 
part  ;  and,  second,  that  I  have  ordered  the  seizure  of  the  vessel  referred  to,  and  also  the 
captain  and  crew,  by  means  of  the  revenue  cutter  of  Sisal  and  citizen  Nicolas  Urcelay,  in 
command  of  another  commissioned  cutter. 

Liberty  and  reform ! 

LIBORIO  IRIGOYEN. 

MERIDA,  December  10,  1862. 

To  the  JUDGE  OP  THE  COURT  OF  FIRST  INSTANCE 

of  the  civil  and  revenue  branch  of  this  capital. 

MERIDA,  February  9;  1863. 
A  copy: 

VISTO  BUENO. 

IRIGOYEN. 

LUIS  GUTIERREZ,  Secretary. 

WASHINGTON,  April  15,  1863. 
True  copy  : 

ROMERO. 


[Translation.] 

SECRETARIAT  GENERAL  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  YUCATAN. — GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  STATE  OF  YUCATAN? 

THE  GENERAL-IN-CHIEF  :  In  a  despatch  of  to-day  the  first  judge  of  the  civil  and  revenue 
side  in  this  department  tells  me  what  follows:  "This  court  not  having  advice  of  the  result 
of  the  orders  which  you  informed  me  you  had  issued  for  the  seizure  of  the  slave  steamer 
which  was  found  at  the  island  Mugeres,  I  hope  you  will  please  to  order  an  officer,  with 
sufficient  number  of  troops,  to  bring  her  to  Sisal  for  the  purpose  that  may  seem  adequate 
to  the  case,  and  to  avoid  any  risk  at  the  point  where  she  is."  I  send  this  to  you,  that,  in 
passing  the  port  of  Silam,  or  any  other  on  the  coast,  he  may  there  obtain,  through  the 
authorities  and  marine  officers,  a  cutter  and  ten  or  twelve  seamen,  with  whom  he  will  go 
to  island  Mugeres,  and  presenting  this  official  note  to  the  guard  on  board  the  revenue  cut 
ter  and  to  the  commissioner,  Captain  Nicolas  Urcelay,  they  may  obey  the  order  which  you 
have  given  to  make  sail  on  the  steamer  Noc  Daquy,  to  bring  her  to  the  port  of  Sisal  with 
all  her  crew  and  whatever  belongs  to  the  said  vessel,  as  the  persons  employed  under  ante 
rior  orders  are  already  notified,  which  seem  to  be  neglected,  for  which  reason  you  will  give 
them  to  understand  that  they  are  liable,  and  if  they  do  not  discharge  their  duty  with  ex 
actness,  will  be  held  responsible  for  whatever  their  conduct  may  give  occasion  before  the 
citizen  judge  of  first  instance  referred  to,  to  whom  I  send  copy  of  this  note 

Liberty  and  reform ! 

L.  IRIGOYEN. 

MERIDA  December  30,  1862. 

In  presence  of  : 

THOMAS  QUIJCINO, 

Citizen,  Commanding  Battalion. 

MEHIDA,  January  29,  1863. 
Copy  : 

A.   REJON,  Secretary. 

WASHINGTON,  April  15,  1863. 
A  copy  : 

ROMERO. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  55 


[Translation.] 

SECRETARIAT  GENERAL  OF  THB  GOVERNMENT  OF  1UCATAN. 

STEAMER  WACHUSETT,  ISLAND  OF  MUGEHES, 

December  29,  1862. 

It  is  stipulated,  and  agreeable  to  Admiral  Wilkes,  commanding  the  western  squadron, 
and  Captain  Nicolas  Urcelay,  of  the  Mexican  troops  at  this  point,  that  for  the  better  secu 
rity  and  protection  of  the  steamer  now  at  this  port,  and  also  of  the  cargo  and  property 
aboard  of  said  steamer,  that  Admiral  Wilkes  shall  take  possession  of  her  with  a  sufficient 
guard  until  the  Mexican  government  may  decide  what  is  the  character  of  said  steamer,  and 
see  if  she  be  or  not  a  slaver  ;  and  if  the  government  decide  that  she  is,  then  the  steamer 
shall  be  delivered  to  the  Mexican  government.  Also,  as  there  is  anchored  here  the  schooner 
Pepita,  connected  with  the  said  steamer,  it  is  stipulated  for  the  Mexican  government,  by 
Captain  Nicolas  Urcelay,  that  the  said  schooner  shall  remain  at  anchor  in  this  port  until 
Admiral  Wilkes  may  return  in  ten,  or  fewer,  days,  or  may  send  a  substitute  authorized  by 
him. 

CHARLES  WILKES, 
Admiral,  Commanding  the  Squadron  of  the  Western  Islands  of  the  United  States  of  the  North. 

NICOLA.S  URCELAY, 
Captain  of  the  National  Forces  at  this  place. 

MERIDA,  February  23,  1863. 
A  copy : 

A.  REJON,  Secretary. 

WASHINGTON,  April  15,  1863. 
A  copy  : 

ROMERO. 


No.  5. — Affairs  on  the  frontiers  of  Mexico. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward.. February  26,  1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero March       10,  1863. 

Same  to  same,  (with  one  enclosure) April  2,  1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Corwin,  (with  two  enclosures) May          12,  1863. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward February    4,  1864. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero February    9,  1864. 

Same  to  same,  (with  seven  enclosures) March        12,  1864. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward March        15,  1864. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION, 
Washington,  February  26,  1863. 

Mr.  SECRETARY:  The  Mexican  consul  at  grownsville,  Texas,  and  the  vice- 
consul  of  Mexico  at  Franklin,  New  Mexico,  have  frequently  complained  to 
this  legation  on  account  of  the  unjustly  depressed  and  miserable  condition  in 
which  Mexicans  resident  in  the  State  of  Texas  and  the  Territory  of  New 
Mexico  are  held,  whom  it  is  sought  to  compel  to  serve  in  the  army  of  the  Uni 
ted  States,  or  in  that  of  the  insurgents,  or  to  subject  to  other  undue  burdens, 
in  violation  of  the  rights  they  hold  as  foreigners. 

Having  submitted  said  reports  to  my  government,  the  secretary  for  foreign 
relations  of  the  republic  has  communicated  to  me  the  instructions  of  the  president 


56  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

on  this  subject,  in  which  he  recommends  me  to  call  the  attention  of  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  to  the  situation  of  Mexican  citizens  resident  on  the 
frontier  of  the  United  States.  He  also  recommends  that  I  solicit  from  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  the  issue  of  decided  orders  to  Colonel  West, 
commander  of  the  expedition  sent  to  Arizona,  and  to  the  commander  of  the 
forces  of  the  United  States  in  New  Mexico,  and  to  that  of  the  expedition  which 
is  going  to  Texas,  to  act  so  as  to  preserve  to  the  Mexicans  the  consideration  and 
franchises  which  the  universal  law  of  nations  and  the  conventional  law  between 
Mexico  and  the  United  States  guarantee  to  them. 

In  thus  complying  with  the  instructions  I  have  received  from  my  govern 
ment,  I  avail  of  the  opportunity  to  repeat  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
most  distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  Sp.,  Sfc. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  March  10,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  I  have  transmitted  a  translation  of 
your  note  of  the  26th  ultimo,  respecting  the  condition  of  the  Mexican  citizens 
on  the  frontier  of  the  United  States,  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  whose  reply 
shall  be  immediately  communicated  to  you. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
high  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARU. 
Senor  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  $r.,  fa,,  fyc. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  April  2,  1863. 

SIR  :  Referring  to  your  note  of  the  26th  of  February  ultimo,  inviting  the  atten 
tion  of  this  government  to  certain  alleged  hardships  to  which  Mexican  citizens 
residing  on  the  frontier  of  Texas  are  subjected,  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you 
that,  having  submitted  your  communication  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  I  have  re 
ceived  a  reply  upon  the  subject,  dated  the  27th  ultimo,  a  copy  of  which  I  here 
with  enclose,  availing  myself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  you  the  assurances  of 
my  high  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Senor  MATIAS  ROMERO,  Sp.,  fyc.,  Sfc. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
Washington  City,  March  27,  1863. 

SIB:  Your  communication  of  the  10th  instant,  enclosing  the  translation  of  a  note  from 
the  Mexican  charge  d'affairs,  calling  attention  to  the  situation  of  Mexican  citizens  residing 
on  the  frontiers,  has  been  duly  considered,  and  I  have  now  the  honor  to  state  that  this 
department  has  no  information  in  relation  to  the  treatment  of  Mexican  citizens  in  the 
State  of  Texas,  and  can  see  no  remedy  for  the  evils  complained  of  until  that  State  returns 
to  her  allegiance  or  is  occupied  by  the  United  States  troops. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  57 

It  is  very  probable  that  Mexican  citizens,  as  well  as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  in  New 
Mexico,  were  ill-treated  by  the  rebels  in  their  invasion  of  that  Territory,  but  as  the  govern 
ment  has  made  no  draft  in  New  Mexico,  no  person,  either  citizen  or  foreign,  could  be 
received  into  the  military  service  of  the  United  States  except  by  voluntary  enlistment. 

The  commanding  generals  in  New  Mexico  and  in  Arizona  are  both  intelligent  and  discreet 
officers,  and,  in  the  absence  of  any  specific  charges  or  evidence,  it  must  be  presumed  that 
they  have  not  done  or  permitted  so  unauthorized  an  act  as  to  force  Mexican  citizens  into 
the  military  service  of  the  United  States. 

Officers  have  been  and  will  be  cautioned  to  carefully  respect  the  rights  and  property  of 
resident  foreigners,  who  render  no  aid  or  assistance  to  the  enemy. 
Very  respectfully,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  War. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H   SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Corwin. 

No.  74.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  May  12,  1863. 

SIR  :  In  February  last,  Mr.  Romero,  charge  d'affaires  of  Mexico,  brought  to 
my  attention  certain  complaints  which  had  been  made  to  him  by  the  Mexican 
consul  at  Brownsville,  Texas,  and  the  vice-consul  at  Franklin,  New  Mexico, 
of  forcible  impressments  of  Mexican  citizens,  residing  in  the  Territory  of  New 
Mexico,  into  the  military  service  of  the  United  States.  The  subject  was  im 
mediately  laid  before  the  Secretary  of  War,  whose  reply  was  communicated  to 
Mr.  Eomero  on  the  2d  of  April,  and  by  him,  doubtless,  transmitted  to  his 
government. 

The  Secretary  of  War  has,  by  a  letter  of  the  5th  instant,  received  to-day, 
laid  before  me  a  copy  of  a  communication  addressed  to  the  general-in-chief  by 
Brigadier  General  Carlton,  commanding  in  New  Mexico,  upon  the  same  sub 
ject,  a  copy  of  which  I  enclose  to  you,  as  Mr.  Eomero  has  taken  leave  of  the 
government  and  is  now  en  route  to  his  home. 

You  will  be  pleased  to  communicate  a  copy  of  this  document  to  the  Mexican 
government. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

THOMAS  CORWIN,  Esq.,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc.,  Mexico. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
Washington  City,  D.  0.,  May  5,  1863. 

SIR:  In  connexion  with  my  communication  of  March  27,  in  relation  to  the  complaint  of 
the  Mexican  chargd  d'affaires  of  the  impressment  into  the  United  States  military  service  of 
citizens  of  Mexico,  in  New  Mexico,  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  a  copy  of  a  letter  on  this 
subject  from  Brigadier  General  J.  H.  Carlton,  commanding  department  of  New  Mexico. 
Very  respectfully,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  War. 
The  SECRETARY  OF  STATE,  Washington,  D.  0. 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  NEW  MEXICO, 

Santa  Ft,  N.  M.,  April  10,  1863. 

GENERAL:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  15th  ultimo, 
and  to  say  in  reply  that,  to  my  knowledge,  no  citizen  of  Mexico  has  been  impressed  into 
the  military  service  of  the  United  States  within  the  department  of  New  Mexico. 


58  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

A  copy  of  your  letter  has  been  sent  to  Brigadier  General  West,  commanding  the  district 
of  Arizona,  within  this  department,  headquarters  Hart's  Mills,  Texas,  with  these  instructions  : 
"  I  enclose  herewith  an  official  copy  of  a  letter  from  the  general-in-chief  in  relation  to  a 
communication  made  by  the  Mexican  charge  d'affaires,  complaining  that  citizens  of  Mexico 
had  been  impressed  into  the  military  service  of  the  United  States  in  New  Mexico.  You 
will  be  careful  that  no  violation  of  the  international  rights  of  Mexican  citizens  occurs  in 
your  district." 

As  no  soldiers  of  any  nationality  have  been  impressed  into  the  military  service  of  the 
United  States  within  this  department,  that  part  of  the  complaint  relating  to  New  Mexico 
falls  to  the  ground  of  its  own  weight. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  general,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"JAMES  H.  CARL  ION, 

Brigadier  General  Commanding. 
Major  General  HENUT  W.  HALLECK, 

General-in-Chief  of  the  Armies  of  the  United  States,  Washington,  D.  C. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  May  5, 1863. 
Official  copy  : 

ED.  K.  S.  CANBY, 

Brigadier  General,  A.  A.  G. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION, 
Washington,  February  4,  1864. 

The  undersigned,  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the 
United  Mexican  States,  has  the  honor  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Hon.  William 
H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States  of  America,  to  events  whi^h 
have  recently  taken  place  on  the  eastern  frontier  of  Mexico  and  the  United 
States. 

It  appears  that  the  arrival  of  the  United  States  expedition  at  the  city  of 
Brownsville,  in  the  State  of  Texas,  which  had,  until  then,  been  in  the  possession 
of  the  secessionists,  in  place  of  producing  the  good  results  which  were  to  be 
expected,  because  it  was  naturally  to  be  supposed  that  a  considerable  force  sent 
by  this  government,  and  operating  under  its  direct  instructions,  would  be  the 
most  complete  safeguard  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  laws  of  nations  and 
of  the  stipulations  of  treaties  which  connect  Mexico  with  the  United  States,  has 
gone  on  producing  disturbances  and  misunderstandings  which  neither  the  under 
signed  nor  his  government  could  anticipate  or  expect. 

The  undersigned  will  permit  himself  to  call  the  attention  of  the  honorable 
Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States  to  a  communication,  and  the  menaces 
contained  in  it,  addressed  from  Brownsville  the  26th  of  December  last  by  Major 
General  N.  J.  F.  Dana,  who  commands  in  chief  the  United  States  forces  in  Texas, 
to  the  governor  of  the  State  of  Tamaulipas,  in  the  Mexican  republic,  because 
of  a  loan  which  was  said  to  be  imposed  by  the  said  functionary  on  various 
merchants  resident  at  Matamoras,  among  whom,  it  is  averred,  were  found  some 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  which  communication  has  been  published  by 
various  papers  in  New  York,  running  along  the  month  of  January  last  past. 

The  undersigned  flatters  himself  with  the  belief  that  the  government  of  the 
United  States  is  veiy  far  from  approving  the  principles  of  protection  which  that 
government  has  the  right  to  grant  to  citizens  of  the  United  States  resident  in  a 
foreign  country  in  the  mode  in  which  General  Dana  presents  them  in  the  pen 
ultimate  paragraph  of  his  above-cited  communication.  The  undersigned  will 
abstain  at  present  from  comment  on  the  proceedings  of  the  said  General  Dana 
in  respect  to  this  incident  which  are  related  in  letters  published  in  the  journals 
of  New  York  from  their  correspondents  in  Matamoras,  because,  besides  not  be- 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  69 

ing  at  present  fully  proven,  in  his  opinion,  in  an  authentic  manner,  he  awaits  in 
structions  from  his  government. 

There  has  subsequently  happened,  nevertheless,  an  incident  of  such  nature 
that  the  undersigned  considers  it  to  he  his  duty  to  denounce  it  at  once  to  the 
government  of  the  United  States.  From  the  Matamoras  correspondence  last 
published  in  the  daily  papers  of  this  country  it  appears- that,  in  consequence  of  a 
local  disturbance  stirred  up  in  that  city,  on  the  12th  of  January  last  past,  be 
tween  two  military  leaders  who  acknowledge  the  authority  and  act  under  the 
orders  of  the  Mexican  government,  General  Herron,  who  commanded  accidentally 
the  forces  of  the  United  States  at  Brownsville,  thought  proper  to  send  into  the 
Mexican  territory  the  20th  Wisconsin  regiment,  the  10th  Iowa,  and  the  94th 
Illinois,  with  a  battery,  which  troops  penetrated  the  city  of  Matamoras  while 
the  disturbance  was  going  on. 

The  undersigned  cannot  but  consider  this  step  as  a  flagrant  violation  of 
Mexican  sovereignty;  and  it  appears  to  him  the  less  explicable  because  the 
honorable  Secretary  of  State,  in  some  instructions  which  he  addressed  to  General 
Banks  on  the  23d  November  last,  and  which  have  lately  been  published,  in  re 
lation  to  the  manner  in  which  he  should  act  in  difficulties  which  might  arise 
with  Mexico,  says  to  him  : 

"You  will  protect  citizens  of  the  United  States  in  Texas  against  all  enemies,  domestic  or 
foreign,  that  may  be  met  in  that  country.  You  will  be  on  your  guard,  nevertheless,  not  to 
enter  Mexican  territory  unless  it  be  temporarily,  and  that  the  step  be  fully  justified  by  the 
necessity  of  protecting  the  lives  of  our  soldiers  against  any  aggression  which  may  come  from 
the  frontier  of  Mexico." 

Well,  then,  it  is  certain  that  no  aggression,  proceeding  from  Mexican  territory, 
menaced  the  lives  of  the  soldiers  of  General  Banks  on  the  happening  at  Mata 
moras  of  the  local  disorder  of  which  the  undersigned  has  made  mention. 

Reserving  the  expectation  of  instructions  from  his  government  on  this  delicate 
business  that  he  may  then  present  to  the  United  States  government  the  demands 
he  may  be  charged  with,  and  ask  the  amends  to  which  Mexico  may  have  right, 
he  now  addresses  himself  to  the  honorable  Secretary  of  State,  desirous  of  re 
ceiving  the  explanations  Mr.  Seward  may  deem  fit  to  give  to  him,  which  shall 
be  transmitted  to  the  Mexican  government,  in  whose  mind  they  will  contribute 
to  calm  the  bad  impression  which  the  proceedings  of  General  Herron  may  have 
occasioned. 

The  undersigned  avails  himself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  the  honorable 
William  A.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States  of  America,  the 
assurances  of  his  most  distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Sp.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  February  9,  1864. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  4th 
instant,  directing  my  attention  to  events  which  have  recently  taken  place  on 
the  eastern  frontier  of  the  United  States  and  Mexico. 

Having  no  official  information  upon  the  subject  referred  to,  I  have  transmitted 
a  translation  of  your  communication  to  the  Secretary  of  War  for  the  necessary 
investigation,  after  the  receipt  of  which  I  shall  be  enabled  to  reply  to  your  note. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
distinguished  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Senor  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  <$v.,  $r. 


60  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  March  12,  1864. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor,  on  this  occasion,  to  recur  to  the  note  which  you  ad 
dressed  to  me  on  the  4th  of  February  last,  in  which,  among  other  things,  you 
asked  for  information  concerning  certain  unusual  proceedings  of  General  Herron 
in  sending  an  armed  force  from  Brownsville,  in  Texas,  across  the  Rio  Grande 
and  into  the  city  of  Matamoras,  on  the  occasion  of  disturbance  that  occurred 
there  on  the  12th  of  January  last,  between  two  persons  whom  you  represented 
as  military  leaders,  each  of  whom  acknowledges  the  authority  and  acts  under 
the  orders  of  the  Mexican  government. 

In  the  aforementioned  note  you  were  pleased  to  express  the  opinion  that  the 
proceeding  of  General  Herron  was  a  flagrant  violation  of  Mexican  sovereignty, 
and  quite  inconsistent  with  the  orders  which  had  been  previously  given  by  this 
government  to  Major  General  Banks,  commanding  on  the  Mexican  frontier, 
with  reference  to  the  republic  of  Mexico. 

On  the  9th  of  February  last  I  had  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  aforementioned  note,  and  to  say  that,  having  no  official  information  upon 
the  subject  you  had  therein  presented,  I  had  transmitted  it  to  the  Secretary  of 
War  with  a  view  to  the  necessary  investigation  of  the  matter.  I  have  since 
that  day  received  from  the  Secretary  of  War  certain  papers  which  bear  upon 
the  transaction,  but  have  not  yet  received  a  full  report  thereupon.  Desirous  to 
act  with  perfect  good  faith  and  reasonable  diligence  in  regard  to  the  complaint 
you  have  preferred,  I  think  it  not  improper  to  place  in  your  hands,  at  this  time, 
the  papers  which  are  now  before  me,  namely :  the  report  of  the  transaction  of 
the  12th  of  January  last,  made  by  Major  General  Banks,  together  with  the 
documents,  appended  to  the  same.  To  these  papers  I  annex  an  extract  from 
a  despatch  which  was  transmitted  to  the  department  by  L.  Pierce,  esquire, 
United  States  consul  at  Matamoras,  on  the  16th  of  January  last.  It  appears 
from  these  papers  that  the  movement  of  which  you  complain  was  made  at  the 
instance  and  with  the  consent  and  approval  of  the  Mexican  authorities,  and  was 
strictly  limited  to  the  protection  of  the  United  States  consul  at  Matamoras, 
against  apprehended  assaults  which  the  Mexican  authorities  were  unable  to 
prevent. 

It  is  my  duty  further  to  inform  you  that  the  imperial  government  of  France 
has  now  asked  explanations  upon  the  same  subject,  upon  the  ground  that  the 
proceeding  of  General  Herron  was  an  intervention  in  the  interest*  of  Mexico 
and  against  the  army  of  France. 

A  copy  of  the  note  of  the  minister  of  France  is  herewith  submitted.  While 
this  government  is  waiting  for  the  more  full  and  complete  report  which  is  neces 
sary,  in  order  to  decide  upon  the  conflicting  claims  of  Mexico  and  France,  it 
will  cheerfully  receive  any  information  you  may  think  it  desirable  to  furnish 
to  this  department. 

To  guard  against  misapprehension,  I  think  it  proper  to  say  that  a  complaint, 
which  was  presented  by  you  in  your  aforementioned  note  against  certain  pro 
ceedings  of  General  Dana,  is  left  out  of  view  in  this  connexion,  because  I  am 
awaiting  the  results  of  an  investigation  which  has  been  instituted  by  the  Secre 
tary  of  War. 

I  will  add  that  General  Banks  has  again  been  specially  charged  to  do  what 
ever  is  practicable  to  avoid  any  collision  between  the  forces  under  his  command 
and  either  of  the  belligerents  in  Mexico,  and  even  to  guard,  so  far  as  may  be 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  61 

possible,  against  suffering  any  occasion  to  arise  for  dispute  or  controversy  be 
tween  his  command  or  the  authorities  of  Texas,  and  either  or  both  these  parties. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  offer  to  you  a  renewed  assurance  of  my 
high  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Senor  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
Washington  City,  Ftbruary  10,  1864. 

SIR:  The  Secretary  of  War  instructs  me  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of 
yesterday,  transmitting  a  translation  of  a  note  addressed  to  you  on  the  4th  instant  by 
Sen  >r  Matias  Romero,  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United 
Mexican  States,  inviting  attention  to  a  publication  in  the  New  York  journals  during  the 
mouth  of  January  last,  purporting  to  be  a  communication  containing  menaces  addressed 
from  Brownsville  on  the  26th  December  by  Major  General  N.  T.  J.  Dana,  then  commanding 
the  United  States  forces  in  Texas,  to  the  governor  of  Tamaulipas,  in  the  Mexican  republic; 
and  also  to  the  Matamoras  correspondence,  published  in  the  daily  papers,  in  which  it  is 
stated  that  Major  General  Herron,  now  commanding  the  United  States  forces  at  Browns 
ville,  had  sent  troops  into  the  city  of  Matamoras  during  local  disturbances  in  that  city,  in 
violation  of  Mexican  sovereignty. 

In  regard  to  the  alleged  violation  of  the  Mexican  territory  by  United  States  forces  acting 
under  the  orders  of  Major  General  Herron,  the  Secretary  instructs  me  to  transmit,  for  your 
information,  the  enclosed  copy  of  a  communication,  this  day  received,  addressed  to  the 
general-in-chief  by  Major  General  Banks,  commanding  the  department  of  the  Gulf,  and  its 
accompaniments,  which  present  a  detailed  account  of  the  circumstances  under  which  the 
temporary  presence  of  the  United  States  troops  in  Matamoras  was  deemed  imperative  for  the 
protection  of  the  United  States  consulate  in  that  city. 

On  the  subject  of  the  alleged  letter  of  menace  addressed  by  Major  General  N.  T.  J 
Dana  from  Brownsville  to  the  governor  of  Tamaulipas,  this  department  has  at  present  no 
knowledge.  As  soon  as  any  information  on  the  subject  is  received  it  will  be  communicated 
to  you. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

ED.  R.  S.  CANBY,    ' 
Brigadier  General,  A.  A.  G. 
The  SECRETARY  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  D.  C. 


HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF, 

New  Orleans,  January  25,  1864. 

GENERAL:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  to  you  copies  of  despatches  received  from  Major 
General  F.  J  Herron,  commanding  the  forces  of  the  United  States  on  the  Rio  Grande,  and 
giving  in  detail  an  account  of  affairs  occuriing  on  the  13th  of  January.  I  enclose  also  a 
copy  of  letter  of  instructions  written  to  General  Herron,  by  which  you  will  see  that  the 
despatch  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  with  an  indorsement  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  was  given 
to  Lim  for  his  guidance  before  he  assumed  command.  The  movement  of  troops  into 
Matamoras  seems  to  have  been  necessary  to  enable  the  consul  to  leave  the  city 

N.  P.  BANKS, 

Major  General  Commanding. 
Major  General  H.  W.  HALLECK, 

General-in-Chief  U.  S.  A  ,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Official  copy: 

J.  C.  KELTON,  A.  A.  G. 


HEADQUARTERS  UNITED  STATES  FORCES  ON  THE  Rio  GRANDE, 

Brownsville,  Texas,  January  16,  1864. 

GENERAL:  I  enclose  herewith  my  report  in  reference  to  sending  troops  to  the  other  side 
of  the  river  for  the  protection  of  the  United  States  consulate,  and,  believing  it  will  interest 
you,  I  add  some  other  facts  in  connexion  with  the  matter. 


62  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

Upon  arriving  here  I  found  Serna  established  as  governor  of  Tamaulipas  ;  but  Ruiz,  who 
had  been  appointed  military  governor  by  Juarez,  was  moving  on  Matamoras  with  600  men. 
Colonel  Cortinas  was  in  command  of  the  Serua  forces.  Arriving  near  the  town,  commis 
sioners  from  the  two  parties  met  and  settled  the  matter  in  this  way  :  Serna  to  retire  to  his 
rancho,  Ruiz  to  take  his  seat  as  governor,  the  troops  of  both  parties  to  unite  under  General 
Casistran  (a  Ruiz  man)  with  Cortinas  as  second  in  command,  and  to  march  against  the 
French  at  Tampico.  Serna  at  once  vacated  ;  Ruiz  took  his  seat ;  and  the  troops  of  both 
parties  were  camped  in  the  town  As  near  as  I  can  learn,  the  agreement  was  violated  in 
several  particulars  by  both  parties,  and  considerable  feeling  was  created.  On  the  afternoon 
of  the  12th,  about  4  o'clock,  Cardenas,  an  officer  of  Colonel  Cortinas,  rode  to  Governor 
Ruiz's  house  and  insulted  him ;  was  arrested  by  the  guard,  carried  into  a  back  yard  and 
shot  within  half  an  hour.  This  settled  the  matter,  and,  at  8  o'clock  the  same  evening, 
the  parties  opened  on  each  other  with  artillery  in  the  plaza. 

The  fight  continued  throughout  the  night  and  until  12  o'clock  the  next  day.  During 
the  night,  at  times,  the  musketry  was  severe,  and  I  should  say  250  shots  were  fired  with 
artillery.  Mr  Pierce  was  satisfied  that  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  rob  the  consulate, 
and  had  great  apprehension  fur  his  family.  The  governor  having  officially  notified  me  that 
he  could  not  protect  him,  and  believing  that  I  could  remove  him  without  complicating 
matters,  I  sent  troops  over,  feeling  satisfied  that,  under  the  ciicumstances,  I  was  only 
doing  my  duty. 

During  the  fight  the  town  and  the  road  leading  to  the  ferry  were  filled  with  robbers 
doing  a  good  business,  and,  had  Mr.  Pierce  attempted  to  cross  without  a  guard,  he  would 
have  been  robbed  if  not  murdered.  Both  parties  are  perfectly  satisfied  with  my  action, 
although  Ruiz  complains  somewhat  that  I  did  not  aid  him,  claiming  that  the  Mexican 
troops  once  aided  the  citizens  of  Brownsville  in  repelling  an  attack  of  this  same  Cortinas. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

F.  J.  HERRON, 
Major  General  Commanding. 

C.   P.  STONE, 
Brigadier  General,  Chief -of -Staff. 

Major  General  N.  P.  BANKS, 

Com'dg  Department  of  the  Gulf. 

HEADQUARTERS,  February  3,  1864. 
Official  copy : 

J.  C.  KELTON,  A.  A.  G. 


HEADQUARTERS  UNITED  STATES  FORCES  ON  THE  Rio  GRANDE, 

Brown&ville,  Texas,  January  15,  1864. 

GENERAL  :  I  have  the  honor  to  make  the  following  report  of  circumstances  that  transpired 
on  the  night  of  the  13th  instant 

About  8  o'clock  in  the  evening  we  were  startled  by  rapid  cannonading  and  musketry 
firing,  evidently  going  on  in  the  streets  of  Matamoras,  just  across  the  Rio  Grande,  which 
continued  without  cessation,  and  spreading  over  the  greater  portion  of  the  town,  until  10 
o'clock. 

At  thi>  hour  I  received  the  following  communication  from  Mr.  L.  Pierce,  jr.,  United 
States  consul  at  Matamoras  : 

UNITED  STATES  CONSULATE, 
Matamoras,  Mexico,  January  12,  1864 — 10  o'clock  p.  m. 

GENERAL  :  A  battle  is  now  raging  in  the  streets  of  this  city  between  the  forces  of  Governor 
Manuel  Ruiz  and  Colonel  Juan  N.  Cortinas.  My  person  and  family  are  in  great  danger, 
as  the  road  between  here  and  the  ferry  is  said  to  be  infested  with  robbers.  I  have,  also, 
about  one  million  dollars  in  specie  and  a  large  amount  of  valuable  property  under  my 
charge  in  the  consulate,  and,  from  the  well-known  character  of  Cortinas  and  his  followers, 
I  fear  the  city  will  be  plundered.  I  therefore  earnestly  request  that  you  will  send  a 
sufficient  force  to  protect  myself  and  property,  and  to  transport  the  money  within  the 
limits  of  the  United  States  at  the  earliest  moment  possible. 
I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

L.  PIERCE,  JR., 

United  States  Consul. 
Maj:,r  General  F.  J.  HERRON, 

(JorrCdg  United  States  Forces,  BrownsviUe,  Texas. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  63 

Within  a  very  few  moments  the  following,  from  Governor  Manuel  Euiz,  was  handed  to 
me: 

MATAMORAS,  January  12,  1864—10  o'clock  p.  m. 

SIR:  The  forces  commanded  by  Colonel  Cortinas  have  attacked  my  position  in  this 
place.  As  this  town  is  very  extensive,  .1  cannot  protect  or  guarantee  the  United  States 
consulate  and  the  large  property  of  American  citizens  of  different  nations  living  in  this 
town.  For  this  reason  I  shall  endeavor  to  repulse  the  enemy,  and  ask  you  the  favor  to 
send  some  troops  over  to  guard  and  protect  the  said  property,  which  it  is  impossible  for 
me  to  protect. 

I  ask  you,  general,  to  take  this  application  of  mine  in  high  consideration,  and  to  admit 
my  profound  respects. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

MANUEL  RUIZ,  Governor  of  Tamaulipas. 
Major  General  F.  J.  HERRON. 

I  had,  immediately  after  the  firing  commenced,  despatched  an  officer  (Colonel  Black, 
37th  Illinois  infantry)  to  the  United  States  consulate  with  instructions  to  inform  me 
at  once  of  the  condition  of  affairs,  and  hearing  from  him,  also,  that  the  road  was  infested 
with  robbers  who  were  taking  advantage  of  the  fighting  to  rob  and  murder,  and  that  the 
family  of  the  consul  could  not  get  away  without  a  guard,  and  the  legal  governor,  recognized 
by  President  Juarez,  having  informed,  officially,  that  he  could  not  protect  him,  I  deemed  it 
not  inconsistent  with  my  instructions  to  send  a  small  force  into  the  city  of  Matamoras  for  the 
purpose  of  removing  the  family  of  Mr.  Pierce  and  the  specie  to  this  side  of  the  river.  I 
therefore  ordered  Colonel  Henry  Bertram,  20th  Wisconsin  infantry,  to  send  forty  men  to 
take  charge  of  the  ferry,  to  put  one  regiment  under  arms,  and  call  at  my  Jieadquarters 
for  further  orders.  Upon  reporting,  I  instructed  him  to  take  four  companies  of  his  regi 
ment  across  the  river  and  proceed  to  the  United  States  consulate  and  there  make  proper 
disposition  of  his  force  to  protect  the  United  States  consul  and  his  property,  and  to  re 
move  them,  at  the  earliest  possible  time,  to  this  side  of  the  river;  instructing  him  at  the 
same  time,  in  the  most  positive  manner,  not  to  interfere  in  the  fight. 

I  then  replied  to  Governor  Ruiz  as  follows  : 

HEADQUARTERS  UNITED  STATES  FORCES  ON  THE  Rio  GRANDE, 

Brownsville,  Texas,  January  12,  1864 — 10£  o'clock  p.  m. 

SIR:  Your  note  dated  Matamoras,  10  o'clock  p.  m.,  is  at  hand.  Mr.  Pierce,  the  United 
States  consul,  wrote  at  10  o'clock,  urging  me  to  send  a  force  to  protect  the  United  States 
consulate,  and  at  his  request  I  despatched  Colonel  Bertram  with  a  small  force  to  the  con 
sul's  house  to  protect  him  in  moving  to  this  side  of  the  river, 

The  troops  have  positive  instructions  not  to  interfere  with  either  persons  or  property, 
and  to  take  no  part  in  the  fight.  They  will  protect  the  consulate  until  safely  removed. 

Regretting  exceedingly  the  troubles  which  surround  you,  and  with  the  hope  that  you 
may  soon  quiet  matters, 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

F.  J.  HERRON, 
Major  General,  Commanding. 
Governor  MANUEL  Ruiz. 

At  the  same  time  I  wrote  Mr.  Pierce,  informing  him  of  the  instructions  given  to  Colonel 
Bertram,  and  requesting  him  to  prepare  for  removal  at  once.  I  also  sent  the  following 
notification  to  Governor  Ruiz,  sending  a  similar  one  to  Colonel  Cortinas  : 

HEADQUARTERS  UNITED  STATES  FORCES  ON  THE  Rio  GRANDE, 

Brownsville,  Texas,  January  12,  1864 — 10£  o'clock  p.  m. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  state,  that  owing  to  a  battle  now  raging  in  the  streets  of  Mat 
amoras,  between  your  troops  and  those  of  Colonel  Cortinas,  and  the  danger  existing  to  the 
person  and  family  of  Mr.  Pierce,  United  States  consul,  I  have  ordered  Colonel  Bertram 
with  four  companies  of  United  States  troops  to  proceed  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Pierce,  at  his 
request,  for  the  sole  and  only  purpose  of  conveying  them  within  the  territory  of  the  United 
States.  The  danger  from  assassins  and  robbers  on  the  road  between  here  and  your  city 
seems  imperatively  to  demand  this  course,  which  I  take  reluctantly,  with  every  assurance 
to  you  that  I  shall  commit  no  hostile  acts  upon  Mexican  territory,  nor  interfere  in  any 
manner  with  the  fight  now  going  on  in  your  city.  I  have  intrusted  Mr.  Pierce  to  remove 
as  quickly  as  possible,  that  I  may  withdraw  the  troops. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

F.  J.  HERRON, 
Major  General,  Gomm'mding. 
Governor  MANUEL  Ruiz. 


64  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

Colonel  Bertram  proceeded  without  delay  to  the  other  side  of  the  river,  marching  by  the 
shortest  route  to  the  consulate,  and  placing  his  troops  within  the  yard  which  is  attached  to. 
the  house,  and  such  arrangements  were  then  made  as  would  prevent  any  possibility  of 
interference  by  our  men. 

At  11 J  o'clock  I  received  the  following  note  from  Colonel  Bertram  : 

UNITED  STATES  CONSULATE:, 
Matamoras,  January  12,  1864—12.30  o'clock  p.m. 

GENERAL  :  I  have  arrived  at  the  consul's  house,  and  I  was  sure  he  was  very  happy  to 
see  us.     I  marched  the  shortest  route,  the  firing  having  stopped  as  soon  as  we  appeared  in 
the  streets.     The  consul  thinks  Cortinas  is  gaining  ground.     I  await  further  instructions. 
Very  respectfully, 

H.  BERTRAM,  Colonel,  Commanding. 
Major  General  F.  J.  HERRON, 

Commanding  United  States  Forces. 

To  which  I  replied  as  follows : 

HEADQUARTERS  UNITED  STATES  FORCES  ON  Rio  GRANDE, 

£rowm>vilk,  Texas,  January  12,  1864. 

COLONEL  :  Your  note  from  the  consulate  is  at  hand.  You  will  remain  in  your  position, 
giving  the  consul  sufficient  time  to  remove  his  family  and  the  valuables  in  the  consulate 
to  this  side.  Again  let  me  state  that  you  will  interfere  in  no  way  with  the  fight,  but  keep 
your  men  at  their  posts  for  the  duty  assigned  them.  Send  a  good  officer  with  the  troops 
at  the  ferry,  and  issue  the  most  positive  orders  prohibiting  straggling  from  the  ranks  or 
interference  of  any  nature  whatever  with  either  person  or  property.  Should  a  stray  shot 
come  near,  or  even  strike  one  of  your  men,  that  will  not  be  considered  a  sufficient  reason 
for  your  firing.  I  have  notified  both  Ruiz  and  Cortinas  of  your  presence  in  Matamoras, 
and  the  purpose.  Should  you  see  either  of  the  persons  named,  state  fully  what  your 
instructions  are. 

Your  mission  is  a  delicate  one.     Be  extremely  careful. 
Respectfully, 

F.  J.  HERRON, 
Major  General,  Commanding. 

Colonel  H.  BERTRAM. 

At  12 £  o'clock  I  received  the  following  from  Colonel  Bertram  : 

UNITED  STATES  CONSULATE, 
Matamoras,  January  12 — 12.30  o'clock. 

GENERAL  :  I  have  received  your  letter.  Your  instructions  are  strictly  obeyed,  and  I  have 
sent  the  most  stringent  orders  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  Lauglin  not  to  allow  anything  to  be 
done  that  could  be  construed  into  a  violation  of  your  orders.  Commissions  from  both  Ruiz 
and  Cortinas's  parties  have  been  here  to  inquire  into  the  object  of  our  coming  over.  I  told 
them  what  my  instructions  were,  and  both  parties  went  away  satisfied.  The  consul  says  he 
has  about  one  million  in  specie  in  his  possession,  and  that  he  cannot  possibly  remove  it  or 
his  family  until  morning.  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn  positively  which  party  is  gaining. 
Ruiz  still  holds  the  plaza,  and  I  think  will  hold  it  until  morning. 
Respectfully, 

H.  BERTRAM,  Colontl,  Commanding. 
Major  General  HERRON, 

Commanding  United  States  Forces. 

The  fighting  ceased  for  an  hour  after  the  appearance  of  my  troops ;  but  learning  that 
there  was  to  be  no  interference,  both  parties  went  at  it  again,  taking  care,  however,  to 
keep  some  distance  from  the  United  States  consulate. 

Matters  continued  so  until  daylight,  when  I  sent  a  sufficient  number  of  wagons  to  remove 
the  family  of  Mr.  Pierce  and  property  from  the  consulate. 

At  7  o'clock  a.  m.  of  the  15th  they  were  safely  landed  on  this  side  and  the  troops  with 
drew.  The  fighting  in  the  morning  was  carried  on  bitterly  until  12  o'clock,  when  the 
Ruiz  party  retreated  and  were  scattered  in  every  direction.  The  casualties  on  both  sides 
were  about  50  killed  and  100  wounded.  Among  the  killed  was  Ex- Governor  Alvino  Lopez, 
a  prominent  Ruiz  man. 

Governor  Ruiz's  forces  numbered  800  men  and  4  pieces  of  artillery,  while  Cortinas's  force 
was  600  men  and  6  pieces  of  artillery,  and  the  town  during  the  fight  with  lawless  bands 
plundering,  &c. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  65 

Colonel  Cortinas  has  already  announced  himself  as  governor  of  Tamaulipas,  while  Gov 
ernor  Ruiz,  General  Eojas,  and  some  other  prominent  officers  escaped  and  crossed  to  this 
side,  and  are  now  here  refugees. 

I  have  in  this  report  given  merely  the  facts  in  detail,  and  will  not  enter  into  any  argu 
ment  in  justification  of  my  course. 

Notified  by  the  governor  of  the  State  that  he  could  not  protect  the  United  States  con 
sulate,  and  with  an  appeal  from  the  consul  directly  for  protection  for  his  family  and  prop 
erty,  I  felt  that  it  was  unquestionably  my  duty  to  furnish  a  sufficient  guard  to  remove 
him  from  the  city,  taking,  at  the  same  time,  every  precaution  to  prevent  collision  with 
either  of  the  factions.  I  might  here  state  that  the  English  consul  remained  during  the 
night  at  the  United  States  consulate,  under  our  protection. 

I  enclose  as  portion  of  the  report  letters  *  from  General  Ruiz  and  Colonel  Cortinas,  the 
former  claiming  to  be  governor,  appointed  and  recognized  by  Juarez,  and  complaining  that 
I  did  not  help  him,  and  the  latter  expresses  his  approval  of  the  neutrality  I  observed. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  say  that  Colonel  H.  Bertram,  of  the  20th  Wisconsin  infantry, 
who  commanded  the  troops  that  crossed  over,  performed  the  delicate  mission  in  an  admira 
ble  manner,  and  proved  himself  of  more  than  ordinary  judgment.  The  officers  and  sol 
diers  are  entitled  to  thanks  for  their  conduct. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  general,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

F.  J.  HERRON,  Major  General, 

Brigadier  General  C.  P.  STONE, 

Chief  of  Staff,  New  Orkans. 

FEBRUABY  4,  1864. 
Official  copy  : 

J.  C.  KELTON,  A.  A.  G. 


[Extract.] 

UNITED  STATES  CONSULATE, 

Matamoras,  January  16,  1864. 

SIR  ;  «  &  «  *-  #  c-  «  «•  «  #  «  «•  $  £-  & 
During  the  night  of  the  12th,  finding  that  robbing  was  being  carried  on  in  some  parts  of 
the  town,  and  I  having  about  a  million  of  dollars  in  specie  under  my  charge,  at  10^  p.  m. 
I  applied  to  Major  General  Herron,  commanding  the  forces  on  the  Rio  Grande,  for  sufficient 
men  to  protect  our  property  from  thieves  and  robbers,  and  he  immediately  crossed  over  a 
large  force,  who  remained  by  us  until  morning,,  when  I  sent  all  the  money  to  Brownsville, 
and  the  troops  retired. 

«         «         c-        o         *        #        o        «         c-         e        o        c-        «         «-        o         c- 
I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

L.  PIERCE,  JR.,  Consul. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C. 


[Translation.] 
| 

LEGATION  OF  FRANCE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

Washington,  March  11,  1864. 

SIR  :*  According  to  the  information  which  has  reached  the  Emperor's  government,  three 
regiments  of  the  federal  army  have  lately  been  sent  to  Matamoras  under  pretext  of  pro 
tecting  the  consul  of  the  United  States  at  that  point,  and  have  there  re-established  the 
Juarists,  by  driving  out  therefrom  General  Cortinas,  who  had  pronounced  against  it.  This 
news,  the  official  confirmation  of  which,  however,  it  had  not  received,  has  fixed  the  atten 
tion  of  the  Emperor's  government.  Such  a  fact  would  constitute  a  violation  of  the  neu 
trality  on  which  the  assurances  of  the  Cabinet  at  Washington  have  authorized  it  to  rely 
on  its  part  in  regard  to  Mexico,  and  would  also  be  entirely  opposed  to  the  instructions 
addressed  by  the  Department  of  State  to  General  Banks,  who  has  been  directed  to  favor 
neither  of  the  two  parties,  and  not  to  enter  the  Mexican  territory  even  to  protect  the 

°  Not  received. 
H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 5 


66  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

American  consuls  and  citizens  there.  I  therefore  deem  it  my  duty,  sir,  to  point  it  out  to 
yon,  and  would  be  infinitely  obliged  if  you  could  furnish  me  with  explanations  on  this 
subject. 

Be  pleased  to  accept,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  high  consideration, 

L.  DE  GEOFKOY. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  &fc.,  &fc.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.  ] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  March  15,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  I  have  this  day  re 
ceived  the  note  from  your  department  dated  12th  instant,  with  which  you  were 
pleased  to  send  me  copies  of  various  documents  which  the  Secretary  of  War  had 
communicated  to  you  relative  to  events  which  happened  at  Matamoras  on  the 
12th  nf  January  last,  as  also  an  extract  from  the  communication  upon  the  same 
acts  addressed  to  your  department  by  the  consul  of  the  United  States  at  that 
city,  and  copy  of  the  note  in  which  the  minister  of  France  at  this  capital  com 
plains  of  the  passage  of  the  forces  under  General  Herron  into  Mexican  territory. 

From  the  documents  transmitted  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  it  seems  that  the 
presence  of  such  force  in  the  city  of  Matamoras  was  requested  by  the  governor 
of  the  State  of  Tamaulipas,  Don  Manuel  Ruiz.  In  awaiting  the  more  complete 
information  which  you  are  pleased  to  anounce,  I  shall  not  again  touch  on  this 
matter,  in  my  correspondence  with  your  department,  so  long  as  1  am  without 
the  instructions  which  I  have  sought  from  my  government  on  this  point. 

I  will  have  the  pleasure  of  transmitting  to  you  the  explanations  and  reports 
which  may  be  in  my  power  on  this  subject,  thus  observing  the  intimation  you 
give  me  in  your  said  note. 

With  this  occasion,  it  is  gratifying  to  me  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  protestation 
of  my  most  distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  Sfc.t  fyc. 


No.  6. — Claims  of  United  States  citizens  a  gains'  Mexico. 

Mr.  Romero  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  Mexican  Republic,  October  23, 
1862. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  February  26,  1863,  (with  enclosures.) 
Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Komero,  March  9,  1863. 


Mr.  Romero  to  the  Mexican  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
[Translation.] 

No.  340.]  MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  October  23,  1862. 

At  a  conference  which  I  had  this  day  with  Mr.  Seward,  I  read  to  him  a  translation 
whi;h  I  had  prepared  of  the  note  which  you  addressed  me,  under  No.  392,  dated  Septem 
ber  27  last  past,  in  relation  to  the  claims  of  the  mint,  which  the  minister  of  the  United 
States,  residing  in  your  capital,  had  presented  to  the  supreme  government.  Having  con- 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  67 

eluded  ray  reading,  I  stated  to  Mr.  Seward  that  I  had  to  make  some  explanations  of  details 
not  referred  to  in  your  note. 

Mr.  Seward  said  to  me  that  there  was  no  necessity  for  my  giving  him  such  explanations; 
that  what  he  had  heard  was  sufficient  for  him  to  say  that  this  government  desired  that  the 
just  claims  which  the  loyal  citizens  of  the  United  States  have  against  foreign  countries 
should  be  duly  acknowledged  and  paid  ;  but  that,  with  reference  to  Mexico,  the  President, 
in  view  of  the  actual  state  of  affairs  in  Mexico,  did  not  propose  either  to  exact  urgently 
the  payment  of  such  claims,  or  to  use  force  to  obtain  it,  and  that  the  policy  of  the  United 
States  in  that  respect  had  been  indicated  in  the  answer  which  this  government  gave  to  the 
allied  powers  against  Mexico,  upon  being  invited  by  them  to  take  part  in  the  alliance, 
which  document  is  known  to  you. 

He  also  stated  to  me  that  the  only  instructions  which  this  government  has  communicated 
to  Mr.  Corwin  upon  the  claims,  which  have  already  been  published,  (the  first  of  the  docu 
ments  annexed  to  the  message  of  the  President  of  the  14th  of  April  last  upon  the  present 
condition  of  Mexico,)  were  so  liberal  and  conciliatory  that  they  would  assuredly  be  satis 
factory  to  the  government  of  the  Republic ;  that  this  government  was  entirely  satisfied 
by  the  reading  which  I  had  just  made  to  him  of  the  good  faith  of  the  government  of 
Mexico. 

Mr.  Seward  asked  me  whether  I  proposed  to  send  him  said  note.  I  answere'd  in  the 
affirmative. ,  He  replied,  Very  well ;  if  I  shall  have  occasion  to  say  anything  more  or  dif 
ferent  upon  the  subject  I  will  ask  a  further  interview  with  you.  We  will  leave  it  to  rest 
under  that  understanding,  which  you  may  communicate  to  your  government. 

The  minute  of  this  note  has  been  submitted  to  Mr.  Seward,  to  see  whether  he  found  our 
conference  to-day  to  have  been  faithfully  recorded,  and  it  has  appeared  to  him  correct. 

I  reiterate  to  you  the  assurances  of  my  very  distinguished  consideration.  God,  liberty 
and  reform. 

M.  ROMERO. 

The  MINISTER  OF  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS,  Mexico. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

LEGATION  OF  MEXICO, 

Washington,  February  26,  1863. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  In  conformity  with  what  I  said  to  you  at  our  interview 
to-day,  I  have  the  honor  to  send  you  copies  of  some  notes  exchanged  between 
the  legation  of  the  United  States  in  Mexico  and  the  government  of  the  republic 
respecting  the  nationality  of  Don  Ignacio  de  Loperena,  who  pretends  to  be  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of  eluding  the  duties  imposed  on 
him  in  his  character  as  a  Mexican. 

The  certificate  of  the  consul  of  the  United  States  at  Cadiz  presented  by 
Loperena  seems  insufficient  to  prove  the  nationality  of  this  person,  for  the 
reasons  you  will  see  in  the  notes  of  Mr.  Fuente.  Mr.  Corwin  had,  besides,  inti 
mated  in  his  confidential  note  to  Mr.  Fuente  his  apprehension  that  the  certificate 
was  false.  Loperena  is  a  native  of  the  State  of  Chiapas,  in  Mexico,  and  has 
Sdever  been  out  of  the  republic  for  five  years,  so  that  he  cannot  have  been 
naturalized  in  the  United  States,  because,  in  accordance  with  section  third  of  the 
act  of  Congress  of  the  14th  of  April,  1802,  entitled  "An  act  to  establish  an 
uniform  rule  of  naturalization  and  to  repeal  the  acts  heretofore  passed  on  that 
subject,"  which  is  still  in  force,  it  is  necessary  for  a  foreigner  who  is  to  be  nat 
uralized  that  he  shall  have  resided  five  years  in  the  United  States ;  and  Loperena 
cannot  have  resided  such  term  in  this  country  for  the  reason  that  he  has  not 
been  absent  from  Mexico,  because  he  went  away  for  the  first  time  at  the  close 
of  1858,  in  company  with  Mr.  Forsyth,  who  was  minister  of  the  United  States 
to  Mexico,  and  from  that  time  till  this  five  years  have  not  passed  away,  besides 
which,  he  has  returned  some  time  since  to  the  republic,  and  has  been  residing 
as  heretofore  at  the  capital. 


68  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

I  do  not  doubt,  sir,  that  when  you  are  informed  of  these  details  yon  will  give 
instructions  to  Mr.  Corwin,  if  he  has  not  already  done  so  on  his  own  motion, 
that  he  shall  cease  to  consider  Loperena  as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
whereby  he  will  avoid  the  inconvenience  occasioned  to  the  government  of 
Mexico  in  the  execution  of  her  laws,  through  the  protection  granted  until  now 
by  the  legation  of  the  United  States  to  Loperena,  and  through  the  protests  of 
Mr.  Corwin. 

I  avail  of  this  opportunity  to  repeat  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  most 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  8fc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


CONSULATE  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES  or  AMERICA. 

I,  Ebenezer  S.  Eggleston,  consul  of  the  United  States  of  America  for  Cadiz  and  the  de 
pendence's  thereof,  do  hereby  certify  that  Ignacio  Loperena,  now  temporarily  residing  in 
this  city  of  Cadiz,  has  this  day  deposited  in  this  consulate  his  certificate  of  naturalization,  duly 
issued  out  of  and  under  the  seal  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  city  of  New  York,  declaring 
him  to  have  been  duly  admitted  and  made  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
In  witness  thereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  band  apd  the  seal  of  this  consulate  this 
twentieth  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
[u.  s.]  and  sixty-two,  and  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty-seventh. 

E.  S.  EGGLESTON, 

United  States  Consul. 
WASHINGTON,  Febrero  26  de  18  03. 
Fa  eopia: 

ROMERO. 

CONSULATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

»    Mexico,  January  13,  1863. 

I,  the  undersigned,  consul  of  the  United  States  of  America  for  the  city  of  Mexico  and 
the  dependences  therepf,  do  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  and  faithful  copy 
of  the  original  filed  in  this  consulate,  the  same  having  been  carefully  examined  by  myself 
and  compared  with  said  original  and  found  to  agree  therewith,  word  for  word,  and  figure 
for  figure. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  affixed  the  seal  of  this  consulate 
[L.  s.]  the  day  and  the  year  above  written. 

MARCUS  OTTERBURG, 

United  States  Consul. 

WASHINGTON,  Febrero  26,  de  1863. 
Es  copia: 

ROMERO. 

[Translation.] 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA,  January  9,  1863. 

SIR:  At  this^moment  I  have  been  shown  the  certificate  of  the  consul  of  the  United 
States  at  Cadiz,  proving  that  Mr.  Loperena  is  a  citizen  of  the  United  States.  This  testi 
mony  must  be  conclusive  with  me,  and,  in  my  judgment,  should  be  so  with  all  it  may  con 
cern. 

Thus,  then,  I  find  myself  under  the  necessity  of  protesting,  officially,  against  any  dis 
positions  relating  to  the  effects  Mr.  Loperena  may  hare  here,  based  on  the  idea  that  Mr. 
Loperena  is  not  a  citizen  of  the  United  States. 

The  consul  of  the  United  States  will  show  you  the  certificate  to  which  reference  is  had. 
I  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  respect. 

THOMAS  CORWIN, 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
Sis  Excellency  S'r  FUENTB, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Relations,  Mexico. 

WASHINGTON,  February  26,  1863. 
A  copy : 

ROMERO. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  69 

[Translation.] 

NATIONAL  PALACE,  MEXICO,  January  12,  1863. 

SIR:  A  difficulty  has  occurred  about  taking  under  consideration  the  protest  contained 
in  the  note  you  were  pleased  to  address  to  me  on  the  9th  instant,  which  «I  have  directed 
to  be  privately  communicated,  but  as  your  excellency's  illness  has  not  allowed  it  to  be 
brought  to  your  knowledge,  I  find  myself  obliged  to  state  it  in  writing. 

This  difficulty  is  derived  from  the  want  of  the  regular  and  customary  form  in  the  doc 
ument  exhibited  by  Don  Ignacio  Loperena  to  establish  his  character  as  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  because  he  has  brought  before  me  the  original  document,  and  neither  the 
signature  of  the  American  consul  at  Cadiz  nor  the  seal  of  the  consulate  stamped  on  this 
paper  come  authenticated  by  the  minister  of  the  United  States  at  Madrid,  or,  better  still, 
by  the  department  for  foreign  affairs  at  Washington.  I  beg  you  to  consider  that  if  the 
legation  which  you  worthily  discharge  can  very  well  certify  the  office,  signature,  and  seal 
of  a  consul  of  the  United  States  in  the  republic  of  Mexico,  the  same  does  not  occur  when 
treating  of  consuls  in  other  countries. 

Please  accept  the  assurances  of  my  very  distinguished  consideration. 

JUAN  A  DE  LA  FUENTE. 
His  Excellency  THOMAS  CORWIN, 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

WASHINGTON,  February  26,  1863. 
Copy :  ROMERO. 

[Translation.] 

NATIONAL  PALACE,  MEXICO,  January  17,  1863. 

SIR:  Since  the  letter  I  had  the  honor  to  address  to  you  on  the  12th  instant,  whose  object 
was  to  offer  to  your  consideration  an  important  remark  upon  the  irregularity  manifest  in 
the  document  shown  by  D.  Ignacio  Loperena  to  prove  his  character  as  North  American,  the 
chief  officer  of  this  department  has  received  from  D  Juan  Potts  a  verbal  message  which 
he  was  bringing  to  me  from  your  excellency,  and  in  virtue  of  which  I  must  think  that  you 
no  longer  take  interest  in  granting  your  protection  to  that  person  on  account  of  the  new 
nationality  he  attributes  to  himself.  It  is  true  ,that  Mr.  Potts  announced  a  prompt  answer 
from  you  on  this  matter,  and  I  was  expecting  its  receipt,  not  as  exclusive  evidence  of  your 
abandonment  of  this  matter,  but  as  an  act  which  might,  or  not,  follow  the  message  above 
mentioned,  without  that  it  should  be  necessary  for  me  to  be  thus  confirmed.  Still,  the 
want  of  prompt  reply  in  a  case  so  urgent  would  have  appeared  to  me,  by  itself  alone,  as  a 
mark  of  acquiescence  in  my  observations  ;  and,  nevertheless,  a  recent  and  transcendent 
circumstance  makes  a  reply  in  every  respect  indispensable  from  your  legation,  therefore 
I  beg  you  to  send  it  as  early  as  possible.  A  paper  of  this  morning,  "  The  Herald,"  has 
published  the  notice  which  appears  in  the  printed  extract  annexed  to  this  communication. 
The  manifest  tendency  of  this  notice  is  to  keep  back  the  bidders  on  the  effects  of  Loperena, 
ordered  to  be  sold  for  the  fiscal  liabilities  of  this  individual,  and  this  without  other  reason 
than  your  excellency's  protest  relating  to  him,  which  interested  parties  suppose  to  be  in 
full  force.  Allow  me  to  say  that  I  cannot  question  for  a  moment  the  conviction  I  have 
that  your  excellency  does  not  insist  upon  the  protest  mentioned.  Not  only  the  potent 
want  of  form  would  oppose  this,  as  I  had  the  honor  to  point  out  in  my  previous  official  let 
ter,  but  besides  the  other  reasons  of  public  notoriety  of  the  reality  of  the  fact,  and  the  con 
clusive  qualification  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States ;  for  D.  Ignacio  Loperena  did  not 
leave  Mexico,  to  which  he  belongs  by  birth,  until  about  the  year  1859,  when  he  went  to 
the  United  States  in  company  with  Forsyth,  and  since  then  the  five  years,  which  the  law 
of*the  United  States  determines  for  the  residence  of  foreigners  in  their  country,  before  they 
can  be  lawfully  naturalized,  have  not  passed. 

In  this  reasoning  I  have  chosen  to  suopose  that  Loperena  had  lived  without  interruption 
in  the  United  States  through  the  period  elapsed  since  he  went  from  Mexico  until  this  time. 
For  these  reasons  you  will  perceive  it  is  impossible  for  this  government  to  admit  the  na 
turalization  spoken  of,  and  that  it  has  entire  confidence  in  the  justness  of  your  excellency, 
which  will  prompt  a  declaration  which  will  admit  the  manifest  justice  of  this  republic. 
Be  pleased,  &c  ,  &c., 

JUAN  ANTONIO  DE  LA  FUENTO. 

His  Excellency  THOMAS  CORWIN, 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

MEXICO,  January  26,  1863. 

Copy:  JUAN  DE  DIAS  ARIAS. 

WASHINGTON,  February  26,  1863. 
Copy:  ROMERO. 


70  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 


Mr.  Steward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

«  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  March  9,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  26th 
ultimo,  in  relation  to  the  nationality  of  Don  Ignacio  de  Loperena,  which  has 
already  been  the  subject  of  personal  conference  between  us. 

Upon  examination  of  the  correspondence  of  Mr.  Corwin,  I  do  not  find  that 
he  has  made  any  communication  to  the  department  on  the  subject ;  and,  in  the 
absence  of  such  information,  it  is  deemed  proper  to  request  a  report  from  him 
upon  the  case.  In  directing  Mr.  Corwin  to  make  this  report,  it  will  be  intima 
ted  to  him  that  while  he  yields  protection  to  bonafide  citizens,  he  will  not 
suffer  citizenship  to  be  fraudulently  assumed  for  the  purpose  of  shielding  Mexi 
can  citizens  from  the  obligations  due  to  their  own  laws  and  government. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  offer  to  you,  sir,  a  renewed  assurance  of 
my  high  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Senor  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  Sft. 


No.  7. —  The  temporary  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Romero  from  Washington. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward April    23, 1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero April    23,1863. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward May       8,1863. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation  ] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  April  23,  1863. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  my  government,  ac 
ceding  to  the  repeated  applications  which  I  have  made  to  it  to  permit  me  to 
return  to  Mexico  for  the  purpose  of  taking  an  active  part  in  the  defence  of  my 
country  against  the  foreign  invader,  has  been  pleased  to  grant  me  temporary 
leave  to  return  to  the  republic. 

I  hare  instructions  from  my  government  to  leave,  during  my  absence  from 
Washington,  the  Mexican  citizens  resident  in  the  United  States  under  the  pro 
tection  of  the  representative  of  one  of  the  American  nations  friendly  to  Mexico 
accredited  to  this  government,  to  be  designated  to  the  Department  of  State,  be 
fore  I  leave  New  York.  I  will  also  leave  in  the  keeping  of  the  same  repre 
sentative  the  archives  of  this  legation  in  Washington. 

Proposing  to  make  immediate  use  of  the  leave  granted  to  me  by  my  govern 
ment,  I  beg  you  to  order  passports  to  be  sent  to  me,  for  myself  and  for  Don 
Jesus  Escobar  y  Armendaris,  attached  to  this  legation,  who  will  return  with 
me  to  the  republic. 

I  avail  of  this  opportunity  to  repeat  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  most 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fc.,  fyc. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  71 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  April  23,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  this  date, 
i  nforming  me  that  your  government,  yielding  to  your  repeated  applications  for 
permission  to  return  to  Mexico  for  the  purpose  of  taking  an  active  part  in  the 
defence  of  your  country  in  the  unhappy  war  now  existing  there,  has  granted 
you  a  temporary  leave  of  absence,  during  which  the  interests  of  Mexican  citi 
zens  are,  under  your  instructions,  to  be  placed  in  charge  of  one  of  the  repre 
sentatives  of  the  American  States,  to  be  named  hereafter,  and  requesting 
passports  for  yourself  and  for  Don  Jesus  Escobar  y  Armendaris,  attache"  of  the 
legation,  who  will  return  with  you. 

Whilst  I  cannot  but  express  my  sincere  regrets  that  your  relations  with  this 
government  are  to  be  temporarily  suspended — relations  in  which,  both  in  your 
official  and  personal  character,  your  abilities,  zeal,  and  amiability,  have  rendered 
you  most  acceptable  to  those  who  have  had  intercourse  with  you — I  cannot 
but  sympathize  with  and  appreciate  the  motive  which  has  prompted  your 
patriotic  determination,  and  I  offer  my  best  wishes  for  your  safety  and  success 
in  carrying  it  into  effect.  When  your  object  shall  have  been  accomplished,  it 
will  give  me  pleasure  to  welcome  your  return  hither. 

The  passports  you  request  are  enclosed.  Due  respect  will  be  paid  to  the 
representations  which  may  be  made  on  behalf  of  the  interests  of  Mexican 
citizens  by  the  person  to  whom  that  duty  is  delegated. 

I  avail  myself,  sir,  of  the  occasion  to  repeat  to  you  the  assurances  of  my 
distinguished  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Senor  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  Sfc. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

New  York,  May  8,  1863. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that,  in  compliance  with 
the  instructions  which  I  received  from  my  government  to  return  to  Mexico,  and 
which  I  communicated  to  your  department  in  my  note  of  the  23d  of  April  last 
past,  I  requested  of  Senor  Don  Federico  L.  Barreda,  the  minister  resident  of 
Peru,  that  during  my  absence  from  Washington  he  should  remain  in  charge  of 
the  protection  of  the  Mexican  citizens  residing  in  the  United  States,  and  of  the 
trust  of  the  archives  of  the  Mexican  legation,  which  charge  Mr.  Barreda  had 
the  goodness  to  accept.  I  have,  th«efore,  to  request  you  to  be  pleased  to 
recognize  him  as  charged  with  the  promotion  referred  to,  until  such  time  as  my 
government  may  otherwise  direct. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
most  distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  lye.,  fyc. 


No.  8. — Case  of  the  Mexican  prisoners  confined  at  Fort  Delaware. 

Mr.  Barreda  to  Mr.  Seward. September  18,  1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Barreda September  21,  1863. 

Same  to  same September  24,  1863. 


72  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

Mr.  Barreda  to  Mr.  Seward September  28,  1863. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  one  enclosure) February  15,  1864. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero  (with  one  enclosure) March  15,  1864. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward March  17,  1864, 

Same  to  same,  .(with  two  enclosures) April  25,  1864. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero April  28,  1864. 


C         Stamp  of        ? 
I  Legation  of  Peru.  5 


Mr.  Barreda  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 


NEW  YORK,  September  18,  1863. 

SIR:  Francisco"  Navarro  Sanchez,  Julio  Nores,  Jose  Antonio  Candido,  and 
Jorge  D.  Lustin,  prisoners  of  war  in  Fort  Delaware,  have  addressed  the  consul 
general  of  Mexico  in  this  city,  stating  to  him  that  they  are  Mexican  citizens, 
the  first  a  native  of  Reynosa,  and  the  others  natives  of  Matamoras ;  that  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war  they  were  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  which  they  could 
not  leave  on  account  of  the  blockade;  that  they  were  obliged  to  take  up  arms 
for  the  term  of  one  year;  that  on  this  being  concluded  they  were  forced  to  con 
tinue  in  the  army  for  the  time  the  war  should  last;  that  they  do  not  wish  to  be 
exchanged  or  to  return  to  the  south,  and  that  their  desire  is  to  be  set  at  liberty 
in  order  that  they  may  return  to  Mexico. 

Not  having  the  means  of  verifying  the  assertions  of  the  applicants,  I  address 
your  excellency,  trusting,  from  your  equity,  that  you  will  be  pleased  to  order 
the  case  to  be  investigated,  and  that  if  their  statements  should  turn  out  to  be 
true,  you  will  direct  the  men  who  have  been  forced  to  render  service  that  was 
not  exacted  by  law  to  be  set  at  liberty. 

Navarro  Sanchez  belonged  to  company  G  of  the  3d  regiment  of  infantry  of 
Louisiana,  army  of  the  west.  He  will  give  information  of  the  corps  in  which 
the  others  have  done  military  duty. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  your  excellency  the  assurances 
of  my  esteem  and  respect. 

F.  L.  BARREDA. 

His  Excellency  the  SECRETARY  OF  STATE 

of  the  United  States,  Washington. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Barreda. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  September  21,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  received  and  have  commended  to  the  attention  of  the  Secretary 
of  War  your  note  of  the  18th  instant,  asking  for  the  release  of  certain  Mexicans 
confined  in  Fort  Delaware  as  prisoners  of  war. 

I  avail  myself  of  the  occasion  to  offer  to  you  a  renewed  assurance  of  my  very 
high  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
SeSor  Don  F.  L.  BARREDA,  fyc.,  8fc.,  fyc. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  73 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Barreda. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  September  24,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  hfform  you  that  the  Secretary  of  War  has  notified 
this  department  that  your  request  touching  certain  Mexicans  now  in  confine 
ment  as  prisoners  of  war  in  Fort  Delaware  will  receive  the  attentive  considera 
tion  of  his  department. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurance  of  my  highest 
consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Senor  Don  F.  L.  BARREDA,  fyc.,  Sfc.,  Sfc. 


Mr.  Barreda  to  Mr.  Seward. 

NEWPORT,  September  28,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  communication  of 
the  24th  instant,  informing  me  that  the  Secretary  of  War  has  notified  you  that 
my  request  touching  certain  Mexicans  now  confined  as  prisoners  of  war  in  Fort 
Delaware  will,  receive  the  attentive  consideration  of  his  department. 

Thanking  you,  sir,  for  your  prompt  attention  to  this  subject,  I  have  the  honor 
to  be  your  excellency's  obedient  servant, 

F.  L.  BARREDA. 
His  Excellency  the  SECRETARY  OF  STATE 

of  the  United  States,  Washington. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  February  15, 1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  Under  date  of  the  24th  September,  of  the  year  last  past, 
the  department  deemed  proper  to  answer  to  Don  Federico  Barreda,  then  charged 
with  the  protection  of  Mexicans,  that  his  application  in  regard  to  certain  Mexi 
cans  confined  as  prisoners  of  war  at  Fort  Delaware  would  be  taken  into  con 
sideration  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  as  that  functionary  had  informed  you. 

Very  lately  I  have  received  from  those  interested  the  letter  which  I  have  the 
honor  to  enclose,  in  copy,  from  which  it  must  be  inferred  that  as  yet  the  case  of 
the  individuals  to  whom  I  refer  has  not  been  solved.  I  beg,  therefore,  that  it 
may  please  you  to  tell  me  whether  in.  fact  no  determination  has  been  taken 
about  that  of  George  D.  Lustin,  Julio  Norris  and  Jose  A.  Candida,  or,  in  case 
no  decision  has  been  yet  made,  that  you  will  be  so  good  as  to  indicate  the  same 
to  me,  that  I  may  not  occupy  the  attention  of  the  department  with  this  matter 
but  so  far  as  may  be  strictly  necessary. 

I  avail  of  this  opportunity  to  repeat  to  your  excellency  the  assurances  of  my 
most  distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


74  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

FORT  DELAWARE,  February  10,  1864. 
Senor  ROMERO,  Minister  to  the  United  States: 

The  undersigned,  a  prisoner  of  war,  was  residing  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  present  war  between  the  northern  and  southern  States,  and  was  forced 
to  enter  the  rebel  army  in  1862,  and  served  in  the  same  until  July,  1863,  when  he  sur 
rendered  himself  a  prisoner  of  war  to  the  northern  force's,  and  took  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  government  of  the  United  States.  He  would  state  to  your  excellency  that  he  is  a 
citizen  of  Matamoras,  in  the  State  of  Tamaulipas,  in  the  republic  of  Mexico,  which  you 
have  the  honor  to  represent  at  the  city  of  Washington,  and  that  on  the  8th  day  of  the 
present  month  he  communicated  the  foregoing  facts  to  the  Secretary  of  War  of  the  Unittd 
States  and  to  Major  General  Butler,  commanding  at  Norfolk,  Va.  I  would  be  under  many 
obligations  to  you  if  you  will  call  the  attention  of  the  government  at  Washington  to  my 
case  and  have  me  released  from  prison.  I  am  a  loyal  citizen  of  the  Juarez  government, 
and  desire  to  continue  so. 

I  would  assure  your  excellency  that  there  are  two  other  citizens  of  Mexico  now  confined 
in  prison  here,  whose  cases  are  the  same  as  mine,  and  would  respectfully  ask  you  to  use 
your  influence  and  ministerial  authority  to  have  them  released  also.  They  are  named 
Juloi  Norris  and  Josd  A.  Candida,  both  citizens  of  Tamaulipas,  and  loyal  to  the  Juarez 
government. 

I  would  have  addressed  this  communication  to  you  in  the  Spanish  language,  but  there  is 
no  one  here  to  interpret  it  to  the  examining  officer,  who  examines  all  letters  sent  from  this 
post  to  another  post. 

Hopiag  your  excellency  will  give  his  immediate  attention  to  this,  and  with  my  best 
wishes  for  your  health  and  prospwity,  I  am  your  most  obedient  servant, 

GEORGE  D.  LUSTIN. 

WASHINGTON,  February  15,  1864. 
A  true  copy: 

IGN.   MARISCAL,  Secretary. 

r 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  March  15,  1864. 

SIR  :  Referring  to  your  note  of  the  15th  ultimo  relative  to  certain  Mexican 
citizens  confined  as  prisoners  of  war  in  Fort  Delaware,  I  have  the  honor  to 
inform  you  that,  having  submitted  the  subject  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  I  have 
received  from  General  Canby,  under  the  Secretary's  instructions,  a  communi 
cation  dated  the  llth  instant,  copy  of  which  is  herewith  enclosed. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
high  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Senor  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  Sfc. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON  CITY, 

•March  11,  1864. 

SIR:  The  Secretary  of  War  instructs  me  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the 
16th  ultimo,  inviting  attention  to  an  enclosed  translation  of  a  note  from  the  minister  of 
Mexico,  of  the  day  previous,  requesting  information  as  to  the  determination  of  the  govern 
ment  in  regard  to  George  D.  Lustin,  Julio  Norris,  and  Jose"  A.  Candida,  alleged  Mexican 
citizens,  now  in  confinement  as  prisoners  of  war  at  Fort  Delaware. 

In  reply  thereto,  the  Secretary  instructs  me  to  inform  you  that  the  commissary  general 
of  prisoners  has  been  advised  that  these  cases  will  be  held  in  reserve  for  the  present,  and 
the  prisoners  will  not  be  sent  south  for  exchange  against  their  consent. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

EDWARD  R.  S.  CANBY, 

Brigadier  General,  A.  A.  G. 
The  SECRETARY  OF  STATE,  Washington,  D.  C. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  75 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  March  17,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  the  note  you  were  pleased 
to  address  to  me  on  the  15th  current,  enclosing  to  me  a  communication  from 
General  Canby  relative  to  four  Mexican  citizens  who  are  held  at  Fort  Delaware 
as  prisoners  of  war.  Those  individuals  represented  to  this  legation  in  Septem 
ber  last  that  they  were  residing  in  New  Orleans  when  the  civil  war  broke  out 
in  the  United  States ;  that  they  could  not  depart  from  that  port  in  consequence 
of  its  blockade  established  by  the  United  States  navy ;  that  they  were  com 
pelled  by  the  agents  of  the  insurrection  to  take  up  arms  against  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  for  the  term  of  one  year ;  which  having  come  to  its 
end,  they  compelled  them  to  continue  in  the  secessionist  army  during  the  time 
the  war  might  last.  As  a  proof  of  the  sincerity  of  such  representations  they 
stated  that  they  would  not  be  exchanged,  nor  return  to  the  south,  and  desired 
to  go  back  to  Mexico. 

As  they  did  not  present  proofs  of  the  truth  of  their  assertions,  Mr.  Barreda, 
minister  of  Peru,  in  charge  at  that  time  of  the  protection  of  Mexican  citizens 
in  the  United  States,  thought  fit  to  confine  himself,  in  the  note  which  he  ad 
dressed  to  your  department  of  the  18th  September  aforesaid,  to  request  that  an 
investigation  of  the  case  should  be  made,  and  that  if  the  result  showed  the 
statements  of  the  parties  interested  to  be  true,  they  should  be  set  at  liberty. 

On  the  24th  of  said  September  you  were  pleased  to  announce  to  Mr.  Barreda 
that  the  Secretary  of  War  had  informed  him  that  application  relative  to  those 
Mexicans  would  receive  due  attention  from  his  department. 

On  the  10th  of  February  last  past,  one  of  the  parties  again  addressed  this 
legation,  stating  that  they  still  remained  imprisoned,  and  alleging  circumstances 
which  tended  to  prove  their  foregoing  assertions,  such  as  having  taken  the  oath 
of  fealty  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  in  consequence  whereof  I 
think  it  proper  to  address  myself  to  your  department  inquiring  whether  the 
honorable  Secretary  of  War  has  yet  decided  the  case  referred  to.  The  com 
munication  to  which  I  now  reply  informs  me  "that  the  Secretary  of  War  has 
given  instructions  to  the  commissary  general  of  prisoners  that  these  cases  be 
reserved  for  the  present ;  that  meantime  the  parties  are  not  to  be  exchanged 
against  their  will."  From  this  it  appears  to  follow  that  the  Department  of 
War  does  not  think  proper  to  make  the  investigation  which  had  been  solicited, 
which  to  me  seems  not  credible,  because  it  would  be  the  means  most  adequate 
to  determine  satisfactorily  this  incident,  it  being,  besides,  notorious  that  if  the 
parties  are  left  indefinitely  in  prison,  their  condition  will  be  worse  than  that  of 
those  who  indubitably  have  served  voluntarily  in  the  rebellion,  who  may  be 
exchanged  at  any  time. 

According  to  my  information  in  similar  cases,  in  which  prisoners  have  "been 
made  of  subjects  of  other  nations,  and  chiefly  of  Great  Britain,  they  have  been 
set  at  liberty  when  it  has  been  shown  that  they  served  in  the  ranks  of  the  in 
surgents  by  compulsion  of  greater  force,  and  the  justice  of  the  government  of 
the  United  States  is  too  well  known  to  admit  belief  that  it  will  proceed  in  a 
different  manner  in  its  treatment  of  Mexican  citizens. 

I  therefore  deem  it  my  duty  again  to  beg  the  government  of  the  United 
States  to  cause  proper  investigation  to  be  made  in  this  business,  and  in  case  it 
proves  the  truth  of  the  statements  made  by  the  parties  interested,  that  it  cause 
them  to  be  set  at  liberty. 

I  avail  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  most 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  &.,  fyc.,  $c. 


76  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.  ] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  April  25,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  In  my  note  dated  on  the  17th  of  March  last  past,  I  had 
the  honor  to  inform  you  that,  in  my  opinion,  the  determination  adopted  by  the 
Secretary  of  War  in  the  case  of  the  Mexican  prisoners  confined  at  Fort  Dela 
ware  was  not  entirely  conformable  to  that  which  the  considerations  of  equity 
demanded,  which  militate  in  their  favor,  inasmuch  as  they  had  suffered  so  long 
an  imprisonment  without  any  investigation  having  been  made  of  the  truth  of 
the  facts  which  they  allege  in  their  defence. 

Subsequently  I  have  received  the  letters  of  George  D.  Lustin,  copies  of 
which  I  annex  to  this  communication.  By  the  first  of  these  letters  it  will  be 
seen  that  one  of  the  prisoners  has  already  died  while  awaiting  the  final  deter 
mination  as  to  his  fate,  and  that  Lustin  complains  of  being  quite  sick.  These 
circumstances,  I  trust,  will  influence  the  government  of  the  United  States  to 
have  the  cases  of  the  three  remaining  prisoners  attended  to,  by  judging  them 
by  means  of  the  investigation  which  they  solicit,  and  which  I  have  had  the 
honor  to  indicate,  or  by  putting  an  end  otherwise  to  the  painful  situation  of 
expectancy  in  which  they  find  themselves.  My  object  in  this  note  is  none 
other  than  to  again  call  your  attention  to  this  business  by  requesting  your  in 
fluence,  to  the  end  that  it  may  lead  to  a  decision  as  promptly  as  it  may  be  pos 
sible,  and  in  the  terms  of  justice  which  are  to  be  expected  from  the  government 
of  the  United  States. 

With  this  motive  I  renew  to  you,  Mr.  Secretary,  the  assurances  of  my  very 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


FORT  DELAWARE,  April  20,  1864. 

RFSPECTED  SIR:  Permit  me  again  to  call  your  attention  to  my  case,  and  to  request  you 
to  press  it  upon  the  government  of  the  United  .States,  and  procure  a  decision  as  early 
as  possible.  An  exchange  is  in  progress,  and  having  no  desire  or  intention  of  ever  going 
back  to  the  southern  army,  I  am  the  more  an xioust««  obtain  my  release  before  the  prisoners 
are  sent  from  here  for  exchange.  I  presume  a  load  will  be  sent  off  in  a  few  days  from  here, 
and  I  know  not  how  soon  all  may  be  sent.  I  do  not  know  what  evidence  the  government 
will  require  me  to  produce  to  warrant  it  in  releasing  me,  and  securing  itself  against  any 
further  service  on  my  part  in  the  rebel  army.  Having  once  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance, 
as  heretofore  stated,  and  claiming  Mexican  citizenship  and  the  protection  of  your  excellency, 
being  able  to  substantiate  beyond  a  doubt  that  I  am  a  citizen  of  the  government  which 
your  excellency  has  the  honor  to  represent,  I  think  would  be  a  sufficient  guarantee  of  my 
sincerity.  I  am  willing  to  submit  to  any  test  that  may  be  imposed  upon  me,  compatible 
with  honor,  which  your  excellency  may  approve,  whereby  my  allegiance  to  your  excellency's 
government  will  not  be  compromised  or  impaired. 

Hoping  that  your  excellency  may  be  able  to  procure  a  speedy  decision  by  the  government, 
I  am  yours,  most  respectfully, 

i  GEORGE  D.  LUSTIN. 

Sefior  ROMERO,  Envoy  Extraordinary,  8fc. 

Copy: 

IGN.  MARISJAL, 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  77 


FORT  DELAWARE,  March  27,  1864. 

SIR:  Yours  of  the  23d  is  to  hand,  and  I  tender  you  my  acknowledgments  for  your  prompt 
ness  in  laying  my  case  before  the  government. 

I  am  very  desirous  of  securing  my  release  before  summer,  as  my  health  is  quite  delicate, 
and  I  fear  that  I  may  not  be  able  to  stand  it  through  the  season.  If  you  can  expedite  my 
release  it  will  confer  a  favor.  I  am  not  afraid  of  being  sent  south,  as  I  have  no  wish  to 
go  back,  and  do  not  anticipate  that  I  will  be  forced  to  go.  The  statements  in  mine  of  the 
10th  ultimo  are  strictly  true,  and  the  utmost  reliance  can  be  placed  in  them,  and  can  be 
substantiated  by  indubitable  testimony  which  will  be  furnished  you  if  you  can  secure  an 
investigation  of  my  case,  and  it  should  be  necessary  for  you  to  be  put  in  possession  of  it. 
Francisco  Navarro  Sanches  was  sent  to  Point  Lookout,  Maryland,  and  I  have  learned  that 
he  died  there  of  small-pox.  The  regiment  to  which  he  was  attached  were  all  sent  to  Point 
Lookout. 

Again  thanking  you  for  your  attention,  I  am,  sir,  y©ur  most  obedient  servant, 

GEORGE  D.  LUSTIN. 

Senor  ROMEBO,  Minister  at  Washington. 

Copy  : 

IGN.  MARISCAL. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  April  28,  1864. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  25th 
instant,  with  its  enclosures. 

I  have  communicated  a  translation  of  the  former,  and  a  copy  of  the  latter,  to 
the  Secretary  of  War,  referring,  at  the  same  time,  to  your  previous  note  of  the 
17th  ultimo  upon  the  same  subject,  which  had  been  duly  submitted  to  the  War 
Department  without  eliciting  any  information. 

1  shall  hasten  to  communicate  to  you  the  reply  which  may  be  received  to 
these  representations. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  you  the  assurances  of  my  high 
consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Senor  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  4^.,  fyc. 


No.  9. — Protection  of  Mexican  citizens  in  California. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  four  enclosures) March  1 2,  1864. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero March  17,  1864. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  March  12,  1864. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  send  to  you  a  copy  of  a  note  I  have  received  from 
the  Mexican  consul  at  San  Francisco,  in  which  he  informs  this  legation  of  the 
illegal  proceedings  of  which  two  Mexican  citizens  were  victims  at  a  place  in 
the  State  of  California  called  Campo  Chino,  which  proceeding  ended  in  the 


78  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

execution  without  form  of  law  of  the  said  citizens  named,  Luis  Leyva  and 
Cosme  Nunez.  I  send  also  to  your  department  a  slip  from  the  newspaper 
"  La  Voz  de  Mexico,"  which  is  mentioned  in  said  note,  and  a  copy  of  the  state 
ment  which  several  Mexican  citizens  resident  at  Campo  Chiuo  presented  to  the 
Mexican  consul  at  San  Francisco  in  relation  to  the  same  matter. 

I  am  sure  that  the  government  of  the  United  States,  animated  by  its  natural 
rectitude,  will  not  do  less  than  proceed  in  this  case  as  justice  and  the  good  report 
of  every  civilized  country  demands,  and  will  do  so  at  once  upon  the  facts  to 
which  I  allude  reaching  its  knowledge,  even  if  otherwise  than  through  me; 
therefore  I  think  I  am  excused  from  urging  it,  beyond  the  hope  that  most 
effective  orders  be  issued  for  the  apprehension  and  punishment  of  those  guilty 
of  the  assassination  of  the  two  Mexican  citizens  to  whom  I  have  made  reference, 
and  that  also  there  be  given  to  all  Mexican  citizens  resident  in  the  State  of 
California  the  protection  of  the  laws  to  which  they  have  full  right  in  virtue  of 
the  stipulations  of  the  treaties  which  bind  together  the  United  States  and  the 
Mexican  republic. 

Reserving  return  to  the  submission  of  this  painful  subject  to  the  consideration 
of  the  department,  when  I  may  receive  the  instructions  my  government  may 
think  right  to  give  me  about  it,  I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  repeat 
to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  most  distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H..SEWARD,  Sfc.,  fyc.,  Sp. 


[Translation.] 

CONSULATE  OF  MEXICO  AT  SAN  FRANCISCO, 

San  Francisco,  February  13,  1864. 

Having  become  informed,  through  various  channels,  that  on  the  25th  December  two 
Mexicans,  called  Luis  Leyva  and  Cosme  Nunez,  were  hanged  at  a  place  in  this  State 
called  Campo  Chino,  by  a  mob  of  persons  of  various  nations,  I  thought  it  my  duty  to 
inform  you  of  the  fact,  because  it  is  no  rare  thing  for  Mexicans  to  be  victims  of  such  out 
rages  without  any  intervention  of  the  authorities  to  repress  such  acts.  I  enclose  a  slip  from 
the  Mexican  newspaper  "  La  Voz  de  Mexico,"  in  which  publicity  has  been  given  to  this 
matter. .  I  also  enclose  a  paper  which  has  been  addressed  to  me  from  that  point,  Campo 
Chino,  in  which  appear  the  names  of  the  persons  who  make  that  kind  of  demonstration  in 
their  way.  All  which  I  place  in  your  knowledge,  that,  if  .you  think  it  suitable,  you  may 
take  any  step  in  the  business. 

I  assure  you  of  my  respectful  consideration. 

M.  E.  RODRIGUEZ. 
Don  MATIAS  ROMERO, 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary 

of  the  Republic  at  Washington. 

WASHINGTON,  March  12,  1864. 
A  copy: 

IGNO.  MARISCAL. 


[Translation.] 

Patriotic  Mexican  Junta  of  Sonora. — Statement  to  Don  Manuel  E.  Rodriguez,  consul  of  the  Mexican 

republic  at  San  Francisco. 

We,  Mexicans,  who  compose  this  patriotic  association,  have  assembled  this  day,  the  7th 
February,  1864,  to  make  this  statement,  which  has  the  double  object  of  congratulating 
our  consul  resident  at  San  Francisco  on  the  firmness  with  which  he  has  commenced  the  dis 
charge  of  his  functions  and  to  bring  to  his  knowledge  the  facts  which  we  are  about  to  press 
upon  him.  In  doing  thus,  we  think  we  are  discharging  a  sacred  duty  as  citizens  of  Mexico 
resident  in  a  foreign  country  ;  a  duty,  the  fulfilment  ot  which  in  this  State  is  of  especial 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  79 

importance,  as  there  have  been  here  so  frequent  outrages  on  our  countrymen  and  so  little 
spirit  shown  in  their  defence  as  to  give  room  for  the  repetition  of  the  same  scandals. 
Moved  by  this  consideration,  C.  Alejo  Ramirez  has  made  a  motion  in  the  junta  in  the 
terms  following:  "Countrymen,  I  was  anxious  to  see  assembled  a  good  number  of  my 
fellow-citizens  for  the  purpose  of  calling  their  attention  to  a  scandalous  outrage  committed 
at  Campo  Ohino  on  the  persons  of  two  Mexicans,  who  were  very  lately  hung  without  suit 
previously  instituted  or  any  evidence  soever.  I  propose  to  you  that  we  resort  to  our  consul, 
that  he  may  recur  to  the  government  of  the  State  or  other  competent  power,  complaining 
of  the  act  to  which  I  refer,  which  we  must  consider  as  offensive  to  the  dignity  of  our 
country.  Certainly  we  should  not  advocate  the  impunity  of  criminals,  but  we  should 
demand  that  when  a  Mexican  deserves  to  be  punished  with  any  penalty  he  should  be 
judged  according  to  the  laws  of  this  country."  This  motion  was  approved  by  all  present, 
and  the  assembly  closed  with  the  signing  of  this  act  by  the  following  citizens  : 

Alejo  Ramirez.  Jesus  Duarte.  Basilio  Villanueva. 

Gregorio  Contreras.  Jgnacio  Carvajal.  Lugardo  Palacio. 

Jose"  M.  Hernandez.  Nicolas  Gonzalez.  Bonito  Madigales. 

Jose"  M.  Garcia.  Casimiro  Leon.  Francisco  Anaga. 

Ramon  Osorio.  Herculano  Sierra.  Angel  Silvas. 

Ramon  Martinez.  Luis  Yanes.  Refugio  Gastelum. 

Amdo  Cuevas.  Pedro  Lomelin.  Faustino  Morelos. 

Simon  Caberut.  Gabriel  Mendes.  Jose"  Castro. 

Jose"  M.  Rosas.  Maximiano  Nava.  Jesus  Andado. 

Jesus  Camacho.  Cesario  Ramirez.  Fermin  Antelo. 

Viviano  Rubio.  Antonio  Castro.  Miguel  Morelos. 

Francisco  R.  Luvilla.  Cirilo  Flores. 

Fernando  Mariscal.  Arcadio  Vasconcelos. 

WASHINGTON,  March  12,  1860. 
Correct : 

IGNO.  MARISCAL. 


[Translation.] 

From  the  San  Francisco  "  Voz  de  Mexico." 
Assassination  of  two  Mexicans,  Luis  Leyva  and  Cosme  Nunes. 

We  take  occasion  to  announce  in  our  paper  the  assassinations  committed  on  two  of  our 
countrymen  in  disregard  of  the  authorities  who  are  the  sole  executors  of  the  laws,  and 
now  gire  place  to  a  narrative  sent  us  by  a  sister  of  Leyva,  and  submit  it  without  com 
mentary  and  without  modification,  because  we  wish  the  ideas  should  be  read  as  they  are 
presented  by  the  party  who  cdmmunicated  them  to  us. 

We  urge  the  Mexican  consul  resident  here  to  take  some  action  in  relation  to  indemnity 
for  the  injuries  caused  by  such  outrages,  and  the  punishment  of  their  perpetrators  if, 
perchance,  within  the  sphere  of  his  faculty  ;  but  if  not,  we  ask  him  to  address  our  minister 
at  Washington,  that  such  functionary  may  interpose  the  measures  which  may  be  needful  to 
attain  those  objects  and  that  the  repetition  of  such  disorders  may  be  averted. 

All  Mexicans  who  experience  wrongs  may  send  their  complaints  to  this  press,  well 
assured  that  if  well  founded  we  will  give  them  publicity  with  pleasure,  because  there  will 
at  least  rest  with  us  the  consolation  that  we  have  not  kept  silence  on  the  injustice  done  to 
our  countrymen. 

SONORA,  January  31,  1864. 
Messrs.  Editors  of  "  La  Voz  de  Mexico,"  San  Francisco: 

DEAR  SIRS  :  Annexed  I  send  you  a  letter  in  which  you  will  find  the  details  of  the 
assassination  committed  at  Campo  Chino  on  two  of  our  countrymen,  to  the  end  that  if  you 
find  them  worthy  of  insertion  in  your  esteemed  paper  you  may  do  so,  in  order  that  public 
animadversion  may  fall  on  the  perpetrators. 

The  subscriber,  sister  of  one  of  the  dead  men,  poor  and  unaided,  recurs  to  you  as  the  only 
channel  through  which,  as  advised,  she  can  elucidate  this  matter,  which,  as  you  will  see, 
is  of  interest  to  every  Mexican  in  its  publication. 

I  remain  your  obedient  servant,  Messrs.  Editors, 

ANASTASIA  LEYVA. 


80  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


[Translation.] 

Horrid  assassination  committed  at  Campo  Chino  on  the  persons  of  Luis  Leyva  and  Cosme  Nunez,  by  a 
mob  of  Irish,  Germans,  and  Indians,  led  on  by  Don  Alejandro  Retes  de  Castorena. 

On  the  18th  day  of  December,  1863,  Luis  Leyva,  going  drunk  about  the  campo,  entered 
a  shop  known  by  name  as  El  Colorado,  to  pawn  a  pistol  for  five  dollars,  because,  in 
that  trade,  money  is  lent  upon  every  kind  of  pledge  to  as  many  as  ask  for  it ;  but  this  El 
Colorado  did  not  lend  to  Leyva,  and  greatly  insulted  him,  and  was  replied  to  by  Leyva  in 
similar  terms.  Leyva  went  out  from  there  and  entered  a  bakery  opposite  El  Colorado's 
shop,  where  he  pledged  the  pistol.  On  the  same  day  El  Colorado  sued  Leyva  for  damages — 
some  hours  earlier— but  the  authority  evaded  the  matter. 

On  the  25th  of  same  December,  El  Colorado,  aware  that  Leyva  had  redeemed  the  pistol 
from  where  it  was  in  pawn,  again  sued  Leyva,  bringing  as  witness  his  own  brother,  testify 
ing  in  the  court  that  Leyva  was  carrying  arms  to  attack  him  with.  The  judge  ordered 
him  to  be  searched,  and,  satisfied  that  he  was  not  carrying  arms  of  any  kind,  the  judge 
demanded  of  him  bail  for  five  hundred  dollars,  as  guarantee  he  would  drink  no  more 
liquor,  to  which  Leyva  replied  that  he  was  a  man  with  whom  this  was  a  vice,  and  for  this 
reason  could  not  give  the  bail  he  asked  for,  as  much  because  he  had  no  money  as  that  he 
did  not  own  property  of  any  kind.  The  judge  rejoined  that  if  he  did  not  give  the  ball  he 
asked  for  he  would  order  him  to  prison  at  Sonora  for  six  months,  to  which  Leyva  answered 
he  would  (4o  as  he  chose,  but  he  was  satisfied  he  was  acting  arbitrarily,  because  there  had 
been  no  one  sworn  according  to  law  that  could  cause  him  to  be  so  sentenced.  Notwith 
standing  these  observations,  the  judge  sentenced  him  to  six  months'  imprisonment  in  the 
jail  at  ISonora,  Leyva  remaining  in  the  court-room  till  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  at  which 
hour  the  judge  placed  him  in  the  custody  of  the  sheriff,  who  took  him  to  jail. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  while  Leyva  was  on  trial  on  the  25th,  Don  Alejandro  Retes  de 
Castorena  carne  in,  accusing  Cosme  Nunez  and  Amado  Pacheco  of  robbing  him  of  three 
horses. 

The  judge  of  the  place  ordered  the  arrest  of  Nunez  and  Pacheco.  The  sheriff,  accompanied 
by  Retes,  went  to  the  house  of  the  subscriber,  sister  of  the  deceased,  where  Nunez  and 
Pacheco  lived.  They  found  Nunez  asleep  ;  the  sheriff  waked  him  and  went  into  the  street, 
but  fearing  what  in  effect  took  place,  he  took  to  his  heels,  because  Nunez  and  the  campo 
in  general  know,  and  it  is  notorious,  that  at  that  place  things  are  done  arbitrarily.  In 
fine,  they  overtook  him,  and  Nunez  gave  up  ;  thence  they  dragged  him  before  the  judge, 
who  told  him  what  Retes  had  stated,  to  which  Nunez  replied  he  was  entirely  innocent  in 
this  matter.  The  judge  finding  no  cause  against  Nunez,  said  to  Retes^  if  he  had  no  proofs 
on  the  following  day  he  would  set  Nunez  at  liberty.  Then  Alexandro  threatened  the  judge 
if  he  would  not  punish  the  accused.  The  judge  knowing,  from  what  was  apparent,  that 
Retes  did  not  tell  the  truth  and  was  swearing  falsely,  wished  to  set  Nunez  free,  but  Retes 
again  threatened  the  judge,  saying,  that  if  he  set  said  Nunez  at  liberty  he  would  put  a  ball 
through  him.  The  judge  then  ordered  Nunez  to  jail  for  trial  the  following  day. 

On  the  25th,  between  eleven  and  twelve  at  night,  said  Retes,  with  a  mob,  rushed  upon 
the  jail,  opened  the  door,  took  out  Leyva  and  Nunez,  and  on  the  edge  of  the  campo  hanged 
them  on  a  tree. 

As  evidence  that  an  assassination  had  been  committed,  which  calls  for  the  punishment 
of  its  perpetrators,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  the  horses  supposed  to  have  been  stolen  were 
found  three  days  afterwards  at  a  horse-raising  farm,  three  miles  distant  from  Campo  Chino, 
the  owner  of  which  farm  said  that  the  horses  came  there  of  themselves.  In  view  of  an 
event  so  lamentable,  we  hope  the  authority  to  whom  it  belongs  will  take  cognizance  of 
it  for  the  purpose  of  punishing  those  who,  setting  themselves  above  the  laws  and  those 
charged  with  their  administration,  constitute  themselves  as  a  court  and  dispose  of  the  life 
and  honor  of  the  citizen  at  their  caprice  and  without  any  regular  procedure. 

I,  as  sister  of  the  dead  Leyva,  demand,  in  prescribe  of  God  and  of  the  civilized  world,  the 
punishment  of  Mr.  Retes  Castorena  as  guilty  of  the  act,  for  my  dead  brother  was.  by  all 
proof,  a  good  man,  as  I  will  testify  when  I  am  required.  So  also  will  I  prove  that  Retes 
Castorena  is  a  man  who  acts  and  has  acted  dishonestly,  because  in  general  he  has  been  in 
companionship  with  thieves. 

It  is  attributed  to  me  that  in  my  house  I  gave  shelter  to  men  of  not  very  good  repute  ; 
but  those  were  kncwn  to  all  the  campo,  and  I  heard  none  speak  evil  of  them,  as  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  the  judge  himself  and  his  constable  were  with  them  in  the  same  shop,  and 
who,  if  they  had  any  ground,  or  even  suspicion,  would  have  advised  me  not  to  let  them 
into  my  house — a  thing  they  did  not  do,  and  which  evidently  proves  that  some  would  cast 
a  calumny  upon  me. 

ANASTASIA  LEYVA. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  81 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  March  17, 1864. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  12th 
instant,  relating  to  outrages  alleged  to  have  been  perpetrated  upon  the  Mexican 
citizens  Leyva  and  Nunez  by  a  mob  in  California,  with  the  papers  accompany 
ing  it.  Deeply  regretting  the  occasion  which  has  prompted  such  a  representa 
tion  from  you,  I  have  to  assure  you  that  this  government  will  countenance  no 
disregard  of  the  rights  of  foreigners  living  within  its  jurisdiction,  and  that  I 
have  transmitted  your  note,  with  the  accompanying  papers,  to  his  excellency 
the  governor  of  California,  with  an  earnest  recommendation  that  the  perpe 
trators  of  the  outrage  be  properly  dealt  with. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
distinguished  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Senor  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


No.  10. —  Case  of  the  Mexican  brig  Raton  del  Nilo. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  February  18,  1864,  (with  one  enclosure.) 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  February  20,  1864. 

Same  to  same,  February  24,  1864,  (with  one  enclosure.) 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  February  18,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  I  have  the  honor  to  remit  to  you  copy  of  a  protest  which 
I  have  received  from  the  Mexican  consul  at  the  Havana  against  the  capture,  by 
a  war  steamer  of  the  United  States,  of  the  Mexican  pilot-boat  Raton  del  Nilo, 
which  had  cleared  from  said  port  for  Matamoras. 

Withholding  myself  from  seeking  from  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
on  account  of  said  capture,  that  which  the  Mexican  government  may  believe 
proper  under  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  I  consider  it  my  duty  to  send  to 
your  department  the  protest  mentioned,  that  there  may  appear  in  it  the  effects 
to  which  it  gave  cause. 

I  avail  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  most 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.>  fyc.,  fyc. 


CONSULATE  or  THE  MEXICAN  REPUBLIC  AT  THE  HAVANA. 

I,  Josd  de  Cabarga,  charged  with  the  Mexican  consulate  at  the  Havana,  certify  that  in 
the  book  A  of  protocols,  in  this  consulate,  at  folio  266,  is  a  document  which  literally  says 
thus  : 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 6 


82  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

CONSULATE  OF  MEXICO  AT  THE  HABANA. 

On  the  2d  day  of  the  month  of  February,  of  the  year  1864,  appeared  at  this  consulate 
in  my  charge,  Doctor  Don  Miguel  P.  Guimera,  for  himself  and  as  agent  for  Don  Isidro 
Maristany,  and  said,  that  on  the  21st  day  of  the  month  of  October  last  past,  the  Mexican 
pilot-boat  Raton  del  Nilo,  in  command  of  her  captain,  Don  Gil  Gelpi,  with  a  general  cargo 
of  lawful  merchandise,  duly  cleared  at  the  marine  administration  and  this  consulate,  sailed 
from  this  port  bound  to  Matamoraa.  That  the  said  vessel  having  reached  her  port  of  desti 
nation,  he  received  a  letter  from  her  captain  the  16th  of  November  last,  advising  him  that 
the  vessel  had  anchored  in  the  roads  of  Matamoras  about  fifteen  days  past  and  was  busy 
discharging  cargo,  of  which  he  had  already  sent  part  to  its  owners  ;  and  in  another,  of  the 
21st  of  December,  he  notifies  me  that  whilst  he  was  on  shore  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
through  with  the  custom-house  papers,  on  the  27th  of  November,  a  heavy  gale  arose  which 
caused  the  vessel  to  disappear  from  the  place  where  she  was  at  anchor  without  his  having 
any  knowledge  of  it,  for  which  reason  he  feared  some  unfortunate,  event.  In  this  state  of 
things,  and  without  having  been  able  to  advance  in  any  way  in  what  might  point  out  ,where 
the  Raton  del  Nilo  had  brought  up,  on  the  15th  day  of  January  last  arrived,  and  on  that 
day  the  cook  of  said  vessel,  Jose  Suarez,  presented  himself  to  the  deponent,  stating  to  him 
that  he  had  just  reached  this  city  from  New  Orleans,  whither  he  had  been  carried  with  his 
other  comrades  in  the  vessel,  adding,  that  while  anchored  in  the  roads  of  Matamoras  a 
heavy  storm  came  on  from  the  north  on  the  27th  of  November,  and  that  about  ten  o'clock 
at. night  the  chain  cable  broke,  by  reason  whereof  they  saw  they  were  under  the  necessity, 
although  the  captain  was  on  shore,  of  making  sail ;  that  after  two  days  ly'ng  to,  the  wind 
fell  and  the  currents  carried  them  about  thirty-five  miles  from  Matamoras  ;  that  on  the 
2d  of  December,  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  they  hove  in  sight  of  a  steamer  coming 
towards  them,  and  that  it  would  be  about  eleven  o'clock  when  the  said  steamer  took  them 
prisoners,  it  turning  out  that  it  was  the  American  war  steamer  Nerlande  ;  that  they  took 
out  all  the  crew  of  the  pilot-boat  and  carried  them  on  board  the  eteamer,  sending  the  Raton 
del  Nilo  to  Matagorda  manned  by  sailors  from  the  steamer,  which  carried  them  to  the  bay 
of  Matamoras  in  the  Nerlande,  where  the  captain  of  the  steamer  neither  gave  information 
of  the  capture  which  he  had  made,  nor  allowed  them  to  advise  the  captain  of  the  Raton,  or 
to  communicate  with  any  person  whatever  ;  that  from  thence  they  were  taken  in  the  same 
steamer  to  Matagorda,  where  the  pilot-boat  arrived  the  8tfi  or  9th  of  December  ;  that  at 
Matagorda  they  put  on  board  the  pilot-boat  the  second  mate,  two  seamen,  and  the  cook, 
•who  declares  that  at  night,  and  without  the  commission  of  any  offence,  they  were  placed 
in  shackles  and  handcuffed  until  the  28th,  when  they  reached  New  Orleans ;  that  on  the 
29th  they  went  to  make  oath  at  the  commandant's,  where  they  were  set  at  liberty,  the 
captain's  chest  remaining  at  the  commandant's  ;  that  in  this  state  of  things,  for  himself 
and  in  the  name  of  his  principal,  interested  as  they  are  in  the  said  pilot-boat  Raton  del  Nilo, 
and  because  of  the  great  damage  they  have  suffered  by  the  violent  and  arbitrary  capture  of 
that  vessel  without  any  cause  that  justifies  it,  he  protests  once,  twice,  and  thrice,  and  as 
often  as  may  be  necessary  according  to  law,  against  the  capturing  vessel  and  against  every 
one  who  may  be  liable,  to  the  end  that  they  return  the  bark  and  indemnify  all  losses  and 
damages  they  have  suffered,  and  all  interests  they  had  therein  duly  estimated,  to  the  end 
that  through  the  evidence  of  this  protest  there  be  established  at  this  consulate  the  proper 
reclamation  on  the  federal  government,  without  prejudice  to  the  protestant  availing  of  his 
rights  by  all  lawful  means. 

In  faith  whereof  these  presents  are  signed,  and  by  the  witnesses  subscribing,  at  the  date 
above  expressed. 

MIGUEL  DE  GUIMERA. 

As  witness  :  G.  MKNENDEZ. 

As  witness  :  C.  BUISSON. 

Before  me,  acting  consul  in  charge. 

JOSE  DE  CABARGA. 

And  that  the  party  interested  may  give  it  in  evidence  when  it  may  be  proper,  I  sign  the 
present,  authenticated  by  the  seal  of  this  consulate,  at  the  Havana,  the  8th  of  February 
1864. 

In  charge  of  the  consulate, 

JOSE  DE  CABARGA, 
Mexican  Consulate  at  the  Havana. 

WASHINGTON,  February  18,  1864. 
A  true  copy  : 

IGNO.   MARISCAL,  Secretary. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  83 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  February  20,  1864. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  18th 
instant,  enclosing  copy  of  the  protest  from  the  Mexican  consul  at  the  Havana, 
against  the  capture,  by  a  war  steamer  of  the  United  States,  of  the  pilot-boat 
Raton  del  Nilo,  and  to  inform  you  that  I  have  communicated  translations  of  the 
same  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  for  the  necessary  information. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  you  the  assurance  of  my  high  con 
sideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Senor  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  February  24,  1864. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  for  your  information  the  copy  of  a  letter, 
dated  yesterday,  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  in  relation  to  the  capture  of 
the  Mexican  pilot-boat  Raton  del  Nilo,  which  was  the  subject  of  your  note  of 
the  18th  instant. 

I  will  communicate  to  you  such  further  information  upon  the  result  of  the  ad 
miralty  proceedings  as  may  be  received. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  high 
consideration, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Senor  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  Sfc. 


NAVY  DEPARTMENT,  February  23,  1864. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  20th  instant,  en 
closing  a  translation  of  a  note  dated  the  18th  instant  from  Mr.  Romero,  Mexican  minister, 
accompanied  *by  a  protest  relative  to  the  capture  by  one  of  our  naval  vessels  of  the  Mexi 
can  pilot-boat  Raton  del  Nilo,  and  requesting  such  information  on  the  subject  as  the  files 
of  this  department  may  afford. 

From  a  communication  received  by  the  department  from  Lieutenant  Commander  W.  N. 
Allen,  commanding  the  United  States  steamer  New  London,  dated  the  8th  of  December 
last,  it  appears  that  he  captured  the  "Raton  del  Nilo"  on  the  3d  of  that  month  in  lat 
itude  26°  36"  N.,  and  ten  miles  east  of  Padre  island,  Texas,  she  having  neither  log-book 
nor  papers.  The  person  at  the  time  in  charge  of  her  stated  that  while  at  anchor  in  the 
Rio  Grande  the  cable  parted  in  a  norther  and  the  vessel  had  been  driven  by  the  wind  to 
the  locality  of  the  capture,  and  had  not  had  a  fair  wind  to  get  back.  Lieutenant  Com 
mander  Allen  transmits  to  the  department  an  abstract  from  the  log  of  the  New  London, 
as  showing  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  a  vessel  to  have  drifted  to  the  north 
ward  at  the  time  stated.  The  cargo  of  the  Raton  del  Nilo  consisted  of  coffee,  sugar,  cod 
fish,  wine,  percussion  caps,  &c. 

The  vessel  was  sent  to  New  Orleans  for  adjudication,   and  the  prize  court  there  will, 
doubtless,  properly  dispose  of  the  question  as  to  the  legality  of  the  seizure. 
Very  respectfully,  &c., 

GIDEON  WELLES, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State. 


84  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


No.  11. — Condition  of  Affairs  in  Mexico. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  March  31,  1863,  (with  13  enclosures.) 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  April  12,  1863. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  November  6,  1863,  (with  1  enclosure  ) 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  November  6,  1863. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  January  26,  1864,  (with  enclosures  ) 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  January  31,  1864,  (with  enclosures  ) 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  February  11,  1864. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  February  2,  1864,  (with  enclosures.) 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  February  20,  1864,  (with  enclosures  ) 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  February  24,  1864,  (with  enclosures.) 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  February  25,  1864,  (with  enclosures.) 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  March  8,  1864. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  February  26,  1864,  (with  enclosure  ) 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  February  29,  1864,   (with  enclosures  ) 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  March  2,  1864. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  March  1,  1864,  (with  10  enclosures.) 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  March  2,  1864,  (with  13  enclosures.) 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  May  10,  1864,  (with  enclosures.) 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  May  31,  1864. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  May  23,  1864,  (with  enclosures.) 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  May  25,  1864. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  May  24,  1864,  (with  enclosures.) 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  May  25,  1864. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  May  28,  1864,  (with  enclosures.) 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  June  2,  1864. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  May  31,  1864,  (with  enclosure!?.) 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  June  15,  1864. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  March  31,  1863. 

Mr.  SECRETARY:  While  continuing  the  review  of  the  public  events  which 
have  occurred  in  Mexico,  which  I  have  had  the  honor  to  submit  to  your  depart 
ment  since  the  commencement  of  the  war  which  the  Emperor  of  the  French  is 
waging  against  my  country,  I  now  proceed  to  refer  to  you  those  which  occurred 
during  the  months  of  January  and  February  of  the  present  year,  as  they  appear 
from  the  official  documents  which  I  have  just  received  from  my  government, 
and  of  which  I  transmit  you  copies  in  English,  as  per  form  indicated  in  the  an 
nexed  Index. 

When  I  transmitted  to  you  my  note  of  the  28th  of  January  last,  in  which  I 
had  the  honor  to  submit  to  you  the  events  which  had  occurred  in  the  republic 
during  the  month  of  December  previous,  the  French  army  was  in  possession  of 
Jalapa  and  Tampico,  besides  the  other  places  of  the  Mexican  territory  of  which 
it  has  been  in  possession  since  the  defeat  which  General  Lorencez  suffered  on 
the  5th  of  May,  1862.  General  Forey  very  soon  convinced  himself  of  the  im 
possibility  of  his  retaining  both  cities  in  his  power,  and  whether  it  was  because 
he  required  the  forces  which  garrisoned  them  to  carry  on  his  operations  against 
Puebla,  or  because  he  could  not  maintain,  with  the  probabilities  of  security,  small 
garrisons  in  cities  which  were  decidedly  hostile  to  the  intervention,  he  deter 
mined  to  evacuate  both  positions.  General  Berthier  consequently  abandoned 
Jalapa  on  the  15th  of  December,  marching  with  the  forces  of  his  command  in 
the  direction  of  Puebla.  General  Rivera,  in  command  of  a  small  brigade  of  cav 
alry  and  some  infantry  of  the  Mexican  army,  prepared  two  ambuscades  for  the 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  85 

French ;  the  first  at  the  "  Parage  de  los  Garros,"  and  the  second  at  "Cruz  Blanca." 
The  first  encounter  occurred  on  the  17th,  and  in  the  second  he  was  compelled 
to  join  issue  with  a  very  superior  force  of  the  enemy  in  a  formal  battle  which 
lasted  for  three  hours.  I  enclose,  under  Nos.  1-  and  2,  the  official  reports  of 
both  actions.  The  telegraphic  despatches  which  I  sent  you,  marked  Nos.  17 
and  18,  with  my  aforesaid  note  of  the  2Sth  January,  referred  to  these  reports. 

The  French  had  scarcely  evacuated  Jalapa,  when  that  city  was  occupied  by  the 
patriot  forces  in  its  environs,  as  appears  from  the  official  report,  also  enclosed,  No.  3. 
The  pretended  government  which  the  French  set  up  in  it  melted  away  the  in 
stant  the  support  of  foreign  bayonets  was  withdrawn,  and  what  occurred  in  Ja 
lapa  has  been  repeated  in  all  the  other  towns  which  the  French  have  occupied, 
and  will  be  repeated  in  all  the  others  they  may  hereafter  occupy.  The  general 
feeling  with  which  the  Mexican  people  rejects  the  intervention  cannot  be  more 
clearly  manifested.  The  main  body  of  the  French  army  which  was  at  Orizaba 
commenced  its  march  on  the  30th  of  November  last  in  the  direction  of  Puebla. 
These  forces  were  divided  into  two  corps  ;  the  first  followed  the  national  road 
from  Orizaba  to  Puebla,  and  the  second  took  the  road  of  San  Andres  Chalchi- 
comula,  which  town  was  occupied  on  the  4th  of  December,  while  at  the  same 
time  another  column  entered  San  Augustin  del  Palmar. 

A  portion  of  the  forces  which  took  the  road  of  Puebla  occupied  Tehuacan  on 
the  21st  of  December,  and  shortly  after  abandoned  it.  General  Forey  left  Ori 
zaba  on  the  23d  February.  Shortly  before  doing  so,  he  issued  a  proclamation 
in  which  he  announced  that  the  French  army  was  about  marching  upon  the 
city  of  Mexico.  Up  to  the  2d  of  this  month  there  were,  however,  no  indications 
that  the  invading  forces  intended  immediately  to  attack  Puebla.  Up  to  that 
time  they -had  been  engaged  in  marching  and  countermarching  in  all  directions, 
in  occupying  defenceless  towns  and  afterwards  abandoning  them,  and  the  object 
of  their  multifarious  movements  seems  to  have  been  to  obtain  the  supplies  which 
the  patriot  Mexicans  stationed  between  Vera  Cruz  and  Orizaba  do  not  permit 
freely  to  pass.  During  the  month  of  February  last  past  there  had  been  no  en 
counter  of  any  consequence  between  the  contending  forces.  While  the  garrison 
of  Puebla  was  impatiently  awaiting  the  attack,  the  pickets  of  the  Mexican  cav 
alry  have  scarcely  allowed  a  day  to  pass  without  annoying  the  enemy.  No  col 
umn  of  the  invaders  can  go  in  search  of  provisions  or  forage,  or  reconnoitre  the 
country,  without  meeting  in  their  transit  with  obstacles  more  or  less  serious. 
The  Mexican  pickets  sometimes  penetrate  into  the  centre  of  the  towns  occupied 
by  the  French,  and  in  the  daily  fights  they  have  with  them,  and  in  which  fre 
quently  the  advantages  are  on  their  side,  they  have  seen  that  it  is  possible  to 
overcome  an  enemy  which  had  been  represented  to  them  as  irresistible. 

In  order  to  complete  the  history  of  the  movement  of  the  French  army  upon 
Puebla,  I  transmit  copies  of  the  proclamation  of  General  Forey,  to  which  I 
have  previously  referred,  and  of  the  other  which  he  addressed,  on  the  16th  of 
February,  to  the  inhabitants  of  Orizaba,  thanking  them  for  the  courtesy  with 
which  they  have  treated  his  soldiers,  which  he  acknowledges  is  not  due  to  sym 
pathy  for  the  cause  which  they  defend. 

The  Mexican  government  ordered  General  Comonfort  to  place  himself,  with 
a  part  of  the  army  of  the  centre,  at  San  Martin  Tesmelucan,  distant  eight  leagues 
from  Puebla,  in  order  to  protect  the  garrison  of  said  city.  Meantime  the  con 
tingents  from  several  of  the  states  were  arriving  at  the  city  of  Mexico,  which, 
added  to  the  force  which  had  remained  there,  would  form  a  sufficient  garrison 
to  defend  the  place,  even  in  case  General  Forey  should  determine  to  lay  siege 
to  it  without  attacking  Puebla.  The  quotas  of  the  state  of  Michoacan,  and  those 
of  Guanajuato  and  Sirialoa,  were  on  their  march  to  the  capital. 

The  military  operations  undertaken  in  other  parts  of  the  Mexican  territory 
have  not  been  more  successful  for  the  French  arms.  The  forces  which  had  occu 
pied  Tampico  were  defeated  at  Pueblo  Viejo,  on  the  21st  of  December,  in  at- 


86  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

tempting  to  dislodge  the  Mexican  army  at  that  place.  Among  the  documents 
annexed,  marked  No.  4, 1  enclose  a  copy  of  the  official  report  of  that  action.  About 
the  beginning  of  January,  the  invading  forces  made  preparations  for  evacuating 
Tampico.  The  Spanish  vice-consul  at  that  port,  upon  receiving  notice  thereof, 
addressed  himself  to  General  Garza,  commanding  in  chief  the  Mexican  forces  in 
Tamaulipas,  asking  of  him  guarantees  for  the  foreigners,  and  especially  for  the 
Frenchmen  residing  at  Tampico,  and  even  for  the  Mexicans  who  had  remained 
at  that  port  during  the  French  occupation.  General  Garza  replied  by  saying 
that  the  foreigners  residing  in  Tampico,  including  the  Frenchmen  who  had  not 
joined  the  invaders,  would  enjoy  all  the  rights  which  the  law  of  nations  concedes 
to  them,  and  that  with  respect  to  the  Mexicans  who  had  remained  in  Tampico 
during  its  occupation,  the  interposition  of  the  Spanish  vice-consul  could  only  be 
considered  as  in  an  officious  light,  and  that,  in  any  event,  he  would  act  with 
equity  and  moderation. 

I  enclose  copies  of  the  communications  relating  to  this  affair,  numbered  5,  6, 
and  7. 

On  the  13th  of  January  last  the  French  evacuated  Tampico,  and  on  the  same 
day  it  was  occupied  by  the  Mexican  forces,  as  appears  from  the  official  report 
annexed,  marked  No.  8.     The  French  force  composing  the  expedition  was  de 
layed  upon  the  bar>  the  bad  weather  not  permitting  them  to  embark  in  the  trans 
ports.     General  Garza  sent  a  section  of  500  men  to  annoy  the  French  upon  the 
bar,  and  notwithstanding  that  they  are  there  well  protected  by  their  war  vessels, 
and  by  temporary  fortifications  which  they  had  constructed,  they  were  attacked 
on  the  evening  of  the  20th  of  January  referred  to.     Subsequently  the  French 
burnt  the  houses  at  the  bar,  and  when  the  section  sent  on  the  expedition  again 
attacked  them  on  the  21st,  they  found  the  village  in  ashes,  and  the  French  em 
barking  in  the  war  steamer  La  Lance  and  in  a  steam  gunboat.     Upon  being 
attacked  by  the  Mexican  forces,  they  attempted  to  come  down  the  river ;  the 
gunboat  succeeded  in  so  doing,  and  the  steamer,  losing  the  channel,  went  on 
shore,  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  Mexican  forces,  which,  owing  to  the  short  dis 
tance  at  which  they  were,  suffered  much  injury,  without  receiving  any  in  return, 
as  they  were  protected  by  the  sand-banks  on  the  coast,  though  they  were  op 
posed  both  by  the  steamer  and  the  French  squadron  which  was  outside  the  bar. 
Night  brought  on  a  suspension  of  the  hostilities  of  the  21st,  which  were  renewed 
on  the  morning  of  the  22d  with  still  greater  fury.     The  French  being  unable  to 
get  off  the  steamer  La  Lance,  and  the  losses  on  board  of  her  being  very  consid 
erable,  they  determined  to  set  fire  to  her,  first  removing  her  crew  and  the  force 
on  board,  and  abandoning  the  provisions,  armament,  and  other  effects  consti 
tuting  her  cargo,  a  part  of  which,  notwithstanding  the  conflagration,  were  taken 
out  by  the  Mexican  forces.     The  enemy  left,  besides,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Panuco,  the  American  schooner  Eugenia,  laden  with  munitions  of  war,  the  her 
maphrodite  brig  Indus,  laden  with  provisions,  and  the  bark  France  and  Britain, 
with  a  cargo  of  coal,  and  two  large  iron  lighters.     The  wheel-steamer  Reforma, 
which  the  French  had  captured,  was  also  abandoned  on  the  bar,  after  having 
been  rendered  completely  useless  by  the  invaders,  whose  destructive  propen 
sities  were  fully  carried  out  upon  everything  within  their  power.     Not  content 
with  burning  a  defenceless  village,  they  destroyed  a  steamer,  the  only  use  of 
which  was  to  facilitate  the  entrance  into  Tampico  of  merchant  vessels,  and  the 
want  of  which  will  be  principally  felt  by  foreign  merchants.     I  enclose  the 
official  reports  of  the  action  near  the  bar,  marked  Nos.  9  and  10.     Thus  ended 
the  French  occupation  of  Tampico,  and  it  is  a  fair  sample  of  what  awaits  the 
invaders  throughout  the  Mexican  territory.     They  not  only  did  not  obtain  the 
mules  they  had  gone  in  search  of — not  only  were  they  not  able  to  retain  a  town  upon 
the  coast  where  their  naval  forces  give  them  so  great  an  advantage,  but  they 
were  compelled  to  abandon  precipitately  the  second  maritime  custom-house  of 
Mexico  upon  the  gulf,  leaving  to  their  fate  the  few  deluded  Mexicans  who  had 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  87 

followed  them,  destroying  a  war  steamer  belonging  to  the  imperial  navy,  leaving 
in  the  hands  of  the  Mexican  army  a  large  amount  of  provisions  and  munitions 
of  war,  and  abandoning,  both  beaten  and  crestfallen,  a  position  in  which  they 
had  the  aid  of  their  powerful  squadron. 

A  few  days  before  the  French  found  themselves  compelled  to  abandon  Tam- 
pico  with  such  great  disadvantages,  the  French  navy  suffered  another  disaster  in 
the  Pacific.  A  small  French  squadron,  composed  of  the  Pallas,  bearing  the  flag  of 
Rear-Admiral  Bonet,  the  Bayonnaise,  the  Diamant,  and  the  Galathee,  mounting 
in  all  sixty. guns,  appeared  on  the.  8th  of  January  before  the  town  of  Acapulco, 
making  the  singular  demand  from  the  chief  of  the  Mexican  forces  at  that  port 
that  he  should  give  the  lie  to  a  publication  published  in  the  Chaleco,  a  newspaper 
of  Callao,  in  Peru,  in  an  article  relating  to  the  excesses  committed  by  the  frigate 
Bayonnaise  at  Acapulco  about  the  end  of  August,  1862,  when  General  Ghilardi 
was  in  command  of  the  garrison  of  Acapulco,  and  to  whom  the  article  in  question 
had  been  attributed.  The  French  squadron  also  demanded  the  no  less  singular 
privilege  of  being  permitted  to  provision,  coal,  and  water,  as  though  Acapulco 
were  neutral  ground.  The  pretension  that  the  Mexican  authorities  should  dis 
avow  the  publications  of  the  foreign  press  is  in  itself  so  extraordinary  a  pro 
ceeding,  that  it  can  scarcely  be  supposed  that  a  French  rear-admiral  should  make 
of  it  a  casus  belli.  Upon  issuing  that  relating  to  the  neutrality  of  Acapulco,  it 
appears  that  Kear- Admiral  Bonet  had  forgotten  that  Acapulco  is  an  integral 
part  of  the  republic  of  Mexico ;  that  Mexico  is  at  war  with  France,  and  that  to 
propose  that  a  hostile  squadron  be  permitted  to  enter  and  leave  freely  that  port, 
in  order  that  it  might  provide  itself,  in  one  part  of  the  territory  of  Mexico,  with 
the  means  it  requires  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  another  portion  of  the  same 
country,  is  the  most  absurd  thing  that  can  be  imagined.  General  Alvarez  re 
plied,  as  it  was  most  natural,  by  refusing  both  these  demands,  in  consequence  of 
which  the  French  squadron  opened  its  batteries  upon  Acapulco  on  the  morning  of 
the  10th,  with  the  immense  advantage  of  having  rifled  guns ;  its  fire  caused  great 
damage,  without,  in  return,  receiving  any  injury,  because  their  vessels  were 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  Mexican  artillery.  As  the  result  of  so  unequal  a  con 
test,  several  pieces  of  the  Mexican  artillery,  used  in  the  defence  of  the  place,  were 
dismounted.  The  houses,  which  had  been  disoccupied,  previously,  by  order  of 
the  military  authority,  were  soon  reduced  to  ruins  in  consequence  of  the  three 
days'  bombardment  which  they  suffered.  The  defenders  of  the  port  remained 
in  Fort  Alvarez,  the  only  one  which  could  resist  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  ready  to 
oppose  the  landing  of  the  French,  which  it  was  believed  would  have  taken  place, 
for  it  was  not  possible  to  believe  that  the  anger  of  the  French  should  limit  itself 
to  knocking  down  unoccupied  buildings.  The  forces  which  were  to  have  landed 
did  not  attempt  to  do  so,  and  on  the  12th  they  withdrew  from  the  port  without 
having  occupied  it,  and  without  obtaining  water,  provisions,  or  coal,  and  with 
out  having  obtained  the  objects  they  had  intended.  The  bombardment  of  Aca 
pulco  was  therefore  an  act  of  barbarism,  which  effected  no  result  whatever  favor 
able  to  the  French 

By  this  bombardment  the  property  belonging  to  foreigners  was  destroyed, 
and  this  is  not  the  first  occasion  upon  which  they  have  had  to  lament  the  kind 
of  protection  which  France  declares  she  has  come  to  give  them.  Among  the 
annexed  documents  I  transmit  the  official  report  of  the  action  at  Acapulco, 
from  No.  11  to  No.  19,  inclusive.  The  bombardment  of  Acapulco  is  not  the 
only  act  of  barbarism  committed  by  the  French.  The  official  report  of  the  out 
rages  which  they  perpetrated  at  Tehuacan,  which  I  enclose  under  No.  20,  is 
simply  an  exact  account  of  the  scenes  which  occur  in  all  the  towns  which  fall 
under  the  French  yoke.  The  most  arbitrary  spoliations,  the  most  unheard  of 
violences,  the  banishment  to  Martinique  upon  the  most  flimsy  motives,  and 
even  from  the  simple  fact  of  professing  opinions  contrary  to  the  intervention  ; 
the  most  outrageous  ill-treatment,  and  other  wrongs  of  this  same  character,  are 


05  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

very  frequent  occurrences  in  the  towns  which  are  so  unfortunate  as  to  suffer  the 
French  rule  for  a  shorter  or  longer  period.  Among  the  cases  of  deportation 
which  have  occurred,  the  more  notable  ones  are  those  of  Don  Alberto  Lopez, 
and  of  the  licentiate  Don  Antonio  Corona.  The  latter  was  at  one  time  the 
governor  and  president  of  the  superior  tribunal  of  the  State  of  Vera  Cruz,  and 
the  former  is  a  distinguished  citizen  of  Orizaba.  Both  of  them  had  retired  to 
private  life,  and  both  were  violently  dragged  from  their  homes  to  be  deported 
to  an  island  whose  climate  is  deadly.  Banishments  have  occurred  by  the 
wholesale,  and  upon  the  most  trivial  causes,  of  many  other  persons,  who,  though 
more  humble  in  their  spheres  than  those  named,  in  no  manner  diminish  the 
criminality  of  the  outrage.  In  the  document  No.  4  enclosed  herewith,  you 
will  see  the  barbarous  treatment  to  which  four  Mexican  citizens  have  been  sub 
jected,  who  were  banished  from  Orizaba ;  the  offence  of  one  of  them,  Don  Diego 
Miron,.  being  his  having  defended  the  honor  of  one  of  his  daughters,  threatened 
by  a  French  officer. 

General  Forey,  knowing  the  necessity  of  giving  a  light  coloring  of  legality 
to  proceedings  so  arbitrary  and  iniquitous,  issued  a  circular  (number  22)  on  the 
6th  of  January  last,  in  which  he  provides  that  a  military  commission  composed  of 
French  officers  shall  determine  upon  "all  offences  which  may  endanger  the  secu 
rity  of  the  French  army,"  under  which  loose  definition  may  be  included,  at  the  will 
of  the  French  officers,  any  acts  which  may  occur  in  the  Mexican  territory.  There 
has  besides  been  perpetrated  another  brutal  outrage  by  the  French  army,  and 
through  which  the  laws  of  war  not  less  than  the  sovereignty  of  the  United 
States  have  been  outraged.  The  commandant,  Florian  Bernardi,  who  served 
in  the  brigade  of  Rivera,  offered,  in  compliance  with  an  order  from  General  Or 
tega,  to  escort  with  four  dragoons  Mr.  William  H.  Corwin,  secretary  of  the 
United  States  legation  in  Mexico,  Mr.  Marcus  Ottenbourgh,  consul  of  the 
United  States  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  and  Mr.  N.  A.  Cajat,  the  consular  agent 
of  the  United  States  at  Puebla,  on  the  journey  they  made  to  Vera  Cruz, 
about  the  end  of  December,  1862,  with  the  view  of  taking  to  the  city  of  Mexico 
the  correspondence  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  to  their  minister  in 
Mexico,  which  had  been  detained  at  said  port  of  Vera  Cruz.  This  escort,  em 
ployed  upon  a  peaceful  mission,  was  under  the  protection  of  the  United  States, 
in  the  service  of  whose  agents  it  was  at  that  time.  Notwithstanding  this  fact, 
and  their  carrying  a  white  flag,  the  commandant  Florian  Bernardi  and  his  dra 
goons  were  captured  upon  their  arrival  at  Perote,  and  shortly  afterwards  the 
said  commandant  and  one  dragoon  were  shot  to  death,  and  the  three  others 
were  banished  to  Martinique.  This  act  of  barbarity,  which  would  put  to  the 
blush  the  tribes  of  the  Caffres,  has  been  committed  by  one  of  the  generals  of 
the  highest  grade  in  the  army  which  pretends  to  bring  civilization  to  Mexico. 
The  truth  of  the  facts  which  I  have  just  related  is  sustained  by  the  written 
declarations  of  the  secretary  of  the  United  States  legation  in  Mexico,  and  of 
the  consul  of  the  United  States  in  the  same  city,  of  which  I  transmit  ctipy, 
marked  No.  23.  How  far  this  iniquitous  proceeding  affects  the  dignity  and 
sovereignty  of  the  United  States,  is  a  matter  which  it  becomes  their  govern 
ment  to  determine. 

Many  of  the  soldiers  of  the  French  army,  who  are  gradually  becoming  satis 
fied  that  neither  Mexico  nor  its  government  are  in  the  state  of  disorganization 
which  had  been  described  to  them,  and  who,  on  the  contrary,  find  that  they  are 
used  as  instruments  for  establishing  oppression  and  despotism  in  a  country 
where  the  most  ample  liberty  is  enjoyed,  founded  upon  principles  in  defence  of 
which  these  same  soldiers  have  fought  gloriously  at  other  periods  and  places, 
have  become  disgusted  with  so  iniquitous  an  expedition,  and  have*  begun  to 
abandon  a  flag  which  now  only  represents  the  cause  of  barbarism,  oppression 
and  conquest.  Among  the  documents  annexed,  1  transmit  two  communications, 
(Nos.  25  and  26)  from  General  Ortega,  in  which  he  announces  that  several  de- 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  89 

serters  from  the  French  army  have  presented  themselves  to  him.  Many  others 
have  gone  towards  Oajaca,  and  as  yet  no  information  is  had  as  to  their  numbers. 
The  Mexican  government  deemed  it  its  duty  to  favor  these  desertions,  and 
issued  to  that  end  the  instructions  of  which  I  transmit  a  copy,  (No.  24,)  in 
which  it  recommends  to  the  generals  of  the  national  army  to  extend  succor  to 
the  deserters  who  may  present  themselves,  to  give  them  passports  to  such 
places  at  which  they  may  desire  to  establish  themselves,  and  to  make  known  to 
them  the  friendly  disposition  of  the  Mexican  government  to  receive  them  as 
colonists  in  the  republic.  These  orders  have  produced  the  best  results:  ten 
deserters  from  different  regiments  of  the  invading  army  have  publicly  acknowl 
edged,  in  a  communication  addressed  to  the  President,  (No.  27,)  the  kind  man 
ner  in  which  they  have  been  received  by  the  authorities  of  the  republic ;  and 
this  manifestation,  while  it  will  encourage  other  soldiers  to  follow  the  same 
example,  will  tend  to  dissipate  the  fears  which  the  French  officers  have  sought 
to  instil  into  the  minds  of  their  soldiers  with  respect  to  the  pretended  sufferings 
and  tortures  which  awaited  the  French  deserters  at  thb  hands  of  the  Mexican 
authorities.  The  injustice  and  iniquity  of  the  invasion  are  so  clearly  manifest, 
even  to  the  very  soldiers  of  France,  that  many  of  them  have  been  compelled 
to  resort  to  an  expedient  of  which  there  are  but  very  few  examples  in  the 
annals  of  the  French  army,  and,  if  the  war  should  be  prolonged  for  any  length 
of  time,  it  threatens  to  disband  the  invading  army. 

The  government  of  Mexico,  while  it  desires  to  favor  the  desertions  which 
will  weaken  an  army  engaged  in  the  conquest  of  the  country,  does  not  avail 
itself  of  any  undue  means,  and  which  are  not  conformable  to  the  laws  of  war, 
to  bring  about  such  a  result,  and  has  not  attempted  to  exercise  any  kind  of 
coercion  upon  the  hostile  soldiers  which  have  come  under  their  authority.  The 
following  case  proves  the  truth  of  this  assertion :  Upon  its  becoming  known  in 
Mexico  that  General  Forey  had  set  at  liberty  some  prisoners  belonging  to  the 
national  army,  the  government  of  the  republic  determined  to  do  as  much  with 
respect  to  several  French  prisoners  which  it  held  in  the  capital,  directing  at  the 
same  time  that  they  should  be  provided  with  the  funds  necessary  to  return  to 
the  headquarters  of  the  invading  army,  or  to  establish  themselves  in  some  other 
part  of  the  Mexican  territory.  The  prisoners  decided  to  accept  the  first-named 
alternative,  and  they  were  allowed  to  join  the  enemy's  ranks.  These  are  the 
acts  of  humanity  which  it  is  customary  with  the  Mexican  government  to  ex 
tend,  and  whom  the  agents  of  the  Emperor  of  the  French  incessantly  calum 
niate  in  Europe.  I  enclose  herewith  (marked  No.  28)  the  documents  relating 
to  this  affair. 

Mr.  Wagner,  the  minister  resident  of  his  Majesty  the  King  of  Prussia  in 
Mexico,  who  jointly  had  under  his  protection  the  interests  of  the  Spanish, 
French,  and  Belgian  subjects,  received  the  authority  of  his  government  to  re 
turn  to  Berlin,  and  upon  his  departure  from  the  city  of  Mexico  he  very 
properly  left  the  said  subjects  under  the  protection  of  their  respective  consuls, 
but  he  committed  the  mistake  of  desiring  to  leave  the  said  subjects  and  consuls 
under  the  extraordinary  protection  of  the  minister  of  the  United  States.  As 
was  most  natural,  neither  the  Mexican  government  nor  Mr.  Corwin  could 
sanct  on  by  their  approval  a  proceeding  which  was  so  greatly  contrary  to  inter 
national  uses,  and  Mr.  Wagner,  in  a  note  to  the  Mexican  government,  which 
was  received  at  the  department  for  foreign  affairs  two  days  after  his  depar 
ture  from  the  capital,  stated  that  he  left  the  subjects  referred  to  under  the  safe 
guard  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  and  "relying,  above  all,  on  the  honor  and  loyalty 
of  the  Mexican  people."  By  such  conduct  Mr.  Wagner  has  attempted  to  cast 
reproach  upon  the  Mexican  government  with  the  least  reason  for  so  doing, 
because  the  said  government  has  given  daily  proofs  that  it  causes  the  rights  of 
foreigners  to  be  respected,  which  are  conceded  to  them  by  the  treaties,  and  that 
it  knows  how  to  extend  its  humanity  even  to  the  point  of  continuing  to  guar- 


90 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


antee  these  same  rights  to  the  foreigners  who  have  forfeited  them  in  conse 
quence  of  the  war,  as  is  actually  the  case  with  the  French  residing  in  Mexico. 
The  government  of  Mexico  energetically  repelled  the  insult  implicated  in  the 
note  of  Mr.  Wagner,  in  a  note  addressed  to  Mr.  Corwin,  of  which  I  enclose  a 
copy,  and  also  of  all  the  other  communications  which  refer  to  this  matter. 
Other  letters  have  been  intercepted,  addressed  to  Mr.  J.  B.  Jecker,  by  some  of 
his  friends,  relatives,  and  partners  in  Europe,  and  which  show  how  far  the 
business  of  stock-jobbing  of  this  speculator  have  influenced  in  causing  the  war 
which  the  French  government  is  waging  against  Mexico.  I  enclose  these  let 
ters,  as  per  No.  38. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
most  distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  Sfc.,  8fc. 


Enclosures  with  Mr.  Romero's  letter  of  3lst  March,  1863. 
[Translation.] 

Index  of  the  documents  this  day  transmitted  by  the  Mexican  legation  to  the  Department 
of  State  of  the  United  States,  annexed  to  its  note  of  the  31st  of  March,  1863,  relating  to 
events  which  transpired  in  Mexico  during  the  months  of  January  and  February,  1863. 


No. 

From—  To. 

Date. 

Contents. 

1 

General  Eivera  to 

Dec.  17,  1862 

Official  report  of  the  action  at  the  Parage  do 

General  Ortega. 

Garros. 

2 

Same  to  same 

Dec.  20,  1862 

-Official  report  of  the  battle  of  Cruz  Blanca. 

3 

General  Ortega  to 

Jan.  21,  1863 

Official  report  of  the  oecupation  of  Jalapa  b;' 

General  Blanco. 

the  Mexican  forces. 

4 

Colonel  Lara  ySolis 

Dec.  22,  1862 

Official  report  of  the  battle  of  Pueblo  Yiejo. 

to  General  Blan 

co. 

5 

General  Garza    to 

Jan.  10,  1863 

Transmits  copies  of  the  correspondence  between 

General  Blanco. 

General  Garza  and  the  vice-consul  of  Spain  at 

Tampico  respecting  the  protection  of  foreigners 

residing  there. 

6 

Mr.     Obregon    to 

Jan.     9,  1863 

Eequesting  protection  for  foreigners  residing  in 

General  Garza. 

Tampico. 

7 

General   Garza    to 

Jan.  10,  1863 

Keplies  that  the  rights  conceded  by  treaty  to 

Mr.  Obregon. 

foreigners  will  be  respected. 

8 

Colonel  Pavon   to 

Jan.  13,  1863 

Official  report  of  the  evacuation  of  Tampico  by 

General  Blanco. 

the  French  army. 

9 

General   Garza    to 

Jan.  22,  1863 

Official  report  of  the  occupation  of  Tampico  by 

General  Blanco. 

the  Mexican  army  and  of  the  action  on  the  bar. 

10 

Same  to  same  . 

Feb.     7,  1863 

Detailed  report  of  above  action. 

11 

General  Alvarez  to 

Jan.  10,  1863 

Transmits  copies  of  correspondence  between  the 

General  Blanco. 

Mexican  army  and  the  French  squadron  prior 

to  the  bombardment  of  Acapulco. 

12 

Commander  Bonet 

Jan.    8,  1863 

Proposal  of  conditions  to  prevent  hostilities  on 

to  Mr.Van  Brunt. 

his  part 

13 

Captain  Le  Bris  to 

Jan.     8,  1863 

Memorandum  —  same  subject. 

General  Alvarez. 

14 

General  Alvarez  to 

Jan.     9,  1863 

He  replies  that  he  cannot  accede  to  the  condi 

Mr.  Van  Brunt. 

tions  of  Commander  Bonet. 

15 

Captain  Le  Bris  to 

Jan.     9,  1863 

Respecting  the    conditions  demanded  by.  the 

General  Alvarez. 

French  squadron. 

16 

General  Alvarez  to 

Jan.     9,  1863 

Replies  that  he  cannot  accept  such  conditions. 

Captain  Le  Bris. 

17 

General  Alvarez  to 

Jan.   11,  1863 

Official  report  of  the  battle  of  Acapulco,  of  the 

General  Blanco. 

10th  January. 

MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 
Index  of  documents — Continued. 


91 


No 

From  —  To. 

Date. 

Contents. 

18 

General  Alvarez  to 

Jan.  12,  1863 

Official  report  of  the  actions  of  10th  and  llth 

General  Blanco, 

January  at  Acapulco. 

19 

Same  to  same  

Jan.  13,  1863 

Official  report  of  the  withdrawal  of  the  French 

squadron  from  Acapulco. 

20 

General  Ortega  to 

Dec.  31,  1862 

Official  report  of  the  spoliations  of  the  French 

General  Blanco. 

army  at  Tehuacan. 

21 

GeneralCarbojalto 

Jan.     7,  1863 

The  outrages  of  the  French  upon  four  Mexican 

General  Ortega. 

citizens  sent  to  Vera  Cruz. 

22 

J.  D.  St.  Armand  

Jan.  20,  1863 

Circular  of  the  French  army  to  have  them  tried 

by  a  military  commission. 

23 

From  the  U.  S.  con 

Jan.     4,  1863 

Official  report  of  the  assassination  by  the  French 

sul  in  the  city  of 

of  an  officer  and  two  soldiers  of  the  Mexican 

Mexico  and  the 

army  who  were  under  the  protection  of  the 

secretary  of  the 

United  States. 

U.  S.  legation  in 

the  same  city. 

24 

General  Ortega.... 

Feb.     1,  1863 

Instructions  of  the  Mexican  government  relating 

to  the  protection  to  be  granted  to  deserters 

from  the  French  army. 

25 

General  Ortega  to 

Feb.    3,  1863 

Notice  of  his  aiding  and  sending  a  French  de 

General  Blanco. 

serter  to  Mexico. 

26 

Same  to  same 

Feb.  12,  1863 

Notice  of  his  aiding  and  sending  seven  French. 

deserters  to  Mexico. 

27 

From  French    de 

Feb.  14,  1863 

From  ten  deserters  from  the  French  army  to 

serters. 

the  President  of  Mexico,  thanking  him  for 

their  kind  reception. 

28 

Commander  Tapia.  . 

Jan.     9,  1863 

Official  report  of  his  release  of  five  French  prison 

ers,  with  passports  and  means  to  return  to  the 

invading  army. 

29 

The    President    to 

Feb.  22,  1863 

Denies  the  statement    of  General    O'Donnell, 

the  Diario  official. 

which  alleges  that  the  President  was  desirous 

of  selling  two  of  the  Mexican  States  to  the 

United  States. 

30 

Mr.  Wagner  to  Mr. 

Jan.  22,  1863 

Permission  to  leave  Mexico,  and  asking  for  pass 

Fuente. 

ports  and  esoorts. 

31 

Mr.  Fuente  to  Mr. 

Jan.  30,  1863 

Granting  his  requests. 

Wagner. 

32 

Mr.  Wagner  to  Mr. 

Feb.     9,  1863 

Notice  that  he  leaves  the  Europeans  residing  in 

Fuente. 

Mexico  under  the  care  of  their  consuls  and 

the  special  protection  of  the  legation  of  the 

United  States. 

33 

Mr.  Fuente  to  Mr. 

Feb.  12,  1863 

The   Mexican  government  cannot  accept  the 

Wagner. 

above  measure. 

34 

Mr.  Wagner  to  Mr. 

Feb.  17,  1863 

The  minister  of  the  United  States  declining  to 

Fuente. 

accept  this  commission,  he  leaves  the  foreigners 

under  the  protection  of  the  diplomatic  corps 

and  the  loyalty  of  the  Mexican  people. 

35 

Mr.  Fuente  to  Mr. 

Feb.  24,  1863 

The  impropriety  of  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Wagner. 

Corwin. 

36 

General    Forey  to 

Feb.  15,  1863 

Proclamation.     The   invading  army  marching 

the  Mexicans. 

upon  Mexico. 

37 

General    Forey   to 

Feb.  16,  1863 

Proclamation  ;   thanking  them  for  their  good 

the    citizens    of 

treatment  of  the  French  army  —  not  due  to 

Orizaba,     v 

their  sympathy  for  the  cause  of  intervention. 

Eleven  intercepted  letters  to  the  friends,  rela 

38 

tives,  and  partners  of  J.  B.  Jecker,  residing  in 

Europe,    respecting    the   condition   of   their 

affairs. 

ROMERO. 


WASHINGTON,  March  31, 1864. 


92  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

No.  1. 
[Translation.] 

LIBERAL  ARMY,  RIVERA'S  BRIGADE. 

I  have  to  communicate  to  you  that  this  very  moment  (a  quarter  to  1  p.  m.)  a  little 
engagement  has  taken  place  at  the  point  called  Parage  de  Garros,  half  a  league  from  this 
place,  caused  by  one  of  the  ambuscades  which,  according  to  what  I  have  stated  in  my 
former  report,  I  had  been  preparing  with  my  infantry,  in  connexion  with  citizen  Colonel 
Antonio  Rodriguez,  with  the  national  guard  of  Flacolulam. 

I  am  not  aware  of  the  loss  of  the  enemy  at  this  moment.  They  were  fearfully  cut  up 
by  our  fire,  which  was  at  close  quarters,  by  about  300  infantry.  A  dense  fog  favored  us, 
while  it  prevented  me  from  ascertaining  immediately  the  results. 

The  line  of  the  ambuscade  covered  about  three  blocks,  and  its  effects  have  fully  satisfied 
me.  I  withdrew  subsequently  with  my  small  corps  of  infantry  and  cavalry  in  the  best 
order,  the  enemy  being  only  at  a  very  short  distance  from  the  latter.  I  consider  it  un 
necessary  to  recommend  to  you  the  nations  of  Flacolulam,  who  have  behaved  so  hand 
somely,  in  company  of  the  citizen  Lieutenant  Colonel  Jose'  M .  Grajale,  whom  I  personally 
invited  to  second  this  movement.  I  retire  to  the  Cerros  de  Leon  and  of  Molinos,  where  I 
intend  to  cause  yet  more  damage  to  the  invaders  on  his  passage,  as  I  will  to-morrow  make 
another  attack. 

AURELIANO  RIVER  i. 

Citizen  GENERAL-IN-CHIEF  of  the  Army  of  the  East. 

LAS  VIGAS,  December  17,  1862. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy : 

ROMERO. 


No.  2. 
[Translation.] 

LIBERAL  ARMY,  BRIGADE  RIVERA. 

As  I  promised  you  day  before  yesterday  evening  to  give  you  a  detailed  account  of  the 
action  which  took  place  the  same  day  between  the  brigade  which  I  command  and  the  in 
vading  enemy,  I  have  now  the  pleasure  of  fulfilling  that  promise. 

At  9  o'clock  a.  m.  on  the  18th  I  evacuated  the  village  Perote,  taking  direction  of  the 
Molinos  and  of  Sierra  de  Agua,  with  the  intention  of  attacking  the  enemy  on  his  rear  guard 
if  circumstances  should  favor  me. 

I  had  received  before  positive  information  that  the  traitors,  to  the  number  of  1,500  men, 
were  covering  the  rear  guard  of  this  army,  and  immediately  I  fixed  my  attention  on  them 
at  the  moment  when  the  invading  enemy  had  the  advantage  of  an  immense  numerical  su 
periority.  I  arrived  at  Sierra  de  Agua,  whence  I  took  the  direction  of  Cerro  de  Leon,  in 
order  to  come  out  near  Cruz  Blanca,  at  a  point  where  I  could  break  his  line. 

Enveloped  by  a  thick  fog  which  disguised  the  distance  to  such  a  degree  that  objects  at 
fifteen  or  twenty  paces  could  not  be  distinguished,  I  was  induced  to  advance  with  an  escort 
of  rifleros,  in  order  to  assure  myself  with  my  own  eyes  when  the  enemy  would  pass  the 
point  indicated.  The  sound  of  artillery  announced  to  me  that  the  traitors  were  advancing 
upon  iny  position,  and  suddenly  a  fierce  combat  began  between  my  rifleros  and  a  small  de 
tachment  of  the  traitor  cavalry,  whom  I  sought  to  draw  forth  upon  an  advantageous  spot, 
in  order  to  put  into  execution  my  other  plans. 

In  consequence  of  this,  I  sent  word  to  citizen  Edward  Manuel  Quesada  that  he  should 
draw  out  upon  an  advantageous  spot  the  corps  of  his  command,  in  order  to  resist  success 
fully  the  attack  of  the  enemy.  I  afterwards  saw  a  large  body  of  French  cavalry  detach 
ing  itself,  evidently  with  the  intention  of  making  a  charge,  and  sent  immediately  to  meet 
it  the  resguardo  of  Tlaxcala,  under  the  orders  of  citizen  Colonel  Doroteo  Leon,  who  had  the 
glory  of  resisting  in  an  admirable  manner  a  sudden  attack,  by  driving  the  French  cavalry 
back  in  the  greatest  disorder. 

At  this  moment,  seeing  myself  equally  supported  by  the  resguardo  of  Huamantla,  under 
the  command  of  citizen  Colonel  Antonio  Rodriguez,  I  was  able  to  make  a  charge  which 
drove  back  the  enemy  into  the  midst  of  the  infantry  and  artillery.  The  latter  I  was  un 
able  to  get  into  my  possession,  owing  to  the  fact  that  two  battalions  or  more  were  aiming  to 
turn  my  right  flank,  at  the  same  time  thatanothcr  battalion,  deployed  as  sharpshooters,  were 
combining  in  an  attack  on  the  left  flank,  thus  placing  me  between  three  fires.  I  immedi 
ately  ordered  the  citizen  commandant  Ugalde  to  proceed  to  the  right  flank  at  a  place  whence 
he  could  observe  and  communicate  to  me  any  movement  of  said  battalions. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  93 

Favored  as  we  were  by  the  lay  of  the  land,  this  action  lasted  three  hours  and  a  half,  at 
the  expiration  of  which  time  prudence  admonished  me  to  order  a  countermarch.  The 
enemy,  encouraged  by  this  move,  wished  to  make  a  new  and  heavy  charge,  but  could  not 
succeed  in  his  object,  because,  at  the  distance  of  1,000  yards,  in  consequence  of  the  precau 
tion  which  I  had  taken,  the  squadroes  Quesada  and  Esploradoes  were  formed,  under  com 
mand  of  citizen  Lieutenant  Colonel  G-eronimo  Fragoso,  and  the  enemy  stopped  as  soon  as 
he  perceived  them.  I  at  once  retreated  to  this  locality  leisurely,  and  the  brigade  marching 
in  perfect  order,  the  rear  guard  being  covered  by  the  corps  Quesada  and  Fragoso,  with  the 
sharpshooters  belonging  to  them. 

In  the  second  charge  a  circumstance  took  place  which  I  will  not  allow  myself  to  pass 
unmentioned.  Citizen  Colonel  Rodriguez  encountered  the  traitor,  Colonel  Macario  Silva  ; 
each  recognized  the  other,  and  the  latter  invited  Colonel  Rodriguez  to  single  combat  Rod- 
guez  accepted  the  challenge,  and  in  a  few  moments  later  he  had  killed  the  traitor.  I  en 
close  with  this  report  the  epaulettes  worn  by  Colonel  Silva. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  state  the  loss  of  the  enemy,  but  I  can  assure  you,  upon  my 
word  of  honor,  that  they  were  considerable.  We  captured  eleven  Arabian  and  five  Mexi 
can  horses,  beside  pack-horses,  a  large  number  of  arms,  and  five  prisoners,  (traitors,)  who 
were  immediately  put  to  death. 

For  my  part,  I  have  to  deplore  the  loss  of  the  citizen  commanding  the  squadron,  Rafael 
Ledezma,  of  the  force  of  Rodriguez ;  also  that  of  citizen  Lieutenant  Loreto  Velasco,  of  the 
corps  of  Fragoso,  besides  nineteen  soldiers  of  different  corps,  more  than  a  dozen  wounded, 
and  thirteen  prisoners. 

Citizen  general,  words  fail  to  describe  the  heroic  conduct  of  the  citizen  chiefs,  officers, 
and  soldiers  who  compose  the  brigade  which  I  am  proud  to  command.  In  the  heat  of  the 
combat  only  the  noble  cries  of  "  Independence  forever !  Liberty  forever!  Death  to  the 
traitors  !  Death  to  France  ! ' '  were  uttered. 

Receive  the  expressions  of  my  distinguished  regards,  and  it  will  give  me  great  satisfaction 
if  you  will  congratulate  in  my  name  the  citizen  President  upon  the  action  which  took 
place  on  the  18th  of  the  present  month  on  the  plains  of  Cerro  de  Leon  and  Cruz  Blanca 
between  a  party  of  national  troops  and  the  invading  enemy. 

Liberty,  independence,  or  death ! 

AURELIANO  RIVERA. 

Citizen  GENERAL-IN-CHIEF  of  the  Army  of  the  East. 

TEZUITLAN  DE  MEJIA,  December  20,  1862. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy: 

ROMERO. 


No.  3. 
[Translation.] 

The  citizen  military  commander  of  Vera  Cruz  has  communicated  to  me,  under  the  date  of 
the  15th  instant,  from  Jalapa,  what  follows  : 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  to-day,  noon  I  occupied  this  village  with  the 
force  which  is  under  my  command  two  hours  before  it  had  been  evacuated  by  the  enemy, 
who  now  are  two  leagues  from  here." 

I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  it  to  you,  so  that  you  may  inform  the  supreme  magistrate 
of  the  republic  of  the  same. 

Liberty  and  reform  ! 

Headquarters  at  Zaragoza,  January  21,  1863. 

,T.  GONSALE3  ORTEGA. 

Citizen  MINISTER  OP  WAR,  Mexico. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy  : 

ROMERO. 


No.  4. 
[Extracts. — Translation.  ] 

o     o     »     On  the  21st  we  arrived  at  Pueblo  Viejo  with  the  object  of  cutting  off  all  com 
munication  with  the  place  occupied  by  the  French,  and  of  attacking  them  should  they 


94  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

present  themselves.  We  placed  several  guerillas  on  observation  at  El  Humo,  Las  Piedras, 
la  Folvora,  and  San  Francisco,  covering  with  the  balance  of  the  infantry  forces  all  the  line 
along  the  beach  of  the  Laguna  de  Pueblo  Viejo.  During  that  day  and  night  following  it 
nothing  new  occurred;  on  the  22d,  about  11  o'clock  in  the  morning,  two  gunboats 
and  some  Frenchmen  were  seen  on  the  side  of  El  Humo,  reconnoitring  our  camp,  and 
having  observed  our  guerillas,  they  fired  their  guns  and  muskets  in  that  direction  ;  a  slight 
skirmishing  took  place  with  them,  causing  the  invaders  to  fall  back.  In  the  evening  Mr. 
Pavon  and  myself  went,  without  uncovering  our  lines,  to  reconnoiter  the  commanding 
points  and  to  observe  the  movements  going  on  at  Tampico.  At  that  moment  two  small 
steamers  towing  five  sloops  with  several  boats  were  approaching  by  the  estero  of  ban  Fran 
cisco  ;  the  enemy  was  on  board  and  intended  to  surprise  us.  A  cannon  shot  from  the  en 
emy  announced  to  us  the  attack  on  the  side  of  the  laguna  opposite  the  town  ;  we  returned, 
and  Mr.  Pavon,  the  chief  of  our  brigade,  remained  at  the  first  point  on  the  right  wing  to 
sustain  there  the  fire  with  an  enemy  superior  both  in  material  and  force.  As  he  was  some 
fifty  meters  from  the  shore,  I  ran  over  myself  the  line  which  had  been  attacked,  and  I 
was  not  further  than  twenty  or  twenty-five  meters  when  a  ball  from  the  enemy  killed  my 
horse.  I  was  slightly  hurt,  and  although  this  embarassed  my  march,  I  went  over  on  loot 
the  remainder  of  the  line.  I  mounted  again  and  relieved  the  citizen  commander-in-chief, 
EO  that  he  might  take  his  turn  in  running  over  the  line.  After  a  lively  and  heavy  fire  for 
three  hours,  the  enemy,  unable  to  resist  any  longer,  withdrew  with  some  killed  and  about 
twenty  wounded.  About  10  or  11  o'clock  in  the  night,  as  soon  as  the  unjust  invader 
gave  up  the  fight,  I  ordered  the  reveille  to  be  beaten  all  along  the  line,  so  as  to  let  the 
people  of  the  town  know  that  we  had  triumphed  over  our  oppressors.  The  Mexican  honor 
has  not  been  violated  on  this  part  of  our  territory,  and  the  arms  of  justice  have  shown 
once  more  after  the  example  of  the  hero  of  Guadalupe,  who  made  them  sparkle  on  the  5th 
of  May.  There  are  among  the  killed  two  captains  and  a  lieutenant  very  much  beloved  by 
the  French.  Thinking  that  the  enemy  would  return  the  following  day  (23d)  by  land,  and 
in  larger  numbers,  we  withdrew  the  infantry  to  Tampico  el  Alto,  leaving  the  cavalry  at 
Pueblo  Viejo  to  observe  and  draw  the  enemy  into  the  narrow  passes  of  the  mountain, 
doing  this  at  3  o'clock  in  the  morning  in  the  greatest  possible  order.  At  8  o'clock  the 
same  morning  the  enemy,  ashamed  of  their  defeat,  occupied  Pueblo  Viejo  by  land,  and 
not  finding  us  there,  they  most  outrageously  pillaged  the  town,  during  which  they  broke 
open  the  doors  which  were  closed.  Maddened  by  their  losses  of  the  night  previous,  and 
knowing  that  we  suffered  none,  they  started  for  Tampico  Alto  to  exterminate  us,  as  they 
said.  We,  being  prepared  to  attack  them  with  our  guerillas,  advanced  on^the  same  road  to 
meet  them,  but  they  had  scarcely  advanced  about  one  league  when  they  turned  back  and 
re- embarked  for  Tampico.  The  enthusiasm  of  our  soldiers  looking  for  an  engagement  was 
such  that,  had  the  enemy  advanced,  they  would  have  undoubtedly  suffered  twice  as  great 
a  loss  as  on  the  day  before,  and  we  might  even  have  cut  off  their  retreat.  The  enemy's 
loss  is  officially  confirmed. 

La  Graviere  had  arrived  at  the  bar  of  Tampico  at  the  very  moment  we  were  fighting  ; 
some  people  assert  that  he  brings  with  him  more  forces,  some  others  pretend  that  the  great 
est  part  of  the  force  is  to  withdraw,  and  that  will  only  leave  a  small  garrison. 

It  is  also  reported  that  the  chief  who  attacked  us  is  to  be  subjected  to  a  court-martial, 
having  lost  the  action.  o  «  o  « 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy  : 

ROMEEO. 


No.  5. 

[Translation.] 
FORCES   OF   TAMAULIPAS,   GENERAL-IN-CHIEF. 

For  the  information  of  the  citizen  President  of  the  republic,  I  enclosed  to  you 
certified  copies  of  the  communications  exchanged  between  the  Spanish  vice-consul  in 
Tampico  and  the  undersigned  respecting  the  evacuation  of  that  port  by  the  invading 
forces.  By  the  copies  referred  to  you  will  be  advised  of  the  guarantees  that  I  have 
conceded  to  foreigners,  and  especially  to  the  French  subjects  who  have  not  mixed 
themselves  in  anything  with  the  invader.  At  the  same  time  please  to  inform  the  citizen 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  95 

President  that  with  this  date  I  commenced  the  march  upon  that  port  with  the  forces  at  my 
command,  to  effectuate  its  occupation  and  to  hostilize  the  enemy  by  every  means  that  may 
be  possible. 

Country,  liberty,  and  reform  ! 

Headquarters  in  the  Hacienda  of  Chocoy,  January  10,  1863. 

JUAN  JOSE"  DE  LA  GARZA. 

Citizen  MINISTER  OF  WAR  AND  MARINE,  Mexico. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy : 

ROMERO. 


No.  6. 
[Translation.] 

CONSULATE  OF  SPAIN  AT  TAMPICO, 

Hacienda  del  Chocoy,  January  9,  1863. 

GENERAL:  The  undersigned,  vice-consul,  has  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  M.  Charles 
de  Saint  Charles,  who  now  performs  the  duties  of  consul  of  France,  and  the  commander  of 
the  French  man-of-war  Albatros,  who  actually  is  the  superior  commander  of  the  French 
forces  occupying  the  port  of  Tampico,  have  addressed  to  him  two  communications  inform 
ing  him,  among  other  things,  that  the  French  forces  which  garrison  said  place  of  Tampico 
will  soon  evacuate  it. 

As  you  will  understand,  in  circumstances  so  critical  as  the  present  ones,  the  undersigned 
has  thought  proper  to  call  on  you  at  your  encampment  with  the  object  of  inquiring  of  you 
if,  in  case  said  evacuation  should  take  place,  you,  as  the  superior  chief  of  the  liberal  forces 
which  will  occupy  it,  can  grant  to  peaceful  foreigners  who  find  themselves  in  said  place  all 
guarantees,  and  particularly  to  the  French  subjects  who  are  there  established,  and  who 
have  not  taken  any  part  with  the  forces  of  their  nation. 

With  the  same  sentiments  towards  the  peaceful  Mexicans,  inhabitants  of  said  town,  and 
who  are  in  the  same  case  in  which  are  other  foreigners  and  the  French  to  whom  I  refer, 
the  undersigned  would  like  to  know  if  they  may  rely  upon  the  same  guarantees,  request 
ing  you  to  take  into  consideration  that  said  place  was  occupied  unexpectedly,  and  that 
some,  from  reason  of  health,  and  others  from  want  of  resources,  have  been  unable  to 
abandon  their  families  and  interests. 

Please  accept  on  this  occasion,  general,  the  expression  of  my  esteem  and  distinguished 
consideration.  God  preserve  you  for  many  years.  . 

RAMON  DE  OBREGON. 

General  JUAN*  JOSE  DE  LA  GARZA, 

Commander-in-Chief  of  the  forces  operating  against  Tampico. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy  : 

ROMERO. 


No.  7. 

[Translation.] 

FORCES   OF   TAMPICO,    GENERAL-IN-CHIEF. 

I  have  received  the  note  of  your  vice-consulate,  dated  the  9th  instant,  which  has 
acquainted  me  with  the  fact  that  you  had  been  informed  by  M.  Charles  de  Saint  Charles 
and  the  commander  of  the  French  ship-of-war  Albatros,  commanding  in  chief  the 
French  forces  at  Tampico,  that  that  place  was  to  be  soon  evacuated,  and  for  this  reason 
you  desired  to  be  informed,  first,  whether  the  peaceful  foreigners,  and  particularly  the 
Frenchmen  who  have  taken  no  part  with  the  'invaders  and  who  are  settled  in  that  place, 
were  to  enjoy  all  kinds  of  guarantees ;  and,  second,  if  the  Mexicans,  who  find  themselves 
in  the  same  case,  may  rely  on  the  same  guarantees,  taking  into  consideration  that  the  place 
had  been  occupied  unexpectedly,  and  that  they  could  not  abandon  their  families  and 
interests,  some  on  account  of  their  health,  others  for  want  of  resources. 


96  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

I  answer  the  first  point  by  saying  that  peaceful  foreigners  or  neutrals  may  count  upon  all 
the  guarantees  which  international  law  gives  them  in  such  cases,  and  I  say  the  same 
particularly  of  all  the  French  residents  who  have  not  participated  with  the  invaders,  for 
your  consulate  well  knows  that  through  the  magnanimity  of  our  government,  when  their 
Emperor  has  declared  war  against  us,  the  guarantees  which  they  are  to  enjoy  are  assured 
by  our  positive  and  written  law. 

The  undersigned,  considering  the  second  part  of  your  note  merely  as  an  officious  step 
inspired  by  sentiments  of  good  will  of  your  consulate,  declines  answering  it,  limiting 
himself  to  declare  his  opinion  that  there  is  room  to  believe  that  any  reasons  which  might 
be  given  by  the  Mexicans  who  did  not  leave  the  place  of  Tampico,  when  it  was  occupied 
by  the  French,  will  be  listened  to  and  taken  into  consideration. 

I  beg  you  to  accept  the  assurance  of  my  consideration  and  particular  esteem. 

Liberty  and  reform  ! 

Headquarters  at  the  Hacienda  del  Ghocoy,  January  10,  1863. 

JUAN  JOSE"  DE  LA  GARZA. 

M.  EAMON  DE  OBREQON, 

Vice-Consul  of  H.  0.  M. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 

A  true  copy : 

ROMERO. 


No.  8. 
[Translation.] 

NATIONAL  ARMY,  PAVON'S  DIVISION,    COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 

CITIZEN  MINISTER:  As  I  informed  you  in  my  communication  of  the  llth  inslant,  I  this 
day,  at  half  past  11  a.  m.,  occupied  this  town  with  the  forces  under  my  command, 
immediately  upon  its  evacuation  by  the  invaders,  by  covering  at  once  the  principal  points, 
seeing  that  the  enemy  is  still  upon  the  bar  with  some  800  men.  The  public  tranquillity 
was  maintained  in  a  manner  highly  creditable  to  the  honor  of  our  arms,  which  have  bril 
liantly  sustained  their  well-deserved  national  renown.  I  have,  at  the  same  time,  given 
notice,  by  express  courier,  to  the  citizen  general- in-chief  of  the  forces  of  this  State,  of  the 
occupation  of  this  important  city,  in  order  that  he  may  determine  to  do  whatever  he  may 
deem  proper,  and  cause  bis  forces  to  advance,  and  when  united  to  mine  we  may  consult 
upon  the  defence  of  the  town  in  the  event  of  the  return  of  the  invaders  from  the  bar, 
whence  they  cannot  embark,  there  being  a  cross  sea  running,  and  there  not  being  a  suffi 
cient  depth  of  water  for  their  steamers. 

I  take  pleasure  in  felicitating  you  upon  this  event  that  you  may  communicate  it  to  the 
supreme  chief  of  the  nation — the  abandonment  by  the  foreign  enemy  of  .this  part  of  the 
Mexican  territory. 

Our  country,  liberty,  and  reform  ! 

Tampico,  January  13,  1863. 

DESIDERIO  PAVON. 

Citizen  MINISTER  OF  WAR,  Mexico. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy : 

ROMERO. 


No.  9. 

[Translation.] 

HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  FORCES  OF  TAMAULIPAS  AND   HUA8TECA,  GENERAL-IN-CHIEF. 

In  conformity  with  what  I  explained  previously  to  the  ministry  at  war,  with  respect  to 
attacking  the  enemy  in  their  embarking,  I  ordered  that  a  force,  consisting  of  100  infantry 
of  the  first  battalion  of  the  State,  200  of  the  battalion  Hidalgo,  100  of  the  section  Pavon, 
100  lancers,  and  two  pieces  of  rifled  artillery,  the  whole  commanded  by  citizen  Colonel 
Rafael  de  la  Garza,  should  proceed  to  the  bar  of  the  above-named  harbor,  where  the  enemy 
were,  to  make  a  slight  reconnoissance,  which  took  place  on  the  20th  instant  without 
anything  else  occurring  beyond  the  fire  of  the  infantry  on  both  sides,  which  was  kept  up 
for  some  time.  On  the  following  day,  the  21st,  citizen  Colonel  Garza  returned  to  the  bar 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  97 

with  the  same  force,  and  after  our  artillery  had  fired  several  times  upon  the  steamer  and 
gunboats  which  they  had  there  to  protect  their  infantry,  the  former  began  to  move  out, 
but  through  their  haste  to  leave,  and  the  lively  fire  which  was  kept  up  on  our  side,  it  run 
aground  in  doing  so  on  the  bar. 

To-day  it  remained  yet  in  the  same  state,  and  in  order  to  effect  its  entire  destruction 
our  artillery,  placed  beforehand  in  that  place,  repeated  its  firing  upon  it,  and  the  other  war 
steamers  which  form  the  squadron  that  was  outside  the  harbor,  and  which  there  is  no 
doubt  came  to  protect  it  and  save  it  from  the  danger  in  which  it  happened  to  be. 

All  that  they  attempted  was  in  vain,  for  notwithstanding  having  directed  all  their  fire 
of  artillery  upon  our  forces,  the  above-named  steamer  remained  completely  in  the  same 
state,  and  at  last  was  abandoned  by  the  enemy,  who,  after  having  set  it  on  fire,  went  on 
board  the  other  ships-of-war  that  were  outside  the  bay. 

The  French  forces,  besides  this  loss  that  they  have  suffered,  and  which  is  of  some  im 
portance,  have  left  in  our  possession  a  one-masted  vessel  laden  with  materials  of  war,  a 
larger  one  filled  with  provisions,  and  another  of  a  similar  size  half  laden  with  a  cargo  of 
coal. 

To-morrow  I  shall  order  to  be  taken  out  of  the  above-named  steamer  the  five  pieces  of 
artillery  with  which  it  was  armed,  and  the  other  articles  which  are  still  serviceable,  and  as 
soon  as  I  have  the  papers  giving  an  account  of  the  quantity  of  warlike  materials  and  pro 
visions  which  are  in  our  possession.  I  will  send  you  the  necessary  information,  that  it  may 
be  placed  before  the  citizen  President  of  the  republic. 

I  must  likewise  mention  to  you,  among  other  things,  that  the  invaders,  before  effecting 
their  embarcation,  completely  destroyed  by  fire  all  the  property  in  the  neighborhood, 
leaving  it  in  consequence  reduced  to  a  frightful  desert. 

All  of  which  I  let  you  know,  that  you  may  be  pleased  to  lay  it  before  the  supreme  mag 
istrate  of  the  nation. 

JUAN  DE  LA  GARZA. 

Citizen  MINISTER  OF  WAR  AND  MARINE. 

TAMPICO,  January  22,  1863. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy : 

KOMERO. 


No.  10. 

Forces  of  Tampico  and  Huasteca. 

TAMPICO,  February  7,  1863. 
To  the  MINISTER  OP  WAR,  Mexico  : 

Colonel  Rafael  de  la  G-arza,  commanding  the  second  division  which  I  ordered  against  the 
bar  of  this  port,  submits  to  me  the  following  communication  under  date  of  the  23d  ultimo: 

' '  In  compliance  with  the  orders  received  from  these  headquarters  to  make  a  reconnoissance 
of  the  enemy  stationed  on  the  bar  of  this  port,  I  went  out  on  the  20th  instant  with  400 
infantry  of  the  first  Tamaulipas,  Hidalgo,  and  Pavon  battalions,  100  lancers  of  the  second 
regiment  of  the  cavalry  brigade,  and  two  pieces  of  rifled  ordnance.  As  I  had  the  honor  to 
inform  you,  on  that  same  day  I  remained  within  gun-shot  of  the  enemy  with  the  greater 
part  of  my  division,  and  I  ordered  fire  to  be  directed  upon  him  for  the  purpose  of  compel 
ling  him  to  come  out  from  the  breastworks  and  barricades  which  he  had  constructed,  and 
to  draw  him  at  the  same  time  from  the  protection  of  his  gunbqats  and  war  vessels  which 
were  in  the  river  ;  but  it  was  all  in  vain,  and  it  being  already  late  I  had  to  order  a  retreat, 
because  the  bad  condition  of  the  caissons  obliged  me  to  leave  the  artillery  in  the  pass  of 
Dofia  Cecilia,  and  to  make  no  use  of  it.  That  being  in  a  better  state  of  preparation,  on 
the  21st,  in  compliance  with  your  orders,  I  returned  to  the  bar,  the  houses  of  which  I 
found  already  set  on  fire  by  the  French  and  yet  smoking. 

"  At  that  moment  in  which  we  saw  this  the  whole  force  of  the  enemy  that  had  landed 
re-embarked  on  board  of  the  war  steamer  La  Lance,  and  a  gunboat.  These  vessels  were 
yet  in  the  middle  of  the  river  ;  and  then  I  arranged  that,  until  the  arrival  of  our  artillery, 
which  had  been  delayed  by  the  difficulty  of  getting  over  the  sandy  ground,  100  men  of  the 
first  batallion  should  be  deployed  as  sharpshooters,  protecting  themselves  by  the  sand-banks 
in  order  to  take  aim.  The  enemy  understood  the  movement  and  immediately  withdrew 
out  of  range.  At  this  time  our  artillery  came  up  ;  fire  was  opened  on  both  sides,  and  soon 
the  barge  was  compelled  to  withdraw,  and  after  her  the  steamer.  The  latter  lost  the  chan 
nel  and  grounded  on  a  sand-bank,  where  she  was  exposed  to  our  fire,  which,  on  account  of 
H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 7 


98 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


the  shortness  of  the  distance,  did  her  much  damage,  without  any  loss  to  our  forces,  not 
withstanding  that  the  grounded  steamer  as  well  as  the  squadron  outside  the  bar  cannon 
aded  us  at  the  time,  some  enfilading  vessels  having  got  range  of  us.  This  operation  lasted 
until  night  had  set  in — when  the  darkness  did  not  permit  us  to  distinguish  objects — with 
out  any  other  accident  on  our  side  than  the  dismounting  of  one  of  our  pieces. 

44  At  dawn  on  the  following  day,  the  22d  instant,  our  artillery  being  placed  on  the  for 
tification  erected  on  the  bar,  we  began  to  open  fire  ;  nearly  the  whole  squadron  kept  up  a 
lively  cannonade  upon  us  until  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  we  replied  quite  regu 
larly  on  our  side.  The  hostile  steamer  La  Lance  was  set  on  fire  by  the  French  themselves, 
the  crew  only  having  escaped  from  her,  and  taking  none  of  the  provisions  even  with  them, 
as  is  shown  by  the  committee  of  officers  who  went  on  board  soon  after  and  brought  off  a 
great  part  of  them,  though  the  vessel  was  very  soon  wrapped  in  flames.  For  this  reason  the 
five  cannons  with  which  she  was  armed,  which  were  rifled  ones,  according  to  the  information 
which  I  have,  as  also  the  quartermaster's  stores  and  other  effects  which  she  contained,  have 
been  lost  with  the  steamer,  although  I  believe  that  we  can  yet  draw  out  a  great  part  of 
them  and  render  them  useful. 

44  In  addition  to  this,  the  enemy  has  left  in  the  mouth  of  the  river  the  American  trans 
port  vessel  Eugenia,  loaded  with  munitions  of  war  ;  the  brigantine  Indus  with  provisions  ; 
the  bark  France  et  Bretagne  with  pit-coal,  two  large  iron  tenders,  and  a  boat  with  double 
prows.  On  land  were  found  some  wagons,  mules,  horses,  and  asses.  A  report  of  the  num 
ber  and  quantity  of  all  these  things  will  be  rendered  as  soon  as  those  commissioned  to 
draw  it  up  have  concluded  it.  The  tow-boat  Reforma,  which  had  been  captured  by  the  en 
emy,  was  likewise  abandoned  in  the  mouth  of  the  bar,  they  having  afterwards  set  fire  to  it 
so  .As  to  render  it  useless. 

'« I  deem  it  proper  to  remark,  that  on  the  second  and  third  day  the  expeditionary  di 
vision  sent  to  the  bar  was  augmented  by  the  arrival  of  the  first  company  of  the  third  bat 
talion  volunteers,  of  the  centre,  as  also  that  General  Macedonio  Capistran,  at  his  own  re 
quest,  held  himself  in  readiness  to  march  with  the  first  regiment  of  lancers  of  his  brigade, 
and  very  opportunely  took  position  at  the  bridge  of  Chijol  for  the  purpose  of  protecting 
me  in  case  of  necessity. 

14  Such  has  been  the  result  of  the  expedition  intrusted  to  the  undersigned,  and  in  con 
clusion  he  considers  it  due  to  justice  to  declare  that  all  the  commanders  and  subordinate 
officers,  as  well  as  the  soldiers  composing  the  division,  have  done  their  duty." 

And  in  transmitting  this  to  you  for  the  information  of  the  President,  I  should  declare 
that  I  have  delayed  to  despatch  this  report,  because  I  waited  for  the  completion  of  the  de 
tailed  accounts  of  all  the  articles  taken  from  the  enemy,  which  I  have  now  the  honor  of 
enclosing. 

In  regard  to  the  vessels,  I  have  this  day  ordered  that  the  captain  of  this  should  take 
possession  of  them  as  national  property,  in  which  character  I  think  of  selling  them  at 
auction  if  there  be  any  bidders  ;  and  if  there  be  none,  I  will  arrange  to  have  them  taken 
up  the  river  so  far  as  to  place  them  in  the  greatest  possible  security  in  case  the  enemy 
should  again  threaten  this  place,  unless  the  supreme  government  disposes  otherwise. 

Liberty  and  reform ! 

JUAN  J.  DE  LA  GARZA., 

General  Commanding. 


FORCES  OF   TAMAULIPAS,  QUARTERMASTER  S   DEPARTMENT. 

Report  of  the  munitions  of  war  taken  from  the  French  in  the  transport  Eugenia  on  the  bar  of  Tarn- 

pko,  January  22,  1863. 


16, 520  one  ounce  musket  balls. 

1  box  one-ounce  musket  balls,  spoiled. 
504  musket  caps. 
538  caps  for  cannons. 
30  balls  for  rifled  cannon,  Armstrong 

30-pounders. 
90  bombshells   with    12   charges,    for 

same. 
198  bombshells,  with  four  charges,  for 


24  rounds  of  grape  and  canister,  with 

4  charges. 
40  hand  grenades,  loaded. 

TAMPICO,  January  27,  1863. 


10  hand  grenades,  not  loaded. 
78  little  sacks  for  30-pounders. 
207     do.         do.      12-pounders. 
200     do.         do.       4-pounders. 
40     do.         do.     22-pounders. 
60  fuzes  for  shells  for  4-pounders. 
1  box  with  mixed,  for  shells. 
200  fulminating  matches. 
10  squibs. 
10  rockets. 

1  fire  chemise. 

720  pistol  cartridges  a  la  Fosset. 
1  copper  fuzee  for  vessels,  blinded. 

JUAN  TAITTON. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


99 


Report  of  the  cargo  taken  from  the  enemy,  contained  in  the  brigantine  Indus . 


1  bundle  containing  bedding. 

2  bundles  containing  crutches. 

1  cask  containing  apothecary's  bottles. 

1  jug  oil. 

6  uncovered  barrels  flour. 

1  bundle  stakes. 

3  gridirons  whereon  to  set  caldrons. 
3  small  gridirons  for  small  caldrons. 


barrel  containing  salt. 

pick-axe. 

hatchet. 

tierce  oakum. 

little  chest  with  small  drums. 

large  barrel  containing  brandy. 

cask  containing  liquorice. 

barrel  flour  uncovered. 


3  boxes  old  iron. 


4  boxes  cheese. 
15  empty  barrels. 
32  empty  quarter  casks. 
47  barrels  salt  meat. 
26  barrels  of  flour. 
65  boxes  with  jars  of  preserved  meat. 

4  boxes  containing  medicines. 
69  large  jars  preserved  meat. 

23  sacks  white  beans. 

6  sacks  maize. 
15  sacks  salt. 
45  casks  biscuit. 

5  boxes  tobacco. 
4  empty  pipes. 

53  small  canisters  preserved  meat. 

2  sacks  peas. 

3  barrels  flour. 

9  barrels  flour,  damaged. 
1  tierce  tobacco. 
3  jugs  oil. 

1  bag  mustard. 

2  barrels  salt. 
19  oars. 

1  mast. 

3  barrels  maize. 

24  barrels  red  wine. 

2  boxes  peas. 

2  boxes  white  beans. 

3  boxes  biscuits. 

7  casks  biscuits. 

6  half-casks  biscuits. 
3  barrels  boiled  meat. 

;  4  empty  pots. 
2  bedsteads  with  pillows. 

NOTE  1.  In  addition  to  the  provisions  mentioned  in  this  report  there  were  also  those 
consumed  by  the  troops,  to  the  number  of  five  hundred  men,  in  three  days. 

NOTE  2.  There  is  no  account  given  of  the  horses,  mules,  and  wagons  taken  from  the  en 
emy,  because  the  greater  part  of  them  strayed  away  at  the  last  moment,  and  we  succeeded 
in  recovering  only  three  mules  and  six  wagons. 

RAMON  BARBERENA, 

Commissary  General. 
TAMPICO,  February  5,  1863. 


1  copper  vessel. 

1  copper  caldron. 

7  large  iron  plates. 

£  tierce  gum  arabic. 

1  sack  with  rope's-ends. 

3  kegs  medicine. 
78  gray  coverlets. 
14  white      do. 
397  blankets. 
350  sheets. 
154  pillow  cases. 
280  bolster  cases. 
46  pairs  woollen  stockings. 
400  pointed  caps. 
100  aprons. 
290  Rouen  towels. 


A  true  copy : 
A  true  copy : 


TAMPICO,  February  6,  1863. 

D.  BALANDRANO,  Secretary. 
WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 

ROMERO. 


No.  11. 


FEDERAL  ARMY,  DIVISION  OF  THE  SOUTH, 

Headquarters,  Providencia,  January  10,  1863. 
The  MINISTER  OF  WAR  AND  MARINE,  Mexico  : 

For  the  information  of  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  republic,  I  have  the  honor  to  trans 
mit  to  you  the  enclosed  copies,  which  were  sent  to  me  in  a  private  letter  under  date  of 
yesterday,  and  which  I  received  to-day  at  12  o'clock,  it  not  having  been  possible  to  trans 
mit  them  with  the  regular  weekly  report  for  the  reason  that  that  could  not  be  delayed  one 
moment. 

By  the  said  copies  you  will  see  the  course  pursued  by  the  general  second  in  command  of 
the  division,  and  the  demands  of  the  enemy,  wherein  I  have  not  been  able  to  do  less  than 
approve  the  conduct  of  the  former. 


100  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

It  is  now  11  o'clock  p.  m.,  and  as  yet  the  courier  has  not  arrived  whom  I  expect  to  bring 
me  an  account  of  the  result  of  the  attack  of  this  morning,  which  I  will  communicate  to 
you  as  soon  as  I  receive  it. 

Wherefore  I  offer  to  you  and  to  the  president  the  assurance  of  my  distinguished  esteem 
and  consideration. 

Liberty  and  reform ! 

J.  ALVAREZ. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy:  ROMERO. 


No.  12. 

[Translation.] 

NAVAL  DIVISION  OF  THE  PACIFIC  OCEAN,  OFF  ACAPULOO, 

On  Board  the  Pallas,  January  8,  1863. 

SIR  :  Convinced  as  I  am  of  the  great  disorder  which  a  declared  hostility  between  the 
French  division  and  the  port  of  Acapulco  (the  place  lacking,  as  the  governor  has  informed 
me,  sufficient  means  to  reply  to  the  fire  of  the  division)  would  cause  in  the  commercial 
relations,  I  am  disposed  to  enter  into  an  arrangement  on  the  following  conditions  : 

General  Alvarez  shall  publicly  contradict  the  false  article  published  in  the  journal  El 
Chalaco,  No.  633,  under  the  date  of  the  3d  of  November  last,  in  the  name  of  General 
Ghilardi. 

The  admiral  will  then  be  disposed  to  celebrate  with  the  general  commander  of  the  state  a 
convention  of  neutrality,  wherein  it  will  be  stipulated  that  the  French  ships-of-war  shall 
have  all  the  desirable  facilities  to  provide  themselves  with  provisions,  water,  and  coal, 
whenever  they  shall  present  themselves  at  Acapulco. 

On  their  part,  the  ships  of  the  French  division  of  the  Pacific  ocean  will  abstain  from  all 
acts  of  hostility  against  the  port  of  Acapulco. 

On  accepting  these  conditions  I  will  withdraw  the  demand  which  I  had  made  to  the 
governor  for  the  dismantlement  of  the  batteries. 

Please  accept,  sir,  the  assurance  of  my  distinguished  consideration. 

BOUET, 
The  Admiral  Commander -in-Chief . 

The  AGENT  of  the  Cbmpang  of  American  Mail  Steamers. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy:  ROMERO. 


No.  13. 

Copy  of  the  rough  draught  which  was  given  in. 

YOUR  EXCELLENCY  :  I  believe  that  the  intentions  of  my  admiral,  communicated  to  your 
excellency,  were  properly  interpreted. 

Permit  me  to  repeat  to  you,  in  order  to  avoid  all  misunderstanding,  1st.  The  admiral 
requests  that  the  wicked  passion  which  inspired  the  article  against  the  French  corvette 
La  Bayonnaise,  published  in  the  journal  known  as  El  Chalaco,  under  date  of  the  3d  of 
November,  a  wicked  passion  hostile  in  every  respect  and  false  in  its  particular  statements, 
be  now  acknowledged,  inasmuch  as  General  Ghilardi  has  been  removed. 

The  acts  of  the  late  governor,  so  justly  disapproved  by  your  excellency  in  the  name  of 
those  sentiments  of  dignity  which,  alike  in  times  of  war  as  in  times  of  peace,  impose  on 
every  one  a  respect  for  truth,  give  me  the  assurance  that  you  will  be  the  first,  as  governor, 
to  have  this  article  contradicted  for  the  good  of  the  Mexican  government  itself,  which 
cannot  authorize  the  publication  of  an  ityury  directed  against  an  absent  enemy. 

The  question  as  to  stores  and  provisions  you  are  already  acquainted  with,  and  I  need 
not  return  to  its  consideration  ;  it  was  properly  interpreted,  and  inspired  by  an  idea  of 
humanity  and  of  conciliation,  an  idea  which  prevails  among  all  nations. 

I  have  confidence  in  your  excellency's  judgment,  and  I  await  the  reply,  although  I  have 
not  icceived  this  order  from  my  admiral. 

The  removal  of  Serior  Ghilardi  is  a  proof  of  the  justice  of  his  honorable  father,  whose 
high  and  chivalrous  character  cannot  receive  as  the  feeling  of  his  country  the  article  of 
the  Chalaco  in  reference  to  the  Bayonnaise. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 

A  true  copy: 

ROMERO. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  101 

No.  14. 

ACAPULCO,  January  9,  1863. 

ESTEEMED  SIR  :  I  have  taken  into  consideration  the  communication  addressed  to  you  by 
the  admiral  of  the  French  squadron,  informing  you  that,  being  desirous  to  avoid  the  in 
conveniences  which  the  company  which  you  represent  might  suffer  in  case  of  fire  being 
opened  between  the  naval  division  under  his  command  and  this  place,  he  feels  disposed  to 
enter  into  an  agreement  with  me  under  the  conditions  which  he  himself  therein  indicates, 
and  I  proceed  to  apprise  you  of  my  ideas  on  the  subject. 

I  shall  begin  by  setting  down  the  fact  that  he  has  fallen  into  a  mistake  in  asserting  that 
the  undersigned  has  confessed  that  he  has  not  sufficient  means  to  withstand  the  fire  of  his 
naval  force,  as  this  could  not  have  been  inferred  either  from  the  official  communication 
which  I  addressed  yesterday  to  the  admiral  in  reply  to  his,  or  much  less  from  the  private 
conference  which  I  had  with  Captain  Le  Bris,  the  bearer  of  the  admiral's  letter. 

It  is  true  that  to  the  cordial  protestations  of  that  officer  I  replied  with  the  politeness 
becoming  a  gentleman,  deploring  the  unavoidable  necessity  which  I  was  under  of  treating 
as  enemies  the  sons  of  a  nation  for  which  I  had  ever  the  liveliest  sympathies ;  but  there 
was  nothing  beyond  this,  and  to  this  act  no  other  character  can  be  given  than  that  of  mere 
urbanity. 

As  far  as  regards  the  proposition  prior  to  the  agreement  which  is  pretended,  an  engage 
ment  to  contradict  the  assertions  of  Senor  Grhilardi,  in  reference  to  the  corvette  La  Bayon- 
naise,  published  in  the  columns  of  the  Chalaco  newspaper,  No.  633,  of  the  3d  of  November 
last,  I  can  do  absolutely  nothing  in  the  matter,  because  the  fact  of  the  incorrectness  of  the 
statements  in  that  article  would  assuredly  impose  a  responsibility  only  on  its  author,  the 
aforesaid  Senor  Grhilardi,  who  is  now  removed  from  the  command  and  beyond  the  limits  of 
this  state. 

In  regard  to  the  intimations  in  reference  to  the  points  that  should  be  embraced  in  the 
agreement,  in  order  to  express  my  opinion  on  the  subject,  I  conceive  it  to  be  an  indispen 
sable  formality  that  direct  communication  should  be  made  with  me,  in  order  to  avoid  in 
the  future  all  sinister  interpretation  that  might  be  made  to  the  dishonor  of  the  good  name 
of  my  country. 

For  the  rest,  you  will  permit  me  to  tell  you  that  I  cannot  conceive  how  neutrality  can 
be  maintained  between  those  who  belong  to  the  armed  force  of  two  nations  which  are 
actually  at  war,  and  I  would  desire  to  have  an  explanation  of  this  point  in  order  to  enable 
me  to  form  a  less  incorrect  judgment. 

This  same  thing  you  can  make  known  to  the  French  admiral,  who  has  initiated  this 
negotiation. 

I  reiterate  to  you  the  assurance  of  the  sincere  esteem  with  which  I  sign  myself 
Your  most  affectionate  friend, 

D.  ALVAREZ. 

Mr.  B.  S.  VAN  BRUNT. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 

A  true  copy:  EOMERO. 


No.  15. 
[Translation.] 

Official. 

EXCELLENCY  :  The  admiral  has  ordered  me  to  inform  your  excellency  that  he  presents 
himself  before  Acapulco  without  hostile  intentions. 

He  appeals  first  to  your  military  honor,  begging  you  to  examine  the  gravity  of  the 
article  on  the  French  corvette  La  Bayonnaise. 

He  demands  the  public  retraction  of  an  injury  which  could  not  have  been  made  under 
the  government  of  your  excellency,  and  which  you  disapprove  as  much  as  the  under 
signed.  This  single  fact  sufficiently  deserves  the  dismissal  of  M.  Grhilardi. 

The  admiral  will  enter  with  his  squadron  the  bay  of  Acapulco  without  hostile  inten 
tions,  which  I  have  the  honor  to  repeat  to  you,  and  will  provide  himself  with  provisions, 
water,  and  coal  with  all  security.  He  will  be  very  sorry  to  meet  with  hostility  in  view  of 
his  peaceful  intentions,  which  I  have  been  commissioned  to  communicate  to  you.  The  ad 
miral  confides  fully  in  your  excellency's  word,  and  doubts  not  that  all  the  French  vessels 
which  may  present  themselves  in  this  port  will  be  received  with  equal  kindness. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  respect,  your  excellency's  devoted  servant, 

E.  LE  BRIS. 
His  Excellency  the  GENERAL  COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF,  Acapulco. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy:   .  ROMEBO. 


102  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

No.  16. 

FEDEEAL  ARMY,  DIVISION  OF  THE  SOUTH, 

Acapulco,  January  9,  1863. 
^Bo  Captain  LB  BRIS,  Present  : 

The  communication,  without  date,  which  I  have  just  received  from  you,  leaves  me  im 
pressed  with  the  fact  that  the  admiral  of  the  French  naval  forces  commissions  you  to  in 
form  me  that  he  presents  himself  before  this  port  without  any  hostile  intentions. 

In  regard  to  the  affair  concerning  the  corvette  La  Bayonnaise,  as  the  communication 
published  in  the  Chalaco  is  not  a  work  proceeding  from  the  undersigned,  but  from  Senor 
Ghilardi,  to  him  it  belongs  to  give  explanations  in  reference  to  the  matter.  As  to  the 
present  writer,  it  should  be  remarked  that  he  is  not  accustomed  to  make  such  exaggerated 
statements,  but  always  to  speak  the  truth,  and  consequently  that  he  will  never  approve  of 
anything  not  in  accordance  with  the  principle  of  truth. 

In  regard  to  entrance  into  the  bay,  and  concession  of  provision,  water,  and  coal,  it  not 
being  within  the  scope  of  the  authority  of  the  undersigned  to  grant  them,  he  refers  to 
what  he  has  manifested  to  the  admiral  in  his  communication  of  yesterday,  and  considers 
himself  excused  from  any  further  statement,  so  as  to  avoid  repeating  what  has  been 
already  said  once  for  all. 

I  renew  to  you  the  assurance  of  my  consideration  and  special  esteem. 

Liberty  and  reform  ! 

D.  ALVAREZ. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy : 

ROMERO. 


No.  17. 

FEDERAL  ARMY,  DIVISION  OF  THE  SOUTH, 

Headquarters,  Providencia,  January  11,  1863. 
The  MINISTER  OF  WAR  AND  MARINE,  Mexico: 

It  is  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  I  have  just  received  from  the  port  of  Acapulco, 
and  from  the  officer  intrusted  with  its  defence,  the  following  despatch,  written  yesterday, 
af  12£  o'clock  p.  m.: 

"COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF:  At  three-quarters  past  eight  o'clock  this  morning  fire  was 
opened  between  the  French  squadron  and  the  force  under  my  command.  The  following 
circumstances  have  been  remarked: 

"At  thirty-five  minutes  past  nine  o'clock  all  the  pieces  in  Fort  Guerrero  were  dis 
mounted  and  rendered  useless,  and  consequently  the  fire  of  the  fort  was  discontinued. 

"At  forty-five  minutes  past  nine  o'clock  the  same  happened  with  Fort  Iturbide.  Fort 
Galeana  met  with  the  like  result  at  ten  o'clock. 

"The  enemy  has  stationed  himself  beyond  the  range  of  Forts  Hidalgo  and  Morelos, 
from  which  we  have  as  yet  received  no  news  on  account  of  the  distance . 

"The  national  flag  is  yet  waving  on  Fort  Alvarez 

"The  enemy  is  furiously  bombarding  this  port,  but  the  troops  and  the  people  shout 
enthusiastically  for  the  supreme  government,  and  defend  with  honor  the  good  name  of 
their  country. 

"We  have  several  killed  and  wounded.  When  I  receive  all  the  details  and  terminate 
the  duties  of  the  day,  I  will  give  the  particulars. 

"  The  firing  is  being  continued  with  vigor  up  to  this  moment." 

I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  this  despatch  to  you  for  your  information,  and  that  of  the 
President  of  the  republic,  with  the  assurance  of  keeping  you  posted  in  all  that  occurs  to 
the  final  close  of  the  action. 

Wherewith  I  assure  you  of  my  esteem  and  consideration. 

Liberty  and  reform  ! 

J.  ALVAREZ, 

At  5  a.  m.  General  Commanding. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy: 

ROMERO. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  103 

No.  18. 

FEDERAL  ARMY,  DIVISION  OF  THE  SOUTH, 

Headquarters,  Providencia,  January  12,  1863. 

The  MINISTER  OF  WAR  : 

Under  date  of  yesterday  I  received  the  following  report  from  the  officer  second  in  command 
of  the  division  : 

•  "GENERAL  :  Subsequently  to  what  I  reported  to  you  in  my  communication  of  yesterday 
at  12£  o'clock  p.  m. ,  from  that  hour  until  5  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  hostile  squadron 
continued  firing  upon  Fort  Alvarez  very  slowly  ;  but  the  latter  has  not  answered,  as  the 
squadron  is  beyond  the  range  of  its  guns. 

"  The  fire  of  our  artillery  is  entirely  useless,  because  to  the  circumstance  of  bad  mount 
ings  is  added  that  of  not  being  able  to  throw  shot  even  to  half  the  distance  of  the  enemy, 
whilst  the  guns  of  the  latter  have  even  a  longer  range  than  that  distance,  as  they  have 
pieces  of  64  and  80  pounds  calibre,  and  all  rifled. 

"  At  six  o'clock  this  morning  the  enemy  recommenced  their  fire  upon  Fort  Alvarez,  and 
continue  up  to  the  present  moment,  11  o'clock  a.  m.  Several  buildings  in  the  city  were 
thrown  down  during  the  bombardment  of  yesterday,  which  lasted  for  more  than  two 
hours.  The  barbarity  of  the  enemy  was  remarkable,  as  they  knew  that  there  was  not  a 
single  Mexican  in  it,  and  consequently  their  hostility  was  directed  against  the  prosperity 
of  the  city,  and  their  purpose  was  to  destroy  existing  interests.  Among  the  houses  set  on 
fire  was  that  belonging  to  Spanish  subjects,  known  under  the  style  of  Narvarte  and  Com 
pany,  with  the  remarkable  circumstance  that  the  flag-staff,  the  flag  having  been  raised 
upon  it,  was  struck  and  cut  in  two,  as  I  have  been  informed.  It  appears  that  about  two 
hundred  boxes  of  dry-goods  were  burnt  in  it,  as  well  as  some  other  effects. 

"I  cannot  yet  give  you  the  particulars  as  to  th*  state  of  affairs  in  the  forts  and  other 
points  held  by  the  division,  because  I  have  all  the  troops  under  arms,  surrounding  the 
port,  in  order  to  prevent  the  disembarcation  of  the  enemy,  and  especially  to  keep  them 
from  supplying  themselves  with  water,  as  all  provisions  have  been  withdrawn  beyond  their 
reach." 

This  communication  I  received  at  night,  about  12  o'clock,  and,  according  to  my  promise 
to  you,  I  transmit  it,  for  the  information  of  the  President  of  the  republic. 

I  should  not  permit  myself  to  pass  over  in  silence  the  barbarity  which  the  enemy  is  ex 
ercising  against  a  town  wherein  there  is  nothing  but  the  mere  houses,  as  is  shown  by  the 
preceding  communication ;  a  circumstance  which  will  make  known  to  all  the  world  what  is 
to  be  expected  from  our  invaders,  who  proclaim  that  they  come  to  civilize  us. 

Wherefore  I  offer  you  the  assurance  of  my  respect  and  consideration. 

Liberty  and  reform  ! 

,T.  ALVAREZ. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy  :  ROMERO. 


No.  19. 
[Translation.] 

FEDERAL  ARMY,  DIVISION  OF  THE  SOUTH,  GENERAL-IN-CHIEF — CITIZEN  MINISTER  OF  WAR. 

Citizen  MINISTER  OF  WAR  AND  MARINE,  Mexico: 

It  is  half  past  9  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  I  have  just  received  the  following  despatch  : 

FEDERAL  ARMY,  DIVISION  OF  THE  SOUTH, 

Acapulco,  January  12,  1863 — 7  o'clock  p.  m. 

Second  in  command  :  Long  live  the  republic  !  Long  live  the  constitutional  government ! 

CITIZEN  GENERAL-IN-CHIEF  :  At  six  o'clock  this  morning  firing  commenced  between  the 
French  squadron  and  our  batteries  of  Fort  Alvarez.  Its  greatest  activity  was  from  one  to 
five  o'clock  this  afternoon,  and  twenty  minutes  after  the  former  retired  from  the  harbor, 
driven  off  by  cannon,  even  though  these  were  not  effective,  on  account  of  the  short  range 
of  the  pieces.  The  enemy's  fire  riddled,  with  its  projectiles,  our  beautiful  tri-colored  flag, 
leaving  it  in  tatters,  but  it  waved  proudly  upon  its  staff  to  the  last. 

With  opportunity  I  will  communicate  to  you  the  events  that  happened  during  the  three 
days'  combat  against  the  invaders,  it  being  sufficient  now  for  me  to  assure  you  that  all  the 


104  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

generals,  chiefs,  officers,  and  troops  of  the  division  under  my  command  have  discharged 
their  duties  with  the  greatest  gallantry,  courage,  and  intrepidity. 

God  save  the  republic  !  and  that  the  heroic  defence  of  the  port  of  Acapulco  may  be  the 
dawn  that  precedes  the  more  splendid  triumph  of  our  armies  in  Puebla  de  Zaragoza.  I 
congratulate  you  most  cordially  upon  so  happy  a  result,  and  at  the  same  time  reiterate  my 
respect  and  subordination. 

Liberty  and  reform  ! 

D.  ALVAREZ. 

Citizen  general,  well  deserving  of  the  country, 
JUAN  ALVAREZ, 

Chief  of  this  Division,  La  Pravidencia. 

With  the  greatest  satisfaction  I  transmit  it  to  you,  for  your  information  and  that  of  the 

izen  President  of  the  republic,  congratulating  him  at  the  same  time  upon  the  triumph 

ained  with  so  much  heroism  in  the  fortifications  of  Acapulco,  where,  notwithstanding 

scarcity  from  which  we  suffer,  the  preparations  for  the  defence  will  be  continued,  as 

\s  possible  to  prepare  for  the  return  of  the  enemy's  squadron,  which  will  happen,  prob- 

although  it  had  not  sufficient  valor  to  take  by  main  force  Fort  Alvarez,  the  only  one 

maintained  itself  until  the  last  instant.     In  conclusion,  I  inform  you  that  the  enemy's 

!s  did  not  leave  in  so  good  a  condition,  because  they  suffered  some  damage  ;  and  I 

..crstand  that  they  have  retired  to  repair  the  damages  they  may  have  sustained,  and  for 

the  purpose,  also,  of  taking  in  water  at  some  point  of  the  coast,  because  in  Acapulco  they 

took  nothing  they  need. 

As  soon  as  I  receive  a  circumstantial  report  I  will  communicate  it  to  you.    In  the  interim, 
it  is  pleasing  to  repeat  to  you  my  esteem  and  respectful  consideration. 
Liberty  and  reform  ! 

LA  PROVIDENCIA,  January  13,  1863. 

JUAN  ALVAREZ. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy :  ROMERO. 


No.  20. 

ARMY  OF  THE  EAST. 

HEADQUARTERS  ZARAGOZA,  December  31,  1862. 
The  MINISTER  OP  WAR,  Mexico: 

The  military  commander  of  Tehuacan,  under  date  of  the  19th,  just  past,  transmits  to 
me  the  following  report : 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  the  hostile  force  which  occupied  this  place,  com 
posed  of  the  95th  of  the  line,  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  chasseurs  a"  Afrique,  ninety- four 
traitors,  under  the  command  of  the  infamous  Trujeque,  six  8-pounder  rifled  cannons  with 
their  proper  complement  of  artillerists,  six  large  wagons  and  twelve  small  ones,  formed  a 
total  fifteen  hundred  strong. 

"  The  population  has  been  subjected  to  serious  outrages.  The  commercial  establishments 
of  the  citizens,  Jose'  Vincente  Esperon,  Nicolas  Herrera,  Severiano  Benites,  and  Dona  Josefa 
Espinosa,  were  pillaged  by  some  soldiers  of  the  95th  of  the  line,  as  also  the  chandlery  of 
Diego  Gonzales  by  the  French  advance,  that  honorable  citizen  being  thereby  left  in  utter 
misery. 

"  Several  families  were  maltreated,  among  them  that  of  Antenogenes  Gonzales,  whose 
wife,  after  enduring  the  blows  inflicted  upon  her  by  a  French  captain,  they  wished  to  carry 
off  to  prison,  because  her  husband  was  in  the  ranks  of  the  Riva  Palacio  division. 

"I  would  weary  you  if  I  proposed  to  myself  to  narrate,  one  by  one,  the  robberies  and 
outrages  committed  by  the  French  army  during  the  few  days  that  it  remained  in  this  city  ; 
be  it  sufficient  to  state  that  the  greater  part  of  the  houses,  even  those  of  the  very  poorest 
people,  were  robbed  of  their  hogs,  hens,  and  fowl  of  all  kinds  that  the  soldiers  could  lay 
hands  on,  all  the  lumber  that  was  in  the  public  square,  and  the  wooden  buildings  in  the 
suburbs  were  burned  and  destroyed. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  105 

"They  committed  various  rapes,  the  most  notable  one  being  that  which  was  perpetrated 
in  the  public  square,  where  a  multitude  of  them  surrounded  their  victim  and  gave  free 
scope  to  their  licentious  passion. 

"From  the  minute  investigation  ordered  to  be  instituted  by  this  military  department  in 
order  to  discover  who  had  aiforded  supplies  to  the  invader,  it  is  established  that  the  Spanish 
subject,  Augustin  Allende,  sold  them  more  than  a  hundred  loads  of  flour,  abstracted  from 
the  Amarilla  house,  and  that  he  left  for  Orizaba  in  company  with  the  invaders. 

"  The  traitors,  Manuel  Loaiza,  Mariano  Loaiza,  Joaquin  Arroniz,  sr.,  Joaquin  Arroniz,  jr., 
likewise  went  off  with  the  enemy,  as  also  the  French  subject,  Eugene  Lafeuetre,  who  had 
previously  given  them  information  of  the  state  of  our  army  and  the  measures  which  were 
being  adopted,  in  this  manner  showing  his  appreciation  for  the  hospitality  and  considera 
tion  which  had  been  exhibited  towards  him." 

I  have  the  honor  of  transmitting  this  despatch  to  you  for  your  better  information. 

Liberty  and  reform ! 

JESUS  G.  ORTEGA. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy  :  KOMERO. 


No.  21. 
[Translation,] 
Private  correspondence  of  General  Antonio  Caroajal. 

SAN  NICOLAS,  January  17,  1863. 

MY  ESTEEMED  FRIEND  AND  COMPANION  :  By  one  of  the  persons  who  have  come  from  Acat- 
zingo  I  have  learned  the  following  news  : 

The  French  have  arrested  four  individuals,  who  are  Don  Vicente  Yioanco,  Don  Diego 
Miron,  Don  N.  Corres,  and  another  whose  name  I  do  not  know,  all  of  Quecholac.  They 
have  sent  three  individuals  in  carts,  shut  up  in  boxes  with  only  a  hole  through  which  their 
faces  could  be  seen  and  they  give  them  to  eat. 

Before  this,  they  put  Don  Diego  Miron  in  a  barrel  of  water  up  to  his  neck,  with  large 
balls  in  his  hands,  without  more  fault  than  private  disputes  for  not  consenting  to  grave 
faults  with  his  family.  Already  the  court  inquisition  begins  anew,  and  it  is  said  that  they 
will  place  it  in  Mexico  as  soon  as  the  capital  is  taken. 

As  ever,  your  affectionate  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

ANTONIO  CARVAJAL. 
General  JESUS  GONZALES  ORTEGA. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 

A  true  copy  :  ROMERO. 


No.  22. 

[Translation.] 

VERA  CRUZ,  January  20. 

SUB-PREFECTURE  OF  THE  DISTRICT  OF  VERA  CRUZ  :  The  prefect  of  the  district,  in  a  commu 
nication  of  yesterday,  says  to  the  subscriber  as  follows  : 

This  prefecture  has  to-day  received  the  following  communication,  which,  being  translated, 
says:  Mr.  Prefect:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  you  a  circular  from  the  commander-in. 
chief,  asking  you  to  have  the  kindness  to  have  it  translated  into  Spanish,  and  to  take  the 
necessary  steps  that  may  conduce  to  giving  it  the  greatest  possible  publicity. 

Circular. — In  conformity  with  the  French  code  of  military  law,  every  individual  accused 
as  the  author  or  accomplice  of 'treason,  spying,  tampering  with  the  army,  revolt,  insubor 
dination,  rebellion,  violence  against  a  French  soldier,  taking  away,  stealing  or  hiding 
military  effects,  money,  or  anything  that  belongs  either  to  the  state  or  to  the  army — or,  in 
a  word,  of  any  crime  or  misdemeanor  that  affects  the  safety  of  the  army,  will  be  made  to 
appear  before  a  French  court-martial,  of  whatever  nation  he  may  be.  I  beg  of  you  to 
cause  these  regulations  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  inhabitants.  Headquarters  at 
Orizaba,  January  6,  1863.  FOREY,  Commander-in-Chief. 

Mr.  Prefect,  please  to  accept  the  expression  of  my  highest  consideration. 

J.  DURAND  ST.  ARNAUD. 


106  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


VERA  CRUZ,  January  17, 1863. 

MR.  PREFECT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  OF  VERA  CRUZ  :  I  communicate  the  present  to  your  honor  for 
your  information,  and  to  the  end  that  it  may  be  published  in  the  official  paper,  making  it 
known  to  the  authorities  of  the  towns  that  are  under  your  jurisdiction.  The  which  is  now 
published  for  the  knowledge  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  district. 

D.  BERREAN. 

A  MEXICAN  EXECUTION. 

VERA  CRUZ,  Saturday,  January  24,  1863. 

In  compliance  with  the  orders  of  his  excellency  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  French 
army,  on  the  15th  instant,  there  was  put  in  force  in  the  fortress  of  Ulloa  the  sentence  of 
death  by  the  court-martial  against  Bartolo  Banderas  and  Justo  Pasos,  accused  of  poisoning 
French  soldiers.  The  two  culprits,  after  having  received  spiritual  aid,  were  shot  in  the 
presence  of  the  Mexican  prisoners  in  the  fortress,  all  the  formalities  prescribed  by  the 
French  code  of  military  law  being  carried  out. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy.  ROMERO. 


No.  23. 

PEROTE,  January  4,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowlege  the  receipt  of  your  communication  of  yesterday, 
begging  you  to  excuse  me  if  I  cannot  present  myself  before  the  court-martial  to  give  you 
the  information  that  you  ask  about  the  so-called  Florian  Bernardi,  who  is  to  be  tried  to-day 
by  the  court-martial.  Official  business  may  require  my  departure  from  here  every  moment. 
I  will,  however,  give  you  all  the  information  I  can  about  the  above-named  individual. 

On  the  23d  I  arrived  at  Nopalucan,  in  company  with  Mr.  W.  Corwin,  setretary  of  the 
American  legation,  and  of  Mr.  Cajat,  consular  agent  of  the  United  States  in  Puebla. 
From  there  the  secretary  of  legation  and  myself  addressed  a  communication  to  the  general 
commanding  the  first  division,  asking  him  to  place  an  escort  at  our  disposition  to  obtain 
the  necessary  security  in  order  to  reach  the  line  occupied  by  the  French  army.  We  arrived 
at  Tepeyahualco,  accompanied  by  an  escort  of  the  Mexican  army.  Until  the  answer  of  the 
general  commanding  the  first  division  came,  we  remained  at  Tepeyahualco,  without  the 
necessary  protection  to  continue  our  journey,  for  we  had  promised  General  Alvarez  not  to 
make  the  escort  go,  which  he  had  the  kindness  to  give  us,  beyond  the  above-named  place. 

During  this  time  we  saw  entering  Tepeyahualco  the  so-called  Florian  Bernardi,  with  a 
force  of  17  men.  -Supposing  that  Florian  Tvith  his  men  belonged  to  the  Mexican  army,  we 
presented  him  with  the  order  of  General  Ortega,  commander-in-chief  of  the  Mexican  troops, 
ordering  the  commanders  of  the  forces  that  we  might  find  in  the  way  to  furnish  us  with  every 
sort  of  security,  and  to  furnish  us  with  the  means  of  continuing  our  journey,  and  we  asked 
him  if  he  would  escort  us  in  order  to  continue  our  journey. 

Sefior  Florian  consented  immediately  to  it,  when  the  messenger  whom  we  had  sent  to 
General  Bazaine  arrived  with  a  letter  from  the  general  in  command,  informing  us-  that  we 
would  find  a  French  escort  in  Tenestepec. 

Senor  Bernardi,  on  seeing  the  general's  letter,  in  which  he  informed  us  of  the  place 
where  we  would  find  a  French  escort,  observed  that  it  was  very  probable  that  the  general 
was  mistaken  in  the  name  of  the  place,  for  Tenestepec  was  not  in  our  way. 

After  this  we  set  out,  recommending  Senor  Florian  that  he  should  stop  as  soon  as  he  per 
ceived  the  French  troops,  or  should  make  use  of  a  white  flag  to  prevent  any  mistake. 

More  than  this,  Senor  Bernardi  thought  fit  to  leave  a  part  of  his  soldiers  in  San  Antonio, 
not  to  arrive  at  the  French  lines  with  a  force  that  might  occasion  a  mistake. 

On  coming  near  the  place  which  we  believed  Tenestepec,  we  warned  Senor  Florian  to  take 
his  white  flag  and  advance  alone  with  one  man,  to  let  our  object  be  known. 

From  this  time  we  lost  sight  of  Florian,  and  entered  Perote,  astonished  to  find  ourselves 
there  when  we  still  imagined  that  we  were  going  to  stop  in  Tenestepec. 

When  I  saw  the  French  troops,  the  three  men  of  the  escort,  who  came  behind  our  coach, 
manifested  a  fear  of  entering  the  place.  We  observed  to  them  that  there  was  greater  risk 
in  returning,  being  already  in  the  French  lines,  and  when  their  commander  was  in  Perote ; 
and  we  told  them  that  we  did  not  see  that  there  would  be  the  least  risk  for  them,  as  they 
were  with  us,  for  we  intended  to  explain  to  the  commanding  general  under  what  conditions 
they  had  entered  the  town  in  our  company. 

A  guard  informed  us  at  the  entrance  that  Senor  Florian  had  passed.  What  afterwards 
occurred  will  be  probably  known  to  you,  and,  for  my  part,  I  have  nothing  more  to  add 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  107 

but  that  the  secretary  of  the  American  legation  agrees  to  the  present  account,  and  makes  it 
his.     Accept,  sir,  the  sincerity  of  my  perfect  consideration. 

MARCUS  OTTERBOURG, 
Consul  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Mexico. 

Having  read  the  above  memorial,  made  by  Mr.  Marcus  Otterbourg,  consul  of  the  United 
States  in  Mexico,  I  declare  hereby  that  I  entirely  agree  in  all  that  he  has  said,  as  being  a 
true  account  of  the  facts  that  have  taken  place. 

WM.  H.  CORWIN, 
Secretary  of  the  Legation  of  the  United  States  in  Mexico. 

A.  M.  F.  GARNIER, 
Colonel  of  the  Fifty-first,  and  President  of  the  Court-martial. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy : 

ROMERO. 


No.  24. 
[Translation.] 

ARMY  OF  THE  EAST,  COMMANDEB-IN-CHIEF. 

PUEBLA  DE  ZAEAGOZA,  February  1,  1863. 

The  citizen  minister  of  war  writes  to  me  under  yesterday's  date  as  follows: 

By  the  declarations  of  the  greater  part  of  the  deserters  from  the  invading  army  it  is 
understood  that  the  soldiers  who  compose  it  are  becoming  persuaded  that  neither  our  govern 
ment  nor  our  country  is  in  the  state  of  disorganization  which  had  been  described  to  them'; 
on  the  contrary,  they  now  comprehend  that  they  are  to  be  tools  to  establish  oppression  and 
despotism  in  a  country  in  which  the  greatest  and  best  regulated  liberty  reigns,  based  on  a 
constitution  that  proclaims  the  same  principles  as  to  individual  liberty  that  these  very 
soldiers  have  formerly  defended  with  their  lives  in  Europe,  and  that  have  also  been  pro 
claimed  by  their  eminent  writers  in  their  works. 

In  consequence,  the  citizen  President  of  the  republic  desires  that  by  all  the  means  in 
your  reach  you  will  let  the  French  soldier  know  that  the  government  will  continue  affording 
resources,  as  it  has  hitherto  done,  to  all  who  present  themselves,  and  until  they  can  find 
honest  means  of  supporting  themselves  in  the  republic,  where  all  enjoy  complete  liberty, 
where  principally  the  industrious  and  saving  foreigner  finds  innumerable  opportunities  of 
acquiring,  as  is  proved  by  a  number  of  examples,  a  fortune  difficult  to  make  in  Europe,  and* 
where,  besides,  he  is  free  from  military  service,  and  placed  under  the  protection  of  the 
authorities,  who  are  particularly  careful  to  be  just.  This  government  recommends  you, 
then,  to  transmit  your  orders  to  the  commanding  officers  of  the  advanced  forces  and  to  the 
civil  authorities,  so  that  the  French  who  present  themselves,  with  the  intention  of  leaving 
the  invading  army,  may  be  well  received  and  provided  with  everything  necessary  to  continue 
their  journey  to  the  capital,  where,  as  before  said,  the  government  will  afford  them  resources, 
and  attend  to  them  till  they  find  occupation  to  give  them  means  to  subsist  and  enjoy  the 
quiet  life  of  an  industrious  man. 

And  I  communicate  it  to  you  that,  with  the  above  directions,  you  may  attend  to  the 
deserters  from  the  invading  army  who  present  themselves,  and  also  that  you  may  take  care 
that  the  present  circular  shall  get  to  the  knowledge  of  the  said  army,  so  that  those  who 
fear  being  badly  received  by  the  people  and  government  of  Mexico  may  be  convinced  of  the 
contrary,  and  decide  to  abandon  a  cause  that  Europe  itself  has  declared  dishonorable  to 
the  French  people. 

Liberty  and  reform ! 

ORTEGA. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy: 

ROMERO. 


108  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

No.  25. 
[Translation.] 

ARMY  OF  THE   EAST,  GENERAL-IN-CHIEF. 

Citizen  MINISTER  OF  WAR,  Mexico : 

These  headquarters  gave  yesterday  a  passport  for  that  capital,  and  provided  with  the 
necessary  funds  to  defray  his  travelling  expenses,  to  the  French  deserter  Eugene  Latremolles. 

Liberty  and  reform ! 

Headquarters  at  Zaragoza,  February  3,  1863. 

ORTEGA. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31, 1863. 
A  true  copy :  ROMERO. 


No.  26. 
[Translation.] 

ARMY   OF  THE  EAST,    GENERAL-IN-CHIEF. 

Citizen  MINISTER  OF  WAR,  Mexico  : 

These  headquarters  gave  yesterday  a  passport  for  that  capital,  and  provided  with  the 
necessary  funds  to  defray  their  travelling  expenses,  the  deserters  from  the,  French  army, 
Corporal  Alfred  Lemaire,  and  privates  Jieng  Gautrou,  Joseph  Coffin,  Anatolio  Yanseur, 
Edwards  Picot,  Poullout  and  Jean  B.  Guepet,  all  of  them  belonging  to  the  regiment  of 
zouaves. 

I  have  the  honor  to  communicate  to  you  the  foregoing  for  your  information. 

Liberty  and  reform  ! 

Headquarters  at  Zaragoza,  February  12, 1863. 

J.  G.  ORTEGA. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy:  ROMERO. 


No.  27. 
[Translation.] 

MONSIEUR  LE  PRESIDENT:  We  would  not  like  to  leave  your  capital  without  an  acknowledg 
ment  of  our  gratitude  for  the  kind  treatment  which  we  have  received  up  to  the  present 
time  from  the  government  you  have  the  honor  to  represent. 

Since  the  day  we  left  the  invading  army,  where  we  were  told  that  all  French  deserters 
had  to  suffer  the  most  cruel  tortures  from  the  Mexican  people,  we  have  seen  that  it  was  a 
shameful  lie  ;  for  wherever  we  have  passed  we  have  been  received  with  the  greatest  regard, 
even  from  the  superior  officers,  who  have  hastened  to  aid  us,  offering  us  their  services,  and 
showing  that  they  have  for  us  the  sincerest  sympathies. 

Receive,  Monsieur  le  President,  our  heartfelt  thanks. 

Done  at  Mexico,  the  14th  February,  1863. 

Second  Battalion  Zouaves : 

COQUERET,  ARISTIE,  First  Sergeant. 

EUGENE,  PICARDE,  Corporal. 

ANATOLE,  VASSEUR,  Soldier. 

CAFFIN,  JOSEPH,  Soldier. 

CARTERON,  JEAN,  Soldier. 

GAUTRON,  PIERRE,  Soldier. 
Third  Battalion  Zouaves : 

PICAT,  EDOUARD,  Soldier. 

PERILLON,  PIERRE,  Soldier. 

GUEPEL,  JEAN,  Soldier 

ALFRED  DE  CAVAIGNAC,  First  Sergeant. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy: 

ROMERO. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  109 

No.  28. 

ARMY  OF  THE  CENTRE,  HEADQ'RS  SECOND  DIVISION, 

Mexico,  January  9,  1863. 

In  accordance  with  the  supreme  order  of  the  government,  communicated  to  me  by  you, 
I  have  had  the  French  prisoners  that  were  in  Santiago  to  draw  up  the  declaration  of  which 
I  enclose  a  copy  to  you;  and  I  have  also  procured  to  have  their  passports  given  them  and 
each  one  supplied  with  five  dollars,  in  order  that  they  may  he  able  to  return  to  their  ranks. 
I  also  transmit  to  you  the  copy  of  the  receipt  which  they  have  given  therefor.     Their  pass 
ports  were  issued  under  date  of  the  3d  of  the  present  month. 
This  I  lay  before  you  for  your  information. 
Liberty  and  reform ! 

ANDRES  L.  TAPIA, 

Acting  Chief  of  .Division. 


MEXICAN  REPUBLIC,  ARMY  or  THE  CENTRE,      A  .. 
Quartermaster's  Department,  Mexico,  December  31,  1862. 

We,  the  undersigned,  soldiers  of  the  French  army  in  this  republic,  declare  that,  finding 
ourselves  in  this  capital,  in  the  barracks  of  the  corps  of  invalides  of  the  army  of  Mexico, 
in  the  character  of  prisoners  of  war,  we  have  been  made  to  appear  to-day  before  the  citizen 
Mr.  Augustin  Diaz,  professor  of  the  military  school,  who,  in  the  name  of  the  quartermaster 
general  of  the  Mexican  army  of  the  centre,  after  having  communicated  to  us  a  resolution 
of  the  supreme  government,  ordering  us  to  be  set  at  complete  liberty,  and  allowing  us  to 
return  to  our  own  camp — a  sum  of  money  necessary  for  that  purpose  being  tendered  us — or 
offering  us  a  permit  to  live  peaceably  in  this  country,  choosing  any  sort  of  employment 
that  might  suit  us,  asked  us  a  declaration  of  our  free  will.  In  consequence,  after  ma 
ture  reflection,  we  have  resolved  to  ask  the  assistance  which  is  offered  to  us,  in  order  to 
return  to  our  ranks,  rendering  our  thanks,  as  in  duty  bound,  to  the  supreme  government 
of  the  country,  which  has  treated  us  with  so  much  deference. 

P.  CLECH,  Corporal. 

J.  CLERC. 

S.  CHARLES,  Soldier  of  the  9Qth  regiment. 

E.  JOUVERT. 

L.  ALAIN.        )      Not  knowing  how  to  write,  I  have 

S.  CHARLES.  J  signed  for  them.— A.  COUTURE. 
A  true  copy: 

ANDRES  L.  TAPIA. 


The  original  French  is  as  follows: 

Nous,  soussignes,  soldats  du  regiment  du  corps  expe"ditionnaire  Fran9ais  dans  cette  16- 
publique,  declarons:  que  nous  trouvant  dans  cette  capitale,  dans  la  caserne  du  corps  des 
Invalides  de  I'arme'e  Mexicaine,  en  qualite  de  prisonniers  de  guerre,  on  nous  a  fait  com- 
paraitre  aujourd'hui  devant  le  citoyen  professeur  de  1'^cole  militaire,  M.  Augustin  Diaz, 
lequel,  au  nom  de  M.  le  general  quartier-maitre  de  I'armSe  Mexicaine  du  centre,  apres  nous 
avoir  fait  savoir  la  resolution  du  gouvernernent  supreme  de  nous  remettre  en  complete 
liberty,  nous  permettant  de  rejoindre  notre  quartier-ge'ne'rale  en  nous  remettant  la  somme 
necessaire  a  cet  effet,  ou  nous  offrant  un  sauf-conduit,  arm  de  pouvoir  vivre  pacifiquement 
dans  ce  pays,  choississant  le  genre  d' occupation  qui  nous  conviendrait,  nous  demande  une 
manifestation  de  notre  libre  volonte".  En  consequence,  aprSs,  mure  reflexion,  nous  avons 
r6solu  de  demander  1'aide  que  Ton  nous  offre,  aim  de  pouvoir  rejoindre  nos  rangs,  remer- 
ciant  comme  nous  le  devons  le  gouvernement  supreme  du  pays,  qui  nous  a  traite  avec 
tant  de  deference. 

P.  CLECH,  Caporak. 

J.  CLERC. 

S.  CHARLES,  90me  regiment. 

E.  JOUVERT. 

L,  ALAIN.       )      Ne  sachant  pas  signer,  j'ai 

S,  CHARLES.  Jsign6poureux.— A.  COUTURE, 


110  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

MEXICAN  REPUBLIC,  ARMY  OF  THE  CENTRE, 
Quartermaster's  Department,  Second  Division,  Mexico,  January  3,  1863. 

We  have  received  from  the  quartermaster  general  twenty-five  dollars  for  each  one  of  us 
who  hereunto  subscribe  our  names,  in  order  to  enable  us  to  return  to  the  army  to  which 
we  belong. 

CLECH. 

CLERC. 

LEMIQUB. 

JOUVERT. 

LECLERC. 


^  IfiyFabre. 
MEXICO,  January  9,  1863. 


A  true  copy: 

ANDRES  L.  TAPIA, 

Chief  of  Division. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy: 

ROMERO. 


No.  29. 
[Translation.] 

NATIONAL  PALACE,  MEXICO, 

February  22,  1863. 

MT  DEAR  AND  MOST  ESTEEMED  SIR  :  I  have  just  read  in  the  Monitor  Republicano  of  to 
day  the  speech  which  M.  O'Donnell,  president  of  the  council  of  ministers  of  the  Spanish 
government,  has  made  in  the  discussion  which  took  place  with  a  view  to  answer  the  speech 
of  the  crown,  and  I  have  seen  with  surprise,  among  several  inaccurate  assertions  which  M. 
O'Donnell  has  made  about  Mexican  affairs,  the  following  expressions  :  *  «  *  "  As  for 
myself,  Juarez,  as  a  Mexican,  has  a  stain  which  never  can  be  washed  away — that  of  having 
been  willing  to  sell  two  provinces  of  this  country  to  the  United  States.  °  °  c  "  This 
accusation,  coming  from  a  high  functionary  of  a  nation,  and  while  an  eminently  serious 
and  solemn  act  was  taking  place,  when  the  statesman  must  be  careful  that  his  words  are 
impressed  with  the  seal  of  truth,  of  justice,  and  good  faith,  is  of  the  utmost  importance, 
for  one  may  be  led  to  think  that  on  account  of  the  position  which  he  occupies  he  is  in 
possession  of  documents  which  support  his  assertion — a  thing  which  is  not  true,  M. 
O'Donnell  is  authorized  to  publish  the  proofs  he  may  possess  concerning  this  affair.  Mean 
while  my  honor  compels  me  to  show  that  M.  O'Donnell  has  made  a  mistake  in  the  judg 
ment  which  he  has  formed  of  my  official  conduct,  and  you  are  authorized,  Mr.  Editor,  to 
contradict  the  imputation  which  has  been  made  with  so  much  injustice  to  the  first  magis 
trate  of  the  nation. 

I  am,  Mr.  Editor,  your  humble  servant, 

BENITO  JUAREZ. 

To  the  EDITOR  OF  THB  DIABIO  OFFICIAL. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy : 

ROMERO. 


No.  30. 

[Translation.] 

MEXICO,  January  22,  1863. 

Mr.  MINISTER  :  I  had  solicited  more  than  one  year  ago  a  temporary  leave  of  absence  to 
return  to  Berlin,  and  the  despatches  which  I  have  received  by  the  last  packet  have  brought 
me  the  intelligence  that  the  government  of  the  King,  yielding  to  my  repeated  requests, 
has  granted  me  the  permission  to  leave  Mexico. 

I  should  desire  to  take  the  road  to  Tampico  ;  but  if  on  the  15th  proximo  the  health  of 
my  nephew,  who  is  now  sick,  should  not  permit  him  to  make  so  long  a  journey  on  horse- 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  Ill 

back,  I  shall  leave  by  carriage  directly  for  Vera  Cruz,  by  whatever  road  the  general-in-chief 
of  the  army  of  the  east  may  deem  to  be  the  most  proper  and  affording  me  the  greater 
safety. 

Requesting  your  excellency  to  communicate  to  his  excellency  the  President  of  the 
republic  my  intended  early  departure,  I  shall  hereafter  inform  your  excellency,  Mr. 
Minister,  of  the  measures  I  have  adopted  for  the  temporary  conduct  of  the  affairs  of  the 
legation  of  the  King  during  my  absence,  and  I  shall  recur  to  your  excellency's  affability 
for  the  issue  of  the  safe-conduct  and  escorts  required. 

Be  pleased,  Mr.  Minister,  to  accept  the  assurances  of  my  high  consideration. 

E.  DE  WAGNER. 

His  Excellency  DON  JUAN  ANTONIO  DE  LA  FUENTE, 

Minister  for  Foreign  Relations  of  the  Mexican  Republic,  fyc.,  SfC.,  fyc. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy : 

KOMERO. 


No.  31. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICO,  January  30,  1863. 

Mr.  MINISTER  :  I  have  communicated  to  the  President  the  note  which  your  excellency 
did  me  the  honor  to  address  to  me  on  the  22d  instant,  limited  to  the  permission  which  his 
Majesty  the  King  of  Prussia  has  been  pleased  to  grant  you  to  withdraw  temporarily  to 
Berlin. 

In  relation  to  what  your  excellency  says  to  me  in  reference  to  your  journey  by  way  of 
Tampico,  or  by  the  route  of  Vera  Cruz,  your  excellency  will  be  free  to  take  that  which  is 
most  convenient  to  you. 

I  hope  to  receive  the  favor  of  the  communication  which  your  excellency  proposes  to 
address  to  me  upon  several  points.  I  cannot  foresee  that  they  will  involve  the  slightest 
difficulty. 

Your  excellency  will  accept  the  assurances  of  my  very  distinguished  consideration. 

JUAN  ANTONIO  DE  LA  FUENTE. 

His  Excellency  Senor  Baron  E.  DE  WAGNER, 

Minister  resident  of  his  Majesty  the  King  of  Prussia. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy : 

ROMERO. 


No.  32. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICO,  February  9,  1863. 

Mr.  MINISTER:  Thanking  your  excellency  for  the  communication  which  you  have  been 
pleased  to  address  me  under  date  of  the  30th  of  the  past  month,  I  have  the  honor  to  in 
form  you  that  I  propose  to  take  my  departure  for  Berlin  on  the  18th  of  this  month  at  four 
o'clock  a.  m. 

The  consul  of  the  King,  Mr.  Benecke,  will  be  left,  during  my  absence,  in  charge  of  the 
current  affairs  relating  to  the  protection  of  the  interests  of  the  Prussian  subjects.  I  hope 
that  his  intervention,  that  of  the  other  German  consuls,  as  also  that  of  Mr.  Ballerteros,  the 
consul  general  of  Spain,  and  that  of  the  consul  of  Belgium,  Mr.  Grave,  will  be  sufficient  to 
guarantee  the  interests  of  their  countrymen,  which  had  been,  up  to  this  period,  confided 
to  the  protection  of  the  Prussian  legation  However,  in  the  exceptional  cases  which  may 
present  themselves,  I  have  recommended  these  consuls  and  their  countrymen,  as  also  the 
French  residents,  to  the  kind  protection  of  the  legation  of  the  United  States  of  North 
America.  I  hope  that  this  measure  will  be  only  a  matter  of  formality,  and  that  the  direct 
protection  of  your  excellency  will  be  assured  to  the  said  foreigners  who  may  appeal  to  the 


112  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

kindness  of  your  department.  I  intend  to  make  the  trip  hence  to  Vera  Cruz  in  the  dili 
gence  ;  but  if  the  military  operations  should  require  it,  I  shall  be  enabled  to  go  directly 
from  San  Martin  to  Acalcingo,  leaving  Puebla  aside.  On  the  15th,  at  mid-day,  a  cart  con 
taining  my  equipage  will  leave  with  the  escort  which  your  excellency  may  be  pleased  to 
cause  it  to  be  accompanied. 

J  take  the  liberty  to  request  your  excellency  to  be  pleased  to  order  the  issue  of  the  pass 
ports  and  safe-conduct  for  myself  and  my  nephew,  Charles  Wagner,  the  secretary  attached 
to  this  legation,  and  also  for  our  three  servants.  I  therefore  request  your  excellency  to 
give  the  necessary  orders  with  respect  to  the  escorts  which  are  to  accompany  us,  and  I 
would  be  obliged  to  your  excellency  to  let  me  know  who  is  the  military  officer  in  charge 
of  them,  that  I  may  have  a  direct  understanding  with  him .  I  will  also  thank  your  ex 
cellency  to  apprise  the  general-in-chief  of  the  army  of  the  east  of  my  early  departure,  and 
to  transmit  to  his  excellency  the  open  letter  herewith  enclosed,  addressed  to  the  French 
general  commanding  on  the  Orizaba  road,  in  order  that  he  may  transmit  it  to  the  latter 
through  a  flag  of  truce,  and  that  he  may  take  the  necessary  measures  with  respect  to  my 
passage  through  the  advanced  lines. 

If  by  the  18th  of  this  month  there  should  occur  any  serious  battle  which  may  prevent 
my  passage,  I  will  thank  your  excellency  to  communicate  it  to  me. 

Be  pleased,  Mr.  Minister,  to  accept  the  assurances  of  my  high  consideration. 

E.  DE  WAGNER. 

His  Excellency  Senor  Don  JUAN  ANTONIO  DE  LA.  FUENTB, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Relation*  of  the  Mexican  Republic,  Sfc.,  8fc.,  Sfc. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy: 

ROMERO. 


No.  33. 
[Translation.] 

NATIONAL  PALACE,  MEXICO,  February  12,  1863. 

Mr.  MINISTER:  I  have  received  the  communication  which  your  excellency  did  me  the 
honor  to  address  me  on  the  9th  instant,  in  reference  to  your  departure,  passports,  neces 
sary  safe-conducts,  and  the  conduct  of  various  matters  during  your  absence. 

Agreeably  to  what  I  have  on  other  occasions  had  the  pleasure  to  say  to  your  excellency, 
you  can  make  your  trip  hence  to  Vera  Cruz ;  and  in  compliance  with  your  request  upon 
that  subject  now  made,  the  proper  instructions  will  be  issued  in  order  that  General  Comon- 
fort,  now  stationed  at  San  Martin,  shall  inform  your  excellency  whether  the  military  ope 
rations  do  not  permit  your  excellency  to  pass  through  Puebla.  The  cart  which  your  excellency 
sends  with  your  equipage  will  be  properly  escorted.  With  respect  to  the  passports  and 
safe-conducts,  your  excellency  will  receive,  enclosed  in  this  communication,  those  which 
you  were  pleased  to  ask  of  me. 

The  war  department  will  issue  the  orders  concerning  the  escorts  which  are  to  accompany 
your  excellency  on  your  trip,  and  you  will  receive  timely  notice  of  the  military  officer  or 
officers  who  will  be  charged  with  this  duty.  The  letter  which  your  excellency  transmitted 
to  me  for  that  purpose  will  be  sent  to-day  to  the  general-in-chief  of  the  army  of  the  east, 
that  he  may  cause  it  to  reach  the  French  general  in  command  of  the  forces  stationed  on 
the  Orizaba  road.  If  by  the  day  on  which  your  excellency  intends  to  set  out  upon  your 
journey  any  battle  or  other  occurrence  should  take  place  to  prevent  your  excellency's  pas 
sage,  I  shall  consider  myself  bound  to  make  it  known  to  you. 

In  relation  to  the  other  points  to  which  your  excellency  refers,  I  must  say  to  you  that 
the  Mexican  government  at  once  admits  the  interposition  of  Mr.  Benecke,  the  consul  of 
his  Majesty,  in  matters  relating  to  the  protection  of  Prussian  subjects  and  their  property  ; 
and  that  agreeably  to  our  laws,  consul's  general  may,  in  the  absence  of  the  minister  of 
their  nation,  hold  correspondence  with  the  government  of  the  republic  respecting  the  pro 
tection  of  his  countrymen.  Unfortunately,  the  commission  which  your  excellency  says  you 
have  confeired  upon  the  legation  of  the  United  States,  to  protect  in  extraordinary  cases 
the  Prussian  subjects,  the  Germans,  Spaniards,  Belgians,  and  their  respective  consuls,  as 
well  as  the  Frenchmen  residing  in  this  country,  is  not  so  simple  a  matter.  That  your  ex 
cellency  should  recommend  the  protection  of  your  countrymen  to  the  benevolence  of 
another  legation  would  be  a  thing  perfectly  conformable  to  the  usages  received  every 
where  ;  but  to  make  of  that  protection  the  object  of  two  different  commissions,  committed 
to  sundry  functionaries,  is  an  expedient  entirely  new,  and  which  would  be  fruitful  of  con 
flicts  and  complications  of  every  nature.  The  other  similar  commissions  conferred  by  your 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  113 

excellency,  have,  besides  the  obstacle  referred  to,  that  which  emanates  from  not  possessing 
any  data  whatsoever  from  which  it  might  be  inferred  that  the  governments  which  had 
confided  them  to  the  legation  of  Prussia  gave  it  also  the  power  to  transfer  them.  With 
regard  to  the  French  subjects,  there  exists  also  against  this  sub-delegation  the  circum 
stances  of  the  state  of  war,  agreeably  to  the  law  of  nations. 

For  these  reasons  I  hope  your  excellency  will  be  pleased  to  modify  in  this  sense  what 
you  have  been  pleased  to  state  with  respect  to  the  protection  of  the  Prussian  and  other 
subjects  to  whom  your  legation  has  extended  it. 

Your  excellency  will  accept  the  assurances  of  my  very  distinguished  consideration. 

JUAN  ANTONIO  DE  LA  FUENTE. 
His  Excellency  the  BARON  E.  DE  WAGNER, 

Minister  Resident  of  his  Majesty  the  King  of  Prussia. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy : 


No.  34. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICO,  February  17,  1863. 

Mr.  MINISTER:  The  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United 
States  of  America  having  refused  to  give  his  protection  to  the  Prussian,  French,  German, 
and  Spanish  subjects,  who  up  to  this  time  have  been  confided  to  the  legation  of  Prussia, 
unless  he  receives  a  special  order  from  his  government,  upon  my  leaving  Mexico,  I  place 
them  under  the  safeguard  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  and  of  each  one  of  its  members  par 
ticularly.  At  the  same  time,  and  above. all,  I  confide  them  to  the  honor  and  loyalty  of 
the  Mexican  people. 

Accept,  Mr.  Minister,  the  assurances  of  my  high  consideration. 

E.  DE  WAGNER. 
His  Excellency  Senor  J.  A.  DE  LA  FUENTE, 

Minister  of  State  and  for  Foreign  Relations  of  the  Mexican  Republic,  Sfc. ,  fyc. ,  Sfc. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy: 

ROMERO. 


No.  35. 
[Translation.] 

NATIONAL  PALACE,  MEXICO,  February  24,  1863. 

Mr.  MINISTER:  The  Baron  E.  de  Wagner,  minister  resident  of  his  Majesty  the  King  of 
Prussia,  upon  leaving  this  capital,  made  known  to  the  government  of  the  confederation 
that  he  had  intrusted  to  certain  consular  agents  the  protection  of  his  countrymen,  and  of 
other  foreigners,  to  whom  he  had  extended  it  through  the  special  commission  of  their 
respective  governments,  adding  that  in  extraordinary  cases  he  had  placed  both  the  sub 
jects  and  the  consuls  referred  to  under  the  protection  of  the  legation  which  you  represent. 

I  request  your  excellency  to  read  in  the  annexed  document,  No.  1,  the  pretension  of 
Mr.  Wagner  upon  this  business;  and  in  No.  2  the  reasons  for  which  the  government  of 
the  republic  could  not  accept  a  measure  as  inexpedient  as  it  is  dangerous.  Mr.  Wagner 
made  no  reply  to  these  reasons,  nor  did  he  support  his  fixed  determination.  But,  on  the 
second  day  after  his  departure,  there  was  received  at  the  department  the  note  transmitted 
as  document  No.  3,  a  note  in  which  Mr.  Wagner,  manifesting  in  a  high  degree  his  con 
tempt  for  rules,  usages,  and  consequences,  abandons  the  idea  of  all  special  protection,  in 
order  to  place  under  the  safeguard  of  the  diplomatic  corps  and  of  the  Mexican  people  the 
foreigners  who  were  under  the  protection  of  the  legation  of  Prussia. 

It  is  doubtless  unnecessary  to  refute  the  improper  commission  which  that  honorable 
minister  had  at  first  confided  to  your  excellency  the  moment  that  commission  was  not 
accepted  by  your  excellency,  nor  retained  either  by  the  agent  who  was  to  have  conferred 
it  upon  you ;  and  though,  in  fact,  he  may  have  transferred  it  to  the  diplomatic  corps,  I 
cannot  for  a  moment  fear  that  it  will  meet  with  a  better  result,  being,  as  in  truth  it  is, 
improper,  offensive  to  the  government  of  Mexico,  and  in  every  point  of  view  impracticable. 
I  entertain  a  sincere  and  well-founded  hope  that  your  excellency  will  not  lend  your 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 8 


114  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

respectable  countenance  to  authorize  measures  of  this  nature.  But  my  duty  and  the 
orders  of  the  President  also  compel  me  to  declare  that,  in  reference  to  the  protection  of 
the  Prussians  and  of  the  other  foreigners  to  whom  his  excellency  the  Baron  de  Wagner 
refers  in  his  communications  referred  to,  the  government  of  the  republic  will  invariably 
observe  what  I  had  the  honor  to  state  to  the  said  minister  himself  in  the  official  letter 
which  I  addressed  him  on  the  12th  of  the  present  month.  Until  these  matters  are  other 
wise  arranged,  with  the  approbation  of  the  governments  which  are  at  peace  with  the 
republic,  the  protection  of  which  I  speak  has  in  its  favor  the  spirit  of  the  federal  govern 
ment,  and  means  adequate  to  render  it  effective,  agreeably  to  international  laws  and  to  our 
own  laws. 

By  confiding  the  foreigners,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  loyalty  and  honor  of  the  people  of 
Mexico,  Mr.  Wagner  renders  to  this  nation  the  justice  which  he  had  so  often  denied  to  it ; 
but  Mexico  does  not  need  this  testimony,  nor  can  it  accept  it  when  it  is  presented  insult 
ingly  to  the  government  which  it  has  chosen  as  the  depository  of  its  confidence  and  of  its 
power,  because  this  goverment,  which  it  is  affected  to  forget,  is  the  true  representative  of 
the  nation  in  its  foreign  relations ;  because  the  appeal  that  a  foreign  minister  should 
make  to  the  people,  and  not  to  the  government  to  which  he  should  be  accredited,  would 
be  held,  with  good  reason,  as  a  rude  violation  of  the  law  of  nations ;  and,  finally,  because 
this  omission  in  the  present  case  suggests  the  insulting  presumption  that  the  federal 
government  does  not  attend  to  the  protection  of  the  foreigners,  while,  on  the  contrary, 
everybody  knows  otherwise,  including  Mr.  Wagner  himself,  who,  in  his  note  of  the  9th 
February,  after  stating  what  he  had  determined  to  do  to  insure  the  protection  of  the 
Prussian  subjects  arid  other  foreigners,  wrote  me  in  the  following  words  : 

"I  flatter  myself  with  the  hope  that  this  measure  shall  be  nothing  more  than  a  mere 
formality,  and  that  the  foreigners  who  may  recur  to  the  kindness  of  your  department  will 
be  sure  to  receive  the  direct  protection  of  your  excellency." 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  your  excellency  the  assurances  of  nay 
very  distinguished  consideration. 

JUAN  ANTONIO  DE  LA  FUENTE. 
His  Excellency  Senor  THOMAS  CORWIN, 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary 

of  the  United  States  of  America. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy: 

ROMERO. 


No.  36. 
[Translation] 

ORIZABA,  February  15,  1863. 

MEXICANS  :  After  the  long  sojourn  which  the  corps  of  expedition  under  my  command 
has  had  to  make  in  its  camp,  it  is  about  to  leave  and  march  for  Mexico. 

Although  its  sojourn  has  been  long,  and  although  it  has  had  the  appearance  of  repose, 
it  has  not  been  time  lost.  It  must  have  made  you  reflect,  I  doubt  not,  upon  the  false 
hoods  of  those  who  have  an  interest  in  pointing  us  out  as  your  enemies,  and  to  whom  the 
valiant  soldiers  that  I  command  have  given  a  complete  denial  by  the  order  and  discipline 
which  have  not  failed  to  reign  in  their  ranks. 

If  we  are  your  enemies,  we  Frenchmen  who  protect  your  persons,  your  families,  your 
property,  then  what  must  be  those  Mexicans,  your  fellow-countrymen,  who  govern  you 
by  terror,  who  strip  you  of  your  property ;  who,  after  ruining  private  individuals  by  un 
exampled  exactions,  ruin  likewise  the  public  property,  for  no  other  end  than  that  of  pre 
serving  a  power  of  which  they  make  so  deplorable  a  use. 

Yes,  Mexicans,  you  must  have  discovered  in  our  actions  the  sincerity  and  loyalty  of  our 
words,  when,  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor,  I  declared  to  you  solemnly,  what  I  again 
repeat  to  you  to-day,  namely,  that  the  soldiers  of  France  have  not  come  here  to  impose 
upon  you  a  government ;  that  they  have  no  other  mission,  be  it  well  understood,  after 
they  have  dragged  by  force  from  him  who  pretends  to  be  the  expression  of  the  national 
will,  the  just  reparation  of  our  wrongs,  which  we  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  by  nego 
tiations  ;  they  have  no  other  mission  but  that  of  consulting  the  national  wish  as  to  the 
form  of  government  that  it  desires,  and  as  to  the  election  of  the  men  who  appear  to  it 
most  worthy  to  make  certain  good  order  and  liberty  at  home,  its  dignity  and  independence 
abroad. 

When  this  task  has  "been  accomplished,  there  will  remain  to  the  French  army  the  obliga 
tion  to  aid  the  government  chosen  by  you  to  march  resolutely  in  the  way  of  progress,  so 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  115 

that,  in  spite  of  those  who  despise  Mexico,  you  may  succeed  in  forming  a  nation  which 
shall  have  nothing  to  envy  in  others. 

Then  those  of  us  who  have  not  contributed  with  their  lives  to  the  accomplishment  of 
so  noble  an  enterprise,  will  re-embark  in  the  ships  of  France  and  return  to  their  country, 
happy  and  proud  if  the  great  duty  which  they  have  fulfilled  has  had  for  result  the  regene 
ration  of  your  country. 

FOREY, 
General  of  Division,  Senator,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 

Expeditionary  Mexican  Army. 


No..  37. 
[Translation.] 

ORIZABA,  February  16,  1863. 

INHABITANTS  OF  ORIZABA:  Within  a  few  days  I  shall  leave  this  city  to  undertake  military 
operations,  the  preparations  for  which,  intended  to  secure  success,  have  detained  me  here 
so  long  a  time  ;  but  I  do  not  desire  to  leave  without  addressing  you  a  few  words,  which  I 
trust  you  will  comprehend,  because  they  are  from  my  heart.  In  the  first  place,  I  thank 
you  for  the  reception  which  the  expeditionary  corps  has  met  with  in  your  city  during  a, 
residence  of  nine  months,  during  which  time  order  has  never  ceased  to  reign  there,  and 
our  soldiers  have  enjoyed  the  same  security  as  in  their  own  country.  It'  this  be  not 
owing  to  your  sympathy,  (and  I  would  esteem  myself  happy  if  it  were  so,)  it  is  due,  at 
least,  to  a  good  disposition,  which  we  should  always  thank  you  for.  I  do  not  believe 
myself  laboring  under  a  delusion  when  I  think  that  the  appearance  and  behavior  of  our 
soldiers,  who  in  all  parts  of  the  world  have  been  loved  and  esteemed  even  by  their 
enemies,  must  have  produced  the  same  effect  upon  you,  who  have  been  witnesses  of  their 
order,  their  discipline,  and  tjie  sweetness  of  their  manners ;  nor  is  it  possible  that  your 
fellow-countrymen  who  have  seen  them  at  other  points  of  the  country  can  have  failed  to 
recognize  them  as  the  sons  of  La  Belle  France,  which  marches  in  the  van  of  civilization. 
Therefore  I  cherish  the  hope  that  you  will  have  understood  the  intentions  of  the  Em 
peror,  whose  views  in  sending  us  to  Mexico  have  been  no  other,  believe  me,  than  obtain 
ing  by  arms  the  just  reparation  of  insults  you  are  aware  of,  and  which  negotiation  could 
not  arrange  ;  and  then  to  reconcile  your  country  with  Europe,  particularly  with  France, 
your  ancient  sympathies  for  which  never  would  have  ceased  had  it  not  been  for  the  con 
duct  of  your  present  government.  In  regard  to  myself,  if  I  ask  Heaven  to  bless  our 
arms,  it  is  not  so  much  for  the  sake  of  a  vain  ambition  of  personal  glory  as  for  the 
prospeiity  of  your  beautiful  country,  to  which  we  have  come  to  bring,  at  the  cost  of  our 
blood,  those  two  precious  boons,  without  which  society  cannot  exist — liberty  and  order. 
Farewell,  then,  inhabitants  of  Orizaba,  or  rather  until  next  time,  because  I  hope  we  shall 
return  to  see  you.  God  alone  knows  the  future  ;  but  be  what  may  reserved  for  me,  I  shall 
never  forget  the  hospitality  we  have  received  here,  and  shall  preserve,  throughout  my 
life,  the  most  delightful  recollections  of  your  city. 

FOREY, 
General  of  Division,  Senator,  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 

Expeditionary  Corps  in  Mexico. 


No.  38. 
LETTERS  OF  JECKER. 

Correspondence  intercepted  by  the  army  of  the  east,  and  which  is  published  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
department  of  state  of  the  Mexican  republic. 

PARIS,  October  30,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  JAVIER  :  I  have  received  your  letters  dated  15th  of  September,  full  of  interest 
upon  general  affairs,  but  with  gloomy  estimate  as  regards  the  present  and  future  position 
of  the  house.  I  have  written  to  uncle  a  long  letter,  but,  this  time,  I  have  sent  it  through 
the  house  of  Findley  &  Hodgson,  on  account  of  the  gravity  and  importance  of  its  contents. 
I  begged  uncle  to  communicate  it  to  you,  to  keep  you  informed  of  everything,  and  it  will 
be  a  great  satisfaction  to  me  to  know  that  you  judge  and  appreciate  my  labors.  It  will  be 
until  to-morrow  when  I  shall  mail  this  letter  ;  I  am  to  have  at  half-past  11  an  interview 


116  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

with  No.  2  °,  (consult  uncle's  letter,)  under  the  auspicies  of  No.  3  f .  Should  anything  of 
importance  occur  I  shall  write  to  you  the  substance  of  it  on  a  separate  leaf,  that  you  will 
communicate  to  uncle.  You  will  see  by  my  letter  to  uncle  that  the  position  presents  itself 
admirably  here,  and  that  all  that  father  and  I  have  attempted  has  turned  out  well.  This 
morning  even  I  received  very  good  news.  No.  3  has  told  me  that  some  time  since,  when 
M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys  was  only  a  private  individual,  this  personage,  whose  opposition  has 
acquired,  by  his  new  position  of  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  so  great  importance  for  us,  will 
have  asked  you  (your  cipher)  through  mere  curiosity,  what  was  the  business  of  the  bonds. 
You  have  instructed  him  completely  upon  this  point,  and  have  persuaded  him  of  the 
justice  of  our  reclamations  ;  it  is,  notwithstanding,  surprising  that  he  has  not  spoken  to 
me  of  this  when  knowing  that  the  new  minister  was  his  intimate  friend.  I  have  asked 
him  what  was  his  opinion  (the  minister's)  about  the  bonds.  You  see  by  my  letter  to  uncle 
that  my  departure  for  Mexico  was  almost  at  ha,nd  some  time  since.  No.  3  has  not  great  con 
fidence  in  the  new  personage  whose  character  I  describe.  I  shall  be  more  or  less  decided 
after  my  conversation  to-morrow  with  No  2,  because  No.  3  has  told  me  that  it  concerned 
him  to  know  if  it  was  certain  that  I  would  place  myself  completely  at  his  disposition  for 
what  he  might  judge  opportune  to  do.  I  have  now  No.  3  in  such  a  manner  that  he  has  in 
tne— in  my  ability!  in  my  gravity,  above  all,  eh  !— a  confidence  that  I  can  qualify  as 
exaggerated.  .If  I  see  utility  for  the  house  in  my  departure,  with  sufficient  influence  to 
serve  it  well,  I  will  depart  notwithstanding  the  repugnance  of  papa  and  mamma,  and  not- 
withstanding  that  I  will  have  to  go  there  with  incomplete  knowledge  of  metallurgy  and 
English — a  knowledge  that  I  could  make  very  practicable  in  less  than  a  year  by  my 
projected  permanence  in  Pongibant  J.  You  can  tell  uncle  that  No.  3  has  written  to  L.  a 
letter  by  this  mail,  in  which  he  gives  him  the  grade  of  confidence  that  he  ought  to  grant 
to  the  personage  of  the  letter  from  uncle,  and  informs  him  of  his  renewal  of  favor  towards 
No.  1,  result  of  the  two  letters,  telling  him  things  that  will  serve  for  instructions,  which  I 
hope  he  will  not  delay  in  receiving,  and  that  they  will  determine  him  to  protect  L. 
energetically.  What  do  you  say  of  the  idea  contained  in  the  Emperor  letter  of  No.  3  to  L.  to 
determine  T.  to  occupy  himself  immediately  with  B.  ?  I  have  suggested  it  in  part,  and 
applaud  myself  for  it.  I  do  not  comprehend  what  you  write  relative  to  the  pretended 
article  of  "  La  Patria."  Caricaburu  is  a  famous  tale-bearer,  (canard;)  that  article  never 
has  existed.  From  that  time  papa  receives  daily  "  La  Patria  "  in  Porentruy  for  the  past 
five  mouths,  and  you  know  if  any  article  of  importance  could  escape  him.  I  read  it 
frequently  also  ;  I  have  made  all  the  investigations  possible,  and  I  can  swear  to  you  that 
nothing  has  appeared  similar  to  what  you  tell  me.  You  have  read  in  my  penultimate 
letter  to  uncle  what  I  say  in  name  of  Mr.  Hodgson  :  "That  they  are  going  to  undertake 
colossal  speculations  upon  the  mines ;  that  uncle  classes  them,  and  amongst  them  for  the 
sale  a  part  of  the  shares  sold  immediately,  leaving  the  expenses  of  the  working  to  the 
acquirers,  one  part  reserved  for  sale  if  the  value  rises,  and  some  shares  reserved  as  lottery 
tickets."  You  comprehend  the  importance  of  this  advice.  Do  what  you  can,  that  it  may 
have  a  result.  We  have  placed  all  in  uncle's  hands,  with  a  view  that  it  will  be  saved  ;  if 
it  perishes,  it  will  be-  his  own  fault.  The  opinion  of  the  creditors  is  becoming  favorable  to 
the  house — according  to  what  Father  Maguin  said  to  me  yesterday — that  cousin  Peter 
•would  have  been  able  to  sell  his  notes  at  fifty  per  centum  here  in  Paris.  Hottinguer  is 
favorable.  I  refer  you  in  the  rest  to  my  letter  to  uncle  for  this,  for  the  petition,  and  for 
the  innoxiousness  of  Noel,  because  I  wrote,  as  I  believe,  to  uncle  that  having  put  Father 
Maguin  in  movement  to  instruct  No.  3,  he  had  conducted  himself  very  dexterously, 
attempting  to  surprise  Amor  Escandon,  son-in-law  of  Subervielle,  and  his  intimate  friend, 
and  that  he  had  had  the  conviction  in  his  conversation  with  him  that  Noel  did  not  aspire 
to  the  hand  of  a  Miss  Subervielle,  and  that  she  did  not  know  him  even.  Lately  Montluc 
has  met  me  and  wished  to  salute  me,  but  I  insulted  him.  No.  3  writes  to  T.  that  all  will 
be  managed  in  Mexico,  and  that  he  will  have  the  power.  You  see  by  my  letter  to  uncle 
my  conversations  with  Mr.  Hogdson  and  their  result.  Papa  returns  to  Paris  on  the  3d  of 
November.  It  is  time?  because  to  m'any  steps  and  my  studies,  it  is  too  much.  "La 
France  "  of  the  27th  of  August  contains  an  article  upon  Wyke — written  carefully— one 
could  not  say  more.  Consider,  dear  brother,  what  may  be  best  for  our  interests,  and,  if 
you  have  motives,  not  to  have  unlimited  confidence  in  yourself.  This  is,  besides,  the  opinion 
of  papa  and  mamma.  See,'  appreciate ;  our  salvation  is  at  stake. 

PABIS,  October  30,  1862. 
Mr.  J.  B.  JECKER,  Mexico: 

I  confirm  to  you  my  letter  of  September  30  last,  a  duplicate  of  which  I  send.     After 
wards  I  have  received  yours  of  August  27  and  September  13.     Contrary  to  what  I  had 

*  Marpon.  t  Chevarier.  J  Emperor. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  117 

thought,  it  is  probable  that  it  may  be  in  Mexico  itself  where  your  business  may  be 
arranged,  and  for  this  they  will  give  to  Mr.  de  S.  all  kinds  of  powers  ;  and  further,  I  hope 
that,  after  what  I  have  done  near  his  Majesty,  they  will  send  him  favorable  instructions. 
Consequently,  I  do  not  see  any  necessity  of  sending  at  this  moment  for  Mr.  de  Ch.,  or  to 
any  other.  It  is  necessary,  above  all,  that  you  succeed  in  distributing  among  all  the  foreign 
merchants  of  your  acquaintance,  or  of  that  of  your  friends,  as  many,  times  as  you  can, 
promising  them  to  present  them  to  the  custom-house  to  pay,  with  the  benefit  of  the  dis 
count  of  twenty  per  cent.,  the  duties  that  the  merchandise  accumulated  in  the  ports  since 
the  expedition  has  taken  place  ought  to  satisfy,  causing  them  to  observe  that  if  there  is, 
as  it  is  said,  duty  to  pay  for  $2,500,000  foreign  commerce,  will  obtain  immediately 
a  benefit  of  $500,000,  which  will  represent  a  diminution  in  the  tariff  of  twenty  per  cent. 

It  will  be  sufficient  that  there  are  some  merchants  who  persist  in  demanding  the  execu 
tion  of  the  decrees  which  have  promised  them  solemnly  this  compensation,  and  that  after 
having  protested  in  the  custom-house  against  the  refusal  of  their  pretensions,  carry  their 
reclamations  before  their  respective  representatives,  registering  their  protests  in  the  chan 
cery  of  their  legations,  to  convince  the  foreign  ministers  as  much  of  the  legitimacy  of 
their  demands  as  of  the  necessity  that  justice  may  be  done  them  for  the  interest  of  all  the 
European  commerce.  You  will  comprehend  easily  that  the  obstinacy  of  a  single  French 
merchant  is  sufficient,  for  example,  that  should  he  obtain  justice  in  this  question,  to  create 
a  precedent  that  would  bring  to  our  opinion  all  the  foreign  ministers  as  well  as  all  the 
other  leaders  of  their  country.  And  you  will  find  easily  among  your  creditors  a  merchant 
who  is  fully  possessed  of  the  conscience,  of  the  legitimacy,  of  the  legality  of  its  preten 
sion,  and  of  that  obstinate  constancy  that  personal  interest  gives,  insisting  upon  rights  so 
incontestable.  In  addition,  I  recommend  to  you  that  you  make,  as  soon  as  possible,  a  new 
petition  to  our  minister  in  Mexico  as  soon  as  the  French  arrive  there,  in  order  to  ask  the 
execution  of  the  decrees  as  being  a  law  of  the  treasury  granted  to  all  the  foreign  commerce 
as  a  diminution  of  the  tariff,  which  will  not  want  precedent  in  the  financial  history  of 
Mexico.  The  business  of  the  canal  of  Nicaragua  obtains  the  preference  accidentally.  I 
regret  it  on  account  of  your  lands  in  Tehuantepec  ;  those  that  you  possess  in  Sonora  could 
obtain  value  by  means  of  the  establishment  of  a  French  colony.  If  you  think  that  I  can 
be  useful  to  you  in  this,  negotiation,  that  I  have  the  confidence  of  being  able  to  conduct  it 
to  a  good  result,  it  will  be  necessary  to  send  me  a  note  of  details  upon  this  point  and  a 
power  of  attorney,  accompanied  by  your  particular  instructions. 

Accept,  sir,  and  dear  correspondent,  the  security  of  my  distinguished  sentiments  of 
attachment. 

By  authority  of  Morpon. 

CH.  FOURNIER  DES  ESCURES. 


PARIS,  November  12,  1862. 

I  send  again  the  4th  volume  of  the  diplomatic  archives,  in  which  I  have  explained  your 
business  and  analyzed  your  accounts — I  say  copied  your  accounts  entirely.  Ah,  how  much 
I  should  have  liked  to  have  the  letter  of  Zarco,  of  May  6,  1861,  of  which  mention  is  made 
but  transitorily !  As  soon  as  I  obtain  it  I  will  get  it  printed  (Arayot,  street  of  La  Paz 
Leipzig,  Brockaus,)  in  the  proximo  three  months.  I  have  seen  Mr.  de  Chevarier,  who  fears 
the  discord  between  Forey  and  Saligney.  Notwithstanding  the  imperial  recommendations, 
which  would  injure  us,  he  has  informed  me  of  the  conversation  he  had  with  his  Majesty. 
From  that  it  follows  that  there  will  be,  not  an  Emperor,  but  a  President.  He  wished 
that  influence  of  Santa  Anna,  to  whom  he  has  spoken,  might  be  made  use  of,  and  thought 
he  should  be  named  chief  of  the  government;  but  his  Majesty  has  answered:  "Santa 
Anna  has  declined  to  be  it,  writing  to  Almonte  that  he  take  his  place,  as  more  fit  for  that 
part."  In  a  short  time  we  shall  see  Mr.  Hodgson  again,  because  I  cannot  go  to  London, 
and  he  wishes  to  be  informed  of  the  state  of  affairs,  as  I  believe  he.  is  thinking  more  of  the 
interests  of  English  commerce,  which  he  does  not  wish  to  abandon  to  France ;  and  he  is, 
perhaps,  instructed  by  the  capitalists  to  take  information.  He  collects,  takes  notes,  and 
examines.  I  have  told  him  that  France  will  undertake  by  herself  the  railroad  immedi 
ately,  without  admitting  an  Anglo-French  company,  because  of  being  a  military  road — • 
stategic,  more  than  commercial,  and  that  is  fully  confirmed,  and  they  have  seen  that  my 
foresight  was  just.  I  believe  that  they  have  intention  to  sound  the  land.  I  have  learned 
from  Mr.  de  Becourd  that  Mr.  Montluc,  to  whom  he  has  spoken,  has  acquired  a  good  deal 
of  information  about  Mar,  his  influence,  his  fortune,  his  mines  in  Mexico,  about  those  of 
P.,  &c.,  &c.  I  have  answered  nothing,  finding  myself  stupefied  by  what  he  told  me.  It 
must  have  been  that  Montluc  has  received  a  good  deal  of  money  to  keep  saloon  and  to 
know  it  all.  »  *  o  Prince  Murat,  for  whom  Suberveille  was  banker,  (&c.,)  this  Prince 
Bottomless-purse  has  occupied  himself  much  with  the  bonds,  according  to  Mr.  de  Becourd, 


118  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

hostilely.  °  *  »  He  ha*;  no  influence,  but,  in  fine,  «  o  o  this  proves.  »  -  « 
It  might  happen  that  even  if  you  were  attacked  they  would  not  catch  \is  unprepared. 
This  time  Louis  will  do  what  he  can  to  inform  you  of  the  new  method  for  the  reduction  of 
S'lver  ores,  and  as  we  do  not  advance  any  money  to  the  inventor*,  (with  reason,)  we  do  not 
run  the  risk  of  being  victims  of  a  fraud,  but  of  having  to  expect  for  yielding  to  illusions 
We  endeavor  to  guarantee  it  by  means  of  multiplied  assays,  all  of  which  give  good  result. 
The  gold  separates  itself  naturally  from  the  silver,  and  the  residues  are  all  good  ;  but  for 
more  security  Louis  still  wishes  tP  speak  to  his  professor,  Cahours.  rewarded  with  the 
Jecker  prize.  Louis  wishes  to  depart  for  Chili  with  the  inventor  the  2d  of  December,  and 
from  there  go  to  Mexico  in  April  or  May  ;  but  I  will  not  sustain  this  project.  It  will  be 
necessary  that  he  wait  until  January,  working  steadily  until  then.  I  have  the  description 
of  the  proceeding  that  requires  that  ammoniac  is  manufactured  at  the  place  of  labor.  You 
will  comprehend  that  it  would  have  been  necessary,  to  be  able  to  have  an  understanding 
with  you  about  this,  but  we  cannot  wait  for  the  answer  to  our  letters 

It  is  known  here  that  more  than  5,000  men  have  succumbed  to  the  vomito.  The  Em 
press  is  victim  to  the  bad  news  that  arrived.  When  reading  your  letter  about  the  defeat  of 
Guadalupe,  the  only  one  that  could  pass,  and  which  I  have  directed  to  Fontainebleau,  the 
Emperor  said,  "Madam,  behold  your  work!"  Mr.  Chevalier  knows  it  f-om  an  ocular 
witness.  The  Empress  retired  to  her  habitation,  where  she  wept  for  three  days  The 
multitude  is  persuaded  that  it  is  on  account  of  a  certain  Jecker  that  the  war  has  taken 
place.  Louis  heard  jt  from  the  mouth  of  an  old  widow,  whose  son  had  departed  for 
Mexico;  but  it  is  almost  time  lost  to  dissipate  the  errors  of  the  ignorant  multitude  on 
this  point  Juarez  has  been  clever ;  Wyke  also.  The  latter  has  made  the  seventy-five 
millions  tinkle  like  ready  money,  contrary  to  all  that  has  been  said  or  done.  People  do 
not  understand  that  it  is  paper,  worth  only  from  15  to  30  per  cent.  I  should  have  pre 
ferred  that  Louis  accept  one  of  the  two  employments  offered  to  him,  but  he  has  the  idea 
that  he  must  do  something  that  will  save  you.  I  shall  remain  alone  in  my  old  age,  because 
Augusta  will  wish  to  get  married. 

Of  the  letters  that  follow  we  publish  only  extracts  referring  to  politics,  marked  with 
commas,  because  they  refer  in  the  greater  part  to  matters  of  family,  and  to  a  discovery  in 
the  method  of  reducing  metals.  The  ministry,  in  this  particular,  has  been  so  scrupulous 
that,  although  treating  of  an  enemy  so  capital  of  Mexico,  it  wishes  to  limit  itself  to  the 
defence  of  the  national  interests  only,  thus  giving  an  additional  proof  of  a  generosity  and 
benevolence  with  which  it  has  treated  this  business. — (Editors.) 

PORENTRTJI,  November  1,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  SON  JAVIER  :  Your  letter  of  September  28,  1862,  has  arrived  at  length  to  my 
hands.  How  much  your  self  denial  has  moved  us  ;  how  much  our  desires  to  see  you  in 
your  days  of  sorrow  have  increased.  I  shall  be  in  Paris  next  Wednesday  probably,  where 
Luis  calls  me,  because  he  needs  my  aid  and  counsel  to  expedite  his  march  to  Mexico  by  8an 
Nazario,  to  take  care  of  his  own  affairs  and  of  ours.  This  boy  has  gained  in  his  commerce 
a  knowledge  of  the  world  and  of  men  ;  he  desires  to  go  to  London  before  his  departure, 
but  I  am  not  of  his  opinion  ;  six  weeks,  or  even  six  months,  for  this  is  very  little  time, 
when  he  would  require  at  the  least  one  year.  Now,  to  something  else.  I  have  written  to 
your  uncle  with  the  resolution  that  I  never  did  before,  urging  him  to  take  advantage  of 
the  entrance  of  the  French  and  of  the  momentary  regeneration  of  credit  which  will  be  its 
consequence  to  liquidate.  I  reminded  him  of  the  appreciation  of  Mr.  le  M.  de  F.,  at  this 
moment  dying,  on  his  mines  and  his  business  at  large,  a  matter  which  I  have  discussed 
with  seriousness  becaufie  it  is  necessary  to  tell  him.  This  gentleman  had  much  disturbed 
an<1  frightened  me  to  the  extreme  of  causing  me  to  leave  Paris.  1  have  asked  the  coin 
ciding  opinion  of  Mr.  Stuart  Hogdson,  with  whom  we  have  had  new  conferences,  and  who 
is  kind-hearted  with  us  as  well  as  that  of  other  persons.  I  have  made  manifest  to  Mr. 
Jecker  his  age,  mine,  the  necessity  of  concentrating  his  business,  the  impossibility  almost 
of  exercising  an  efficacious  supervision  of  all  of  them  at  fabulous  distances,  the  robberies 
and  depredations  to  which  he  is  exposed.  I  reminded  him  of  all  I  said  to  him  at  the  time 
of  the  departure  of  Mr.  Porter,  about  the  limitation  of  his  best  undertakings  ;  I  tell  him 
that  if  he  should  be  sick  or  should  die  he  would  lose  everything  according  to  general  opinion, 
he  alone  being  capable  of  carrying  on  his  business.  Mamma  writes  also  in  this  sense  ;  here  is 
what  I  propose  to  him  :  that  he  divides  the  mimes  and  the  manufactories  into  shares  of 
five  and  ten  thousand  dollars,  with  regard  to  the  vacant  lands  on  the  Isthmus,  in  Sonora, 
and  in  Matamoras  ;  perhaps  the  thing  may  not  be  practicable,  but  that  it  will  be  necessary 
to  endeavor  to  s»  11  them.  I  propose  to  Mr.  J.  that  he  gives  in  payment  iron,  bonds, 
credits,  houses,  shares ;  I  make  him  understand  that  the  creditors  will  accept  equivalents  that 
will  extinguish  greater  quantities  than  the  debts,  if,  as  Gautier  has  told  me,  very  hard 
conditions  are  not  imposed.  This  mode  of  payment  would  be  advantageous  to  the  house 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  119 

without  creditors  in  different  proportions.  I  calculate  that  a  greater  part  of  these  last  who 
originally  repelled  the  payment  in  equivalencies  comprehend  that  something  is  worth 
roore  than  nothing.  Say  what  they  may,  this  plan  of  which  we  talked  some  time  ago, 
was  not  practicable  under. dread,  hut  now  it  can  be  accomplished  on  a  scale  more  or  less 
great.  The  creditors  who  have  shares  in  the  mines  will  be  interested  in  supervising.  I 
forgot  to  say  to  Mr.  Jecker  that  I  received  the  subsidy  to  take  care  of  the  business.  On 
this  we  now  live,  or  better  vegetate  ;  but  for  the  simple  lodging  and  the  necessities,  it  is  a 
small  matter  endeavoring  to  avoid  what  can  reach  his  susceptibility  on  this  point.  Nothing 
in  the  world  would  make  me  insinuate  to  him  that  having  filled  your  task  you  ought  to 
return,  after  having  placed  p<irt  of  our  fortune  in  safety,  because  this  would  offend  him, 
since  I  see  from  his  correspondence  that  he  loves  you,  and  esteems  you  more  every  day.  As 
for  our  bonds,  we  are  two  sentinels  placed  in  the  two  extremities  of  the  world,  whilst  we 
communicate  events  develop  and  make  our  conjectures  fruitless.  Here  we  awaited  the  en 
trance  of  the  French,  while  there  you  awaited  instructions.  Now  we  are  performing  these 
parts,  I  believe,  in  effect;  in  consequence  of  the  splendor  of  this  business,  it  will  be  necessary 
that  his  Majesty  gives  intimation  toDrouyn  de  1'Huys  to  send  orders  to  Forey  and  Saligny, 
for  the  payment  of  these  bonds  may  be  in  the  total  or  in  part,  entering  into  an  adjustment 
with  the  new  government  that  perhaps  restrains  its  course.  You  know  already  that  Forey 
is  a  kind  of  dictator  to  whom  Saligny  is  subordinate,  but  he  can,  moderating  his  impetu 
osity,  influence  the  old  sergeant ;  and  all  depends  on  the  good  harmony  that  exists  between 
these  two  gentlemen.  It  will  be  necessary,  as  I  have  said  to  my  brother-in-law  for  some 
time,  that  he  dedicates  himself  to  make  Saligny  more  flexible ;  that  he  arranged  the  man 
ner  so  as  not  to  imitate  the  bear,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  they  make  concessions  to  him. 
c-  «  «  3vjr  De  Saligny  has  not  promised  me  to  save  the  house.  Tell  all  this  to  J.  and 
;  it  is  time  that  he  is  not  a  little  interested ;  make  a  prudent  use  of  my  letters,  al 
though  I  have  written  nothing  that  cannot  be  read. 
Receive  kind  regards  from  your  mother,  &c.,  &c.,  &c. 

H.  E. 


PARIS,  November  14,  1863. 

Mr.  J.  B.  JECKER,  Mexico: 

Since  my  last  of  October  31,  a  duplicate  of  which  is  accompanied,  I  have  received  your 
letter  of  September  27.  The  news  that  you  give  me  of  the  decree  of  Juarez,  relative  to  a 
loan  of  fifteen  millions  of  dollars,  has  been  satisfactory  to  me.  This  decree,  conceived  in 
the  same  terms  as  those  of  the  government  of  Miramon,  that  have  been  criticised  so  much, 
appears  to  me  an  excellent  arm  placed  in  your  hands  to  defend  your  bonds.  How  can  the 
partisans  of  Juarez  censure  now  what  they  have  just  imitated  ? 

I  cannot  do  less  than  confirm  to  you  in  a  very  especial  manner  the  invitation  to  set  to 
work  the  plan  sent  to  you  in  my  letter  of  October  30.  This  will  be,  in  my  opinion,  the 
best  means  of  arriving  at  a  solution  that  cannot  be  refused. 

The  next  mail  will  carry  you,  without  doubt,  a  letter  more  in  detail  from  Mr.  de  Marpon, 
absent  at  this  moment      I  suppose,  on  the  other  hand,  that  Mr.  Elsesser,  who  is  now  in 
Paris,  will  post  you  up  by  the  packet  that  leaves  San  Nazario  to-morrow  of  what  occurs. 
Receive,  sir,  the  assurance  of  my  distinguished  sentiments, 

CH.  FOURNIER  DES  EOURES. 


SAN  MAURICTO,  (Ch,  de,)  November  14, 1862. 

MY  DEAR  JECKER:  I  arrived  here  yesterday  afternoon  in  company  with  M.  Castillo,  who 
is  always  more  or  less  infirm,  which  is  very  alarming,  and  causes  great  inquietude.  Although, 
only  a  few  moments  remain  to  me  that  I  can  take  advantage  of  before  the  packet  leaves 
Sin  Nazario,  I  employ  them  with  you,  to  give  you  thanks  for  your  kind  letter  of  the  28th 
of  September  last.  Now,  as  you  ought  to  understand,  I  have  the  greatest  desire  to  know 
what  result  all  these  rumors  have  had  with  which  you  were  threatened — expulsion,  con 
fiscation  of  property,  &c.,  &c — things  that  they  will  take  good  care  not  to  carry  into 
effect,  particularly  when  they  know  of  the  proclamation  of  General  Forey  on  his  arrival 
in  Mexican  territory — Puebla  first  and  Mexico  afterwards.  Will  they  have  opposed  his 
progress  and  his  entrance  ?  This  is  hardly  credible,  notwithstanding  their  preparations  for 
defence.  The  army — if  such  a  name  can  be  given  to  it — the  Mexican  army  will  have  re 
tired  to  the  tside  of  Morelia  and  of  Queretero,  or  it  will  have  dispersed  to  oppose  him  as 
guerillas.  But  all  this  will  soon  have  an  end. 

If,  as  I  have  written  to  you,  and  I  think  it,  the  good  and  honorable  Mexicans  (because  I 


120  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

am  not  one  who  does  not  believe  that  there  are  some  in  Mexico)  have  hastened  to  second 
the  chief  of  the  French  army,  with  whom,  at  the  hour  I  write,  you  will  probably  have 
formed  an  acquaintance,  or  at  least  you  will  not  delay  in  doing  so,  I  hope,  my  good  Mend, 
he  will  do  you  justice,  and  that  within  a  few  years  I  shall  be  able  to  procure  for  you  the 
acquaintance  of  some  good  friends  I  have  here,  and  who,  as  well  as  I,  desire  a  complete 
triumph  to  you. 

As  I  have  informed  you,  Subervielle,  dead,  Labadie,  it  is  clear  to  believe  so,  will  have 
modified  his  opinion  a  little  about  the  displeasure  the  French  expedition  caused  him. 

As  you  will  well  understand,  all  the  packets  are  waited  for  with  great  impatience.    Within 
a  few  day  we  shall  have  news  to  the  18th  of  October  from  Vera  Cruz,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  month  until  the  1st  instant.     General  Forey  and  his  army  will  have  been  able  to  com 
mence  their  march,  and  it  is  probable  that  it  may  be  with  complete  success.    God  grant  it ! 
Yours,  with  all  my  heart, 

O'LAMBELL  MAURICIO. 


PARIS,  (via  SAN  NAZARIO,)  November  15,  1862. 

GENTLEMEN  :  We  have  the  honor  to  confirm  you  our  letter  of  the  30th  of  August  last. 
Since  then  we  have  received  yours  of  August  28  and  September  30,  the  contents  of  which 
we  have  learned  with  interest.  We  have  given  a  letter  of  recommendation  to  you  to 
Messrs.  Villet  and  Jacqueme,  inspectors  of  the  treasury,  who  go  to  Mexico  with  the  mission 
to  study  the  financial  state  of  the  country.  We  have  believed  that  you  could  give  them 
useful  information,  and  at  the  same  time  it  would  be  convenient  for  you  to  know  them. 

We  know  that  a  collector  general,  Mr.  Budin,also  is  to  start  soon  with  a  mission.  We 
do  not  know  him,  and  we  cannot  have  occasion  to  direct  him  to  you.  Nevertheless,  we 
invite  you  to  place  yourselves  in  relation  with  him  if  the  opportunity  presents  itself. 

Accept,  gentlemen,  the  security  of  our  perfect  consideration, 

J.  FORTUIGUERO. 

Messrs.  J.  P.  JECKER  &  Co. ,  Mexico. 


PARIS,  November  7,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  BROTHER  :  I  have  been  in  Paris  for  some  days,  and  it  has  cost  me  no  trouble 
to  convince  myself  that  our  protectors  had  neglected  nothing  in  serving  us.  The  opposition 
has  been  so  great  that  to  conquer  it  it  has  been  necessary  to  work  upon  his  Majesty  ;  and 
it  has  been  done.  I  have  taken  away  the  pamphlet  of  Luis,  and  amused  Mr.  de  M  ;  one 
cannot  attempt  more.  Messrs.  Finlay  have  done  what  has  been  possible  for  them,  transla 
ting  and  publishing  your  small  memorial,  and  communicating  it  to  John  Russell.  In  fiue, 
they  have  expedited  the  articles  in  which  the  question  is  treated,  &c. ,  &c. 

As  to  your  creditors,  they  hope  you  will  take  advantage  of  the  first  moment  of  confusion 
from  the  entrance  of  the  French  to  liberate  yourself  by  means  of  the  payment  of  equiva 
lencies,  that  you  divide  your  iron-works,  mines,  &c.,  &c.,  into  shares  of  $5,000  or  $10,000  ; 
that  you  will  give  them  in  movables,  estates,  &c.,&c.  Although  the  situation  now  may 
be  such,  it  cannot  remain  in  the  same  state,  and  it  will  be  necessary  to  take  a  step  before 
the  1st  of  January,  1863.  Those  gentlemen  of  London,  whom  we  have  seen  here  some 
time  before,  repeat  it  to  us,  and  we  must  respect  their  opinion. 

The  Commandant  la  Pierre  will  relieve  M.  de  Chevardie  These  gentlemen  could  not 
do  less  than  send  a  new  agent,  and,  besides,  the  Marquis  de  P.  is  on  his  death-bed.  °  °  c 
This  has  not  concealed  your  position  from  us  ;  I  have  taken  note  of  all  he  has  said,  c-  ° 
and  without  doubt  he  likes  >ou,  and  is  disinterested.  He  had  repeated  to  me  that  protect 
ing  Villanouve  near  you  had  contributed  to  place  him  in  Tasco,  and,  as  by  a  great  fault, 
your  iron-works,  mines,  &c.,&c.,  are  so  distant  from  one  another  that  he  could  not  help 
being  robbed.  It  appeared  to  him  that  you  embraced  too  much.  In  fine,  what  I  encoun 
ter  is  that  you  are  fifty,  I  fifty- eight ;  the  Jeckers  are  of  bronze. in  character  but  not  in  body. 
M.  de  Gabriac  is  sad.  He  calculated  upon  being  the  chief  of  the  cabinet  of  his  fiiend 
Drouyn.  Oh  !  he  is  deceived.  °  °  -°  Manage  it  so  that  M.  de  Saligny  may  do  all  he  can 
with  Forey  for  our  house,  and  not  for  what  is  intended  as  recompense  for  him.  His  Majesty 
likes  him,  and  appreciates  him.  .  Tell  him  I  wish  no  other  proof  than  the  trouble  he  has 
taken  to  vindicate  himself  in  the  eyes  of  his  detractors,  making  them  understand,  besides, 
that  his  recall  is  the  triumph  of  Juarez.  I  know  the  exact  words  he  has  used  with  Forey, 
by  which  he  has  been  obliged  to  subject  himself  to  Saligny.  Have  you  received  the  bulle 
tin  that  contains  your  naturalization  ?  Luis  has  sent  two  or  three  copies  to  you. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  121 


PORENTRUI,  November  3,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  BROTHER  :  The  Marquis  of  P.,  who  has  painted  your  situation  to  us  in  sombre 
colors,  considering  above  all  the  mines  as  the  gnawing  potypus  that  impedes  all  distribu 
tion,  is  very  near  death. 

I  have  told  you  previously  that  I  would  occupy  myself  with  the  estimates  of  the  dy 
ing  marquis.  I  have  thought  that  he  was  something  of  a  fatalist,  but  I  have  faith  in  his 
friendship  for  you,  and  looked  upon  him  as  a  frank  and  loyal  man.  Now  that  I  see  his 
predictions  realized,  now  that  I  see  two  thinkers  like  the  Finlays,  twice  within  the  inter 
val  of  six  months,  use  identical  language,  first  with  me,  afterwards  with  my  son,  it  is  ne 
cessary  that  I  partake  of  his  own  opinion  with  much  more  reason,  as  all. the  creditors  have 
partaken  of  it.  In  other  times  I  wrote  to  you  about  the  danger  of  giving  too  great  an  ex 
tension  to  your  business  on  account  of  the  excess  of  the  speculation  ;  this  was  after  the  depart 
ure  of  Mr.  Portu  ;  now  I  repeat  it  to  you,  with  all  the  world,  that  you  have  embraced  too 
much,  and  that,  not  being  able  to  repair  the  evil  now,  it  is  necessary  to  impede  it  and  to 
diminish  it.  I  will  explain  myself  :  Make  use  of  a  momentary  credit  which  the  entrance 
of  the  French  will  give  you  immediately  to  liquidate  seriously,  and  as  you  will  not  be  able 
even  to  pay  in  specie  your  just  accounts  the  first  of  January,  1863,  it  is  necessary  to  en 
deavor  to  arrange  them  in  equivalencies  with  a  dividend,  &u.,  &c.  The  creditors  will  see 
themselves  obliged  to  accept,  &c.,  &c.,  &c. 

I  finish  with  some  words  about  the  bonds.  It  is  requisite  that  by  order  of  his  Majesty  we  op 
erate  directly  upon  Forey  or  through  Saligny,  so  that  these  equivalencies  may  be  placed  in 
way  of  payment  immediately,  because,  be  it  Forey,  be  it  the  new  government,  they  will 
repel  it  and  will  resist  very  naturally, and  precise  instructions  will  be  necessary  from  M.  Drouyn 
to  conquer  the  resistance.  Seeing  the  interest  that  all  our  friends  have  in  it,  I  throw  this 
case  upon  them,  because,  what  could  I  do  ?  Luis  has  the  threads  of  all  the  plot.  He  will 
do  his  duty.  Very  likely  I  shall  go  to  Paris  very  soon,  either  to  take  his  place  or  to  aid 
him  to  know,  in  fine,  if  I  must  sell  the  rest  of  our  furniture  to  pay  our  creditors  in  Paris. 
It  is  absolutely  necessary  that  the  question  be  ventilated  the  first  of  January,  1863,  be 
cause  uncertainty  is  the  worst  of  evils  ;  a  formal  liquidation  under  your  direction  would  be 
good.  Without  you  it  is  death  for  us ;  that  will  replace  the  agony  we  have  suffered  for 
two  years  and  a  half.  It  would  be  beteer  *  »  *  •.••'»••--••• 


NEW   INTERCEPTED   CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   JECKER.    ' 

[Published  with  the  authority  of  the  Department  of  Foreign  Relations.] 

PARIS,  October  27,  1862. 

DEAR  UNCLE  :  My  predictions  were  correct  in  reference  to  the  choice  of  the  charg6 
d'affaires  of  M.  M.  When  I  wrote  my  opinions  to  you  and  the  details  which  I  had  been 
able  to  collect  from  M.  Chervasier  in  reference  to  M.  Lapierre,  Almonte's  aid,  and  M.  de 
Saligny's  ambassador  to  his  Majesty  in  July  last,  M.  M  would  have  most  anxiously  de 
sired  that  my  studies  had  been  finished,  in  order  to  intrust  me  personally  with  this  mis 
sion  with  all  the  influence  and  all  the  recommendations  possible ;  but  papa,  frightened  at 
the  sad  fate  of  his  agents,  (the  Marquis  de  Pierres  is  in  his  agony  at  this  moment,  and  when 
you  receive  this,  will  certainly  have  ceased  to  exist,)  would  not  have  consented  but  with  the 
greatest  difficulty,  especially  in  consequence  of  the  malady  with  which  I  am  yet  conva 
lescent  ;  moreover,  I  am  distrustful  of  my  experience  and  of  my  aptitude  for  a  mission  so 
delicate.  To  be  brief,  an  intermediary  course  was  adopted.  As  the  necessity  for  an  envoy 
was  apparent,  especially  in  October  or  November,  the  time  of  the  entrance  of  the  French 
into  Mexico,  when  I  should  be  at  sea,  M.  de  M.  resolved  to  intrust  provisional  power  to 
M.  Lapierre,  reserving  to  himself  the  right  of  annulling  his  authority  and  transferring  it 
to  me  if  he  did  not  attain  his  object.  This  M.  Lapierre  has,  to  a  certain  extent,  been  made 
acquainted  with  my  ideas.  He  does  not  know  M.  de  M.  ;  but  the  duke  has  very  warmly 
recommended  him,  saying  that  he  was  one  who  had  thoroughly  understood  the  mission  of 
M.  Pierre.-,  and  who  was  qualified  to  accomplish  it,  while  he  contented  himself  with  the 
advantages  which  were  proposed  to  be  granted,  if  influence  and  confidence  were  accorded 
to  him.  I  will  tell  you,  in  one  word,  who  this  personage  is.  The  confidence  and  the  powers 
granted  to  him  by  M.  de  M.  are  summed  up  in  full  in  the  following  letter  which  has  been 
written  to  him  by  M.  de  M.  and  which  is  his  credentials  and  his  means  of  making  him 
self  known  to  you;  but  he  is  a  rascal,  an  intriguer,  and  so  be  careful  how  you  act  with 
him.  He  is  an  adventurer,  who  barked  with  hunger  when  he  was  recommended  to  M.  de 
M.  I  copy  below  the  letter  to  which  I  refer  ;  he  has  nothing  else  from  M.  M.  ;  he  knows 
no  other  secrets  than  those  contained  in  the  letter  itself,  which  in  nowise  compromise  us  ; 


122  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

and  if  he  tries  to  persuade  you  of  the  contrary,  all  that  he  may  say  beyond  this  will  be 
merely  what  his  natural  sagacity  may  have  enabled  him  to  penetrate,  without  any  possi 
bility  on  his  part  of  showing  his  proofs.  Do  not  permit  yourself  to  be  swayed  by  him.  I 
have  here  the  letter  which  M.  M.  has  transmitted  to  me,  with  the  request  that  I  would 
transcribe  it  for  you.  It  has  been  written  under  the  dictation  of  the  duke  and  corrected 
by  him. 

SIR:  Your  letter  dated  at  Vera  Cruz,  August  30,  has  reached  me,  and  I  hasten  to  reply 
to  it.  Filled  with  sentiments  of  benevolence  towards  you  and  me,  my  friend  and  protector 
has  thought  that  we  might  be  mutually  useful  to  each  other,  and  he  has  spoken  of  our 
affairs  in  Mexico,  which  he  knows  only  very  superficially.  Here  is  in  what  they  consist: 

Having  had  intercourse  for  a  considerable  time  with  M.  Jecker,  whom  the  unfortunate 
affairs  of  Mexico  and  the  hostility  of  some  rival  houses  have  brought  into  discredit,  I  find 
myself  his  creditor  for  quite  considerable  sums :  I  have,  therefore,  an  interest  in  aiding 
him  to  rise,  and  I  am  so  much  the  more  interested  as  I  believe  him  to  be  a  very  able  aud 
a  very  honorable  man;  as  also  because  many  French  houses  and  nearly  all  our  country 
men  in  Mexico  are,  like  myself,  his  creditors  ;  in  fine,  because  he  is  the  victim  of  an  arbi 
trary,  unjust,  and  plundering  system  of  government. 

I  have  undertaken,  in  concert  with  M.  de  Elsesser,  brother  in-law  of  M.  Jecker,  who 
has  come  from  Switzerland  to  Paris  for  this  purpose,  to  defend  his  interests  by  informing 
the  government  and  the  public  as  to  the  validity  of  his  claims,  especially  in  that  concern 
ing  the  negotiation  of  the  bonds,  known  under  the  name  of  the  Jecker  bonds,  the  cause, 
in  a  great  measure,  of  his  failure,  and  which  may  likewise  prove  a  reason  for  the  re-estab 
lishment  of  his  house  and  the  restoration  of  his  affairs. 

Public  opinion  had  totally  gone  agtray  in  regard  to  this  affair.  M.  Elsesser  has  pub 
lished  a  memorial  which  I  enclose  to  you,  and  which  sets  the  affair  in  a  new  light.  Here 
after,  our  diplomatic  agents  should  sustain  it. 

For  your  part,  sir,  you  can  serve  this  cause,  which  is  that  of  an  honorable  house  odiously 
persecuted,  in  the  like  manner  as  is  French  and  foreign  commerce. 

It  would  be  suitable  in  this  case  that  you  should  put  yourself  in  communication  with 
M.  Jecker,  with  much  secresy  and  discretion,  whenever  it  may  be  necessary ;  in  regard 
to  which  this  letter  will  be  sufficient  to  accredit  you  and  to  bring  you  to  such  an  under 
standing  as  to  cause  you  to  work  together,  as  well  in  reference  to  our  minister  in  Mexico 
as  to  our  general. 

If  the  issue  crowns  your  efforts,  we  can  do  no  less  than  leave  to  the  benevolent  and 
trusty  friend  who  has  produced  our  intercourse,  the  duty  of  fixing  the  remuneration  which 
is  in  justice  due  to  you. 

Receive,  &c.,  &c.,  &c. 

M.  de  Chevarrier,  whom  his  suspicions  already  designated  to  Lapierre  as  his  successor, 
regarded  him  with  evil  eye  and  spoke  to  him  with  coldness.  He  told  me  that  Lapierre 
departed  from  Mexico  under  very  unfavorable  auspices  of  the  French  army,  and  left  there 
only  most  odious  reminiscences.  Whatever  there  be  of  exaggeration  in  these  words 
should  be  attributed  to  the  wounded  susceptibility  of  M.  de  Chevarrier.  In  1849  and 
1850,  in  the  time  of  the  republic,  Lapierre  was  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Corsaire,  a  petty 
Bonapartist  paper  which  every  day  appeared  with  a  profusion  of  truisms  and  challenges  to 
the  republicans.  Sometimes  he  had  to  support  his  pen  with  the  sword,  and  he  did  it 
with  courage.  He  is  brave,  intriguing,  unscrupulous.  In  one  word,  he  has  all  the  quali 
ties  of  a  chevalier  d' Industrie.  He  is  a  double-edged  sword  that  may  be  used  with  profit,  but 
which  must  be  handled  very  prudently.  M.  de  M  T.  would  start  at  the  idea  of  seeing  the 
doubloons  that  he  might  have  in  his  chest  in  the  hands  of  such  a  gentleman.  Therefore 
it  is  that  he  authorizes  me  to  entreat  you  to  deliver  nothing  to  him  personally,  and  to 
send  to  M.  Hodgson  or  us  whatever  you  may  have  to  transmit  in  future. 

I  presume  you  have  received  my  last,  of  the  15th  of  October.  I  should  regret  very 
much  if  you  had  not,  for  it  contained  important  matters.  I  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
all  which  you  have  $ent  to  me.  The  manner  in  which  you  address  them  to  us  is  so  se 
cure  that  I  avail  myself  of  it  for  the  present  letter,  the  tenor  of  which  is  of  too  serious  a 
nature  to  be  intrusted,  without  protection,  to  the  fidelity  of  the  Mexican  mails.  I  told 
you  in  my  last  that  I  had  a  conversation  with  M.  Hodgson,  and  I  mentioned  to  you  the 
pleasure  and  confidence  which  were  excited  in  him  by  my  assurances  that  the  house  was 
under  a  high  protection. 

I  congratulate  myself  on  having  made  to  him  spontaneously  this  act  of  half-confidence  ; 
because  in  the  last  visit  which  he  made  me,  M.  Fournier,  secretary  of  M.  de  M.  T.,  came 
in,  charged  with  a  commission  from  him  to  me.  After  I  had  presented  him  to  M.  de 
Hodgson,  he  spoke  to  me  very  lightly  of  my  approaching  presentation  to  my  lord  the 
duke,  and  other  things  of  a  formal  nature  calculated  to  dispel  the  suspicions  of  M.  Hodg 
son,  if  he  had  any  remaining  ;  but  which  fully  confirmed  the  little  story  which  I  had 
already  related  to  him. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  123 

The  evening  of  the  departure  of  M.  Hodgson,  the  Moniteur  announced  the  appointment 
of  M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys  to  the  department  of  foreign  affairs  in  place  of  M.  de  Thouvenel  ; 
and  he  manifested  much  agitation  at  this,  and  came  to  me  to  see  me  immediately,  in  order  to 
know  the  degree  of  intimacy  that  might  exist  between  our  protectors  and  M.  Drouyn  do 
1'Huys  ;  because,  said  he  to  me,  he  is,  unfortunately,  on  intimate  terms  with  Lord  John 
Russell,  who  represented  England  in  the  congress  of  Vienna,  and  who  showed  himself  very 
pliant  in  reference  to  some  points  of  secondary  interest,  in  order  to  prove  to  M.  Drouyn 
de  1'  Buys,  the  French  ambassador  in  the  same  congress,  the  spirit  of  conciliation  with 
which  he  was  animated.  I  could  not  satisfy  him  at  the  moment,  because  those  gentle 
men  are  temporarily  absent,  but  I  promised  to  write  to  him  as  soon  as  he  should  return 
to  London.  I  took  advantage  of  this  opportunity  to  address  to  him,  some  days  afterwards, 
a  letter  with  an  amplification  of  papa's  defence,  and  of  your;memorial  on  the  real  interests  of 
commerce  in  the  negotiation  of  bonds,  requesting  him  to  have  them  translated  into  En 
glish,  and  to  seek  an  opportunity  to  present  them  to  Lord  John  Russell,  in  order  to  destroy 
his  odious  suspicions  in  regard  to  our  affair  ;  also,  to  represent  to  him  that  the  interests  of 
English  commerce  were  likewise  involved  in  it,  and  that  his  house  was  very  much  inter 
ested  in  its  happy  solution.  In  order  to  give  more  authority  to  my  words  and  more  lati 
tude  to  my  counsels,  I  pretended  that  they  had  been  inspired  into  me  by  M.  de  G.,  in 
our  common  interest.  ''M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys,"  said  I  to  them,  "has  not  yet  formed 
any  opinion  in  regard  to  the  bond^,  but  M.  de  G.,  who  is  a  very  intimate  friend  of  his 
ar  d  of  the  Baron  d'Andree,  his  chief  secretary,  will  probably  be  called  in  a  short  time  to 
the  minister's  house  in  order  to  give  him  some  explanations.  No  one  is  more  suitable 
than  he  is  to  do  so,  and  he  will  use  all  his  influence  in  the  furtherance  of  our  interests. 
The  entrance  of  AI.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys  into  the  cabinet  is  a  very  favorable  omen  for  the 
triumph  of  conservative  ideas  It  is  a  reaction  against  liberal  ideas.  Let  us  hope  that  the 
new  minister  will  not  diverge  from  his  general  course  of  policy  in  this  affair  only  of  the  bonds. 
But  you  know  very  well,  gentlemen,  it  will  be  much  more  easy  to  form  the  opinion  of  M. 
Drouyn  if  it  b§  not  already  fixed,  to  turn  it  to  our  favor,  if,  perchance,  it  should  be  unfavor 
able,  when  now  he  is  not  yet  beset  by  powerful  solicitations,  by  hostile  insinuations.  In  order 
to  effect  this  it  is  necessary  to  combat  calumny  in  its  very  source,  to  make  an  effort  to  enlighten 
John  Russell.  In  view  of  an  English  interest  he  will  hesitate.  The  bitterness  which  he  has 
manifested  in  persecuting  us  will,  perhaps,  be  somewhat  diminished,  and  that  will  be  an 

immense  victory  ;  it  will  be  to  destroy  hostility hostility  personified  by  the  English 

minister  !  !  .     After  John  Russell,  public  opinion,  it  would,  in  fact, 

be  very  useful  to  publish  some  articles  in  the  Times,  in  concurrence  with  our  articles  in 
Paris,  when  the  time  shall  come."  These  gentlemen  replied  to  me  immediately,  telling 
me  that  they  hastened  to  do  what  I  wrote  to  them,  and  that  they  had  been  translated  as 
soon  as  my  letter  had  been  received.  They  manifest  much  zeal  and  great  confidence.  I 
hope  that  their  zeal  will  be  still  further  quickened  by  the  letter  which  I  address  to  them, 
with  this.  I  tell  them  that  we  have  achieved  a  great  triumph  during  these  few  days  past, 
but  I  do  it  in  discreet  terms,  because  it  is  good  to  acquaint  them  with  the  results  ia  order 
to  give  them  confidence  and  to  incite  them  to  assist  in  the  restoration  of  tlie  house  ;  but  it 
is  useless  to  divulge  the  means  to  them.  As  their  only  objection  against  the  prosperous 
issue  of  the  efforts  which  they  are  going  to  make  is,  that  the  affair  of  the  bonds  is  a  pri 
vate  interest,  I  insinuate  to  them  that  it  depends  on  them  to  make  it  one  of  public  inter 
est  and  to  attain  a  double  object  at  the  same  time  ;  to  secure  its  favorable  settlement  by 
changing  the  English  policy  in  reference  to  it,  in  consideration  of  the  interest  that  they 
and  other  English  houses  may  take  in  it,  and  to  realize  great  profits,  since,  as  you  say,  it 
is  an  affair  of  two  millions  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  of  duties  to  be  collected  at  Veia 
Cruz,  with  the  entrance  of  merchandise  in  its  port.  I  think  that  a  letter  from  you  of  a 
commercial  and  argumentative  character  would  make  a  great  impression  on  these  gentle 
men  now  that  the  ground  is  prepared. 

Perhaps  the  result  which  we  have  obtained  is  the  most  decisive  stroke  of  policy  that  has 
been  achieved  since  these  gentlemen  have  taken  up  the  question  of  the  bonds.  Under 
date  of  August  15  or  28,  M.  de  Saligny  has  addressed  from  Orizaba  to%M.  de  Pierres  a  very 
important  letter,  in  which  he  represents  Laurencez  as  an  unfortunate  individual,  incapable, 
worthy  rather  of  pity  than  of  hatred,  on  account  of  the  sad  state  of  his  health ;  but  he 
attributes  all  the  evil  to  Valaye,  his  chief  of  staff,  who  by  his  haughtiness  and  his 
incapacity  had,  according  to  him,  caused  the  failure  of  the  whole  expedition.  He  says, 
likewise,  that  he  has  suffered  so  many  calumnies  on  account  of  the  affair  of  the  bonds, 
that  he  will  no  longer  be  able  to  act  so  directly  as  heretofore  ;  that  it  will  be  necessary  to 
send  out  there  some  safe  and  skilful  person  to  watch  for  the  ripening  of  the  fruit.  After 
some  incidental  words  against  Noel,  he  concludes  by  saying  that  formal  instructions 
are  being  sent  him  in  order  to  place  him  in  a  condition  to  act  and  to  regulate  his  position 
properly.  M.  de  M.  T.  gave  it  to  me  in  order  to  attend  to  it  as  far  as  concerned  the  house 
and  Noel,  and  in  order  to  present  the  affair  as  a  French  interest  in  concurrence  with 


124  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

English  interests,  an  interest  misrepresented  by  the  disloyal  course  of  Wyke,  who,  in  order 
to  increase  the  security  of  the  English  creditors,  whose  interests  were  assured  by  the  same 
pledges  as  the  bonds,  was  not  afraid  to  reject  this  affair,  notwithstanding  its  justice,  and 
to  make  himself  the  official  interpreter  of  all  the  calumnies  of  Juarez  and  his  associates, 
&c.,  &c. 

I  applied  myself  as  best  I  could  to  the  performance  of  this  task,  including  the  greatest 
number  of  ideas  in  the  fewest  possible  words,  in  order  that  it  might  not  be  supposed  that, 
in  expatiating  at  length  on  this  affair,  M.  de  Saligny  gave  it  any  other  importance  than 
that  of  indignation  at  seeing  a  dishonest  infamy  on  the  part  of  Wyke  thus  gained,  and 
the  efforts  of  French  diplomacy  frustrated  in  an  affair  so  just.  I  strove,  moreover,  to 
preserve  in  the  style  its  tone  of  military  bruskness  and  manly  indignation.  The  letter 
appeared  very  good  to  those  gentlemen,  and  M.  de  M.  T.  hesitated  whether  he  should  give 
it  the  name  of  an  extract,  or  of  a  copy,  or  should  make  it  pass  as  an  original,  when  there 
arrived  by  the  last  post  a  second  letter  from  M.  de  Saligny,  dated  at  Orizaba,  September  15, 
and  no  less  important  than  the  former  one.  Both  were  put  together,  and  on  the  following 
day  my  lord  duke  presented  it  to  his  Majesty,  who  read  it  with  much  interest.  His  confi 
dence  in  M.  de  Saligny,  already  excessive,  was  still  more  augmented.  "  My.,"  said  he  to  the 
duke,  "it  is  necessary  that  all  these  difficulties  in  M.  de  Saligny's  position  should  cease  ; 
I  will  make  my  arrangements  in  regard  to  it  ;  but  there  is  one  thing  in  his  letter  which 
gives  tne  much  cause  for  reflection.  He  has  strong  suspicions  of  Noel,  and  yet  I  believe 
him  to  be  an  honorable  man.  Moved  by  the  calumnies  that  were  circulated,  I  ordered, 
some  time  ago,  an  investigation  to  be  issued  in  the  ministry  of  foreign  affairs,  and  it  has  had 
no  effect."  "  Nevertheless,"  interposed  the  duke,  "  I  am  certain  of  it."  "  Well,  then," 
replied  his  Majesty,  "try  to  collect  the  proof  of  the  fact,  and,  if  there  is  any  certainty, 
he  will  be  displaced."  These  gentlemen  are  aware  of  Noel's  hostility  to  G.,  who  has 
received  instructions  from  Almonte  ;  but  this  is  a  little  vague.  I  have  promised  those 
gentlemen  to  give  them  all  information  on  the  subject,  and  I  have  gone  to  the  residence 
of  Padre  Maguin  in  order  to  put  him  on  the  track,  paying  him  off  with  the  first  reason 
that  occurred  to  me,  proper  to  excite  his  zeal.  I  have  now  returned,  and  according  to  what 
he  has  told  me,  I  believe  that  Noel  has  nothing  to  look  for  in  this  affair.  Amor  Escandon, 
son-in-law  of  Subervielle.  a  very  intimate  friend  of  Father  Maguin,  came  yesterday  to  take 
leave  of  him,  because  he  is  going,  as  I  think,  to  Mexico.  Dexterously  enough  in  the 
course  of  the  conversation,  Father  Maguin  suddenly  asked  him:  "  Do  you  not  know  a 
person  named  Noel,  a  director  in  the  department  of  foreign  aifairs  ?  I  have  some  one  to 
whom  to  recommend  him."  "No,"  replied  the  other,  "I  do  not  know  him  at  all." 
Maguin  persisted  in  his  inquiry,  but  he  could  get  no  other  answer.  I  have  related  this 
conversation  to  M.  de  M.  T.  this  morning,  but  he  perseveres  in  his  suspicions.  I  shall  be 
presented  to-morrow  at  mid- day  (October  30)  to  M.  de  My.;  he  has  desired  to  see  me  ;  I 
know  not  whether  it  is  to  judge  whether  I  am  fit  for  some  future  mission.  If  my  letter 
had  not  to  be  despatched  to-day,  in  order  that  the  Messrs.  Hodgson  &  Co.  may  have  time 
to  put  it  in  their  packet,  I  would  wait  until  to-morrow  to  tell  you  the  result  of  the  con 
versation.  If  there  be  anything  of  importance,  I  will  inform  you  of  it  in  the  letter  which  I 
will  address  to  Nr.  after  to-morrow,  (October  30,)  but  as  it  is  necessary  to  be  prudent,  I  shall 
designate  his  Majesty  as  No.  1,  M.  de  My.  as  No.  2,  M.  de  M.  T.  as  No.  3.  lam  much 
obliged  to  you  for  the  little  note  which  you  have  addressed  to  me.  I  shall  set  out  very  soon 
for  the  silver  mines  of  Sougibault,  and  I  shall  do  all  that  may  lie  in  my  power  in  order  to 
acquire  connexions  there  that  may  be  useful  hereafter.  The  creditors  are  well  disposed. 
As  soon  as  papa  arrives,  within  two  or  three  days,  we  are  going  to  present  a  petition 
entreating  his  Majesty  to  extend  his  protection  to  the  house  in  the  name  of  French  interests. 
This  petition,  signed  mth  the  names  of  your  creditors,  will  be  presented  directly  by  No.  2 
to  No.  1  ;  judge  of  its  importance  !  !  G-abriac  is  somewhat  slow  and  timorous  ;  he  has  an 
excessive  dread  of  compromising  himself  if  he  is  urged  to  exertion.  Mt.  has  acknowledged 
to  me  that  he  (Gabriac)  shared  half  the  profits  of  the  bonds.  I  have  told  him  in  reply 
that  he  had  some  interest  in  the  house  ;  he  has  promised  me  to  tell  it  to  him  as  if  it  came 
from  the  Count  de  Pierres,  and  to  urge  him  on,  because  he  can  be  very  useful  to  us  on 
account  of  his  intimacy  with  Drouyn.  I  think  that  instructions  will  be  sent  to  M.  de 
Saligny.  Mt.  desires  to  serve  you  with  his  Majesty  in  respect  to  your  lands  in  Sonora.  He 
has  collected  all  the  details  that  I  have  been  able  to  give  him.  Communicate,  if  you  please, 
this  letter  to  Nr. ;  I  have  not  time  to  speak  to  him  of  your  progress. 

Adieu,  my  dear  uncle.     Assuring  you  of  all  my   heart's   love,    I  remain   your  most 
affectionate  nephew, 

LUIS  ELSESSER. 

WASHINGTON,  March  31,  1863. 
A  true  copy : 

ROMERO. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  125 


Mr.  Scward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

' 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  April  12,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  31st 
ultimo  with  its  enclosures,  in  continuation  of  other  similar  communications  with 
which  you  have  favored  me,  relating  to  events  in  Mexico,  growing  out  of  the 
unhappy  foreign  war  in  which  that  republic  is  involved. 

Thanking  you  for  the  pains  you  have  taken  in  keeping  me  so  fully  informed 
of  transactions  equally  vital  and  interesting,  I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to 
renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  distinguished  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Seiior  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

Washington,  November  6,  1863. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  to  you,  for  the  knowledge  of 
the  department  over  which  you  preside,  a  translation  into  English  of  the  debates 
which  took  place  in  the  Corps  Legislatif  of  France  on  the  6th  and  7th  of  Feb 
ruary  of  the  present  year,  in  relation  to  the  Mexican  question.  The  translation 
referred  to  has  been  faithfully  made  from  the  official  report  of  the  proceedings 
of  that  assembly,  as  published  in  the  Moniteur  Universel,  Nos.  38  and  39,  of 
the  7th  and  8th  of  February  mentioned,  pages  182,  183,  184,  and  185,  and  191, 
192,  and  193. 

I  profit  by  this  opportunity  to  convey  to  you,  sir,  the  assurance  of  my  most 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


[Le  Montieur  Universel,  No.  38— February  7,  1863— page  182,  vol.  5th  ] 
Debates  in  the  French  Legislative  body. 

SESSION  or  FRIDAY,  February  6. 

His  excellency  the  Duke  de  Morny,  president,  in  the  chair. 

The  session  was  opened  at  a  quarter  past  two  o'clock.  The  minutes  were  read  by  M.  the 
Marquis  de  Talhouet,  one  of  the  secretaries,  and  adopted. 

The  PRESIDENT.  I  have  received  from  M.  Alfred  Le  Roux  a  request  for  leave  of  absence 
for  fifteen  days.  Is  there  no  opposition  ?  The  leave  is  granted.  Does  any  one  desire  the 
floor  to  make  a  report  ? 

,  Count  NAPOLEON  DE  CIIAMPAGNY.  I  have  the  honor  to  present  a  report  on  the  bill  to 
authorize  the  department  of  Morbihan  to  effect  a  loan  and  to  levy  an  extraordinary  impost. 

The  PRESIDENT.  The  report  will  be  printed  and  distributed.  The  regular  order  of  the  day 
is  the  continuation  of  the  discussion  on  the  address.  (The  government  benches  were 
occupied  by  Messrs.  Baroche,  president  of  the  council  of  state  ;  Billault,  Magne,  ministers 
without  portfolios;  M.  de  Parieu,  vice-president  of  the  council  of  state  ;  General  Allard, 
Messrs.  Boudet,  Vuillefroy,  Boinvilliers,  and  Vuitry,  chairmen  of  committee  in  the  council 
of  state.) 

The  Chamber  yesterday  stopped  at  paragraph  the  third.  An  amendment  has  been  pro 
posed  to  this  paragraph.  M.  Picard,  one  of  its  proposers,  is  entitled  to  the  floor.  The 
amendment  is  as  follows: 

"We  admire  the  heroism  of  our  soldiers  combatting  in  Mexico  under  a  destructive 
mcliate,  and  we  send  them  our  wishes  of  sincere  sympathy ;  but  the  care  of  the  national 


126  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

honor  does  not  dispense  a  political  assembly  from  juding  an  enterprise  of  which  it  can  now 
know  the  cause  and  foresee  the  consequences.  The  forces  of  France  ought  not  to  be  rashly 
engaged  in  ill-defined  and  adventurous  enterprises  and  expeditions,  and  neither  oVir  princi 
ples  nor  our  interests  counsel  us  to  proceed  to  inquire  what  government  the  Mexican  people 
may  desire." 

M.  ERNEST  PICARD.  Gentlemen,  if  there  was  needed  a  striking  illustration  in  justification 
of  the  great  principles  of  freedom  enunciated  bere  yesterday,  I  believe  that  it  would  be 
furnished  to  us  by  the  history  of  the  Mexican  expedition.  It  has  been  decided  upon  with 
out  you,  followed  out  without  you,  and  I  can  assert,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  it 
hab  never  been  restrained  by  any  excess  of  control  or  publicity ;  for  it  is  to  be  regretted 
that  what  was  done  at  the  time  when  the  Crimean  war  was  most  actively  waged,  the  pub 
lication  of  documents  relative  to  the  war,  should  not  have  taken  place  with  regard  to  the 
Mexican  expedition. 

I  know  that  our  army  is  repairing  at  this  moment  the  faults  of  our  diplomacy.  I  know 
that,  thanks  to  their  intrepidity,  the  issue  is  not  doubtful.  A  year  ago  the  honorable 
minister  of  foreign  affairs  without  portfolio  told  us  that  our  troops  should,  at  the  very 
moment  of  his  speech,  be  entering  Mexico  ;  I  would  wish  to  be  able  to  give  the  same 
assurance  to-day.  But  what  I  do  know  is  that,  in  this  discussion  in  which  such  deep-rooted 
differences  of  opinion  may  cause  us  to  disagree  with  the  government,  at  least  we  are  inspired 
with  a  unanimous  sentiment  of  sympathy  by  the  energy  and  the  valor  of  our  troops.  It  is 
not  then  exactly  of  the  Mexican  war  that  I  desire  to  offer  a  few  remarks  ;  it  is  in  regard  to 
our  policy,  it  is  in  regard  to  the  undertaking  which  must  be  finally  judged  in  public  debate. 

Is  it  proper,  gentlemen,  to  discuss  this  undertaking  ?  Is  it  opportune  to  do  so  at  the 
present  moment?  We  could  not  do  it  sooner  to  any  useful  purpose  ;  for  while  the  Spanish 
Parliament,  while  the  English  Parliament  were  in  possession  of  the  diplomatic  documents 
capable  of  throwing  a  certain  light  on  the  subject,  the  French  government  had  thought 
proper  to  defer  laying  them  before  the  Chamber ;  but  now,  gentlemen,  the  documents 
speak,  and  events  speak  yet  more  loudly  than  the  documents,  and  we  can  know  what  the 
treaty  of  London  is  worth  and  what  the  expedition  undertaken  in  consequence  of  it. 

The  treaty  of  October  31  has  united  in  one  common  action  three  great  powers  which 
seemed  to  have  the  same  interest,  but  which  were  to  proceed  to  Mexico  with  quite  opposite 
sentiments. 

England,  who,  if  I  may  use  the  expression,  possesses  Mexico  by  her  titles  of  credit ;  who 
has,  by  regular  contracts,  for  many  years  caused  the  resources  and  the  revenues  of  Mexico 
to  be  hypothecated  to  herself,  and  who  can  claim,  beyond  controveisy,  300  millions  of  francs 
the  day  when  Mexico  will  be  in  a  condition  to  pay  them ;  England,  gentlemen,  was  the 
power  that  seemed  least  disposed  to  take  part  in  the  expedition.  Spain,  on  the  contrary, 
attracted  by  ancient  reminiscences,  wishing  to  re-establish  in  that  country  a  dominion  which 
she  had  formerly  exercised  ;  Spain,  morever,  offended  at  a  personal  insult,  was  more  eager 
than  England  and  than  France,  and  it  appears  from  the  despatches  before  us  that,  even 
previous  to  the  year  1860,  she  thought  of  the  expedition.  She  had  received  a  personal 
offence  ;  her  ambassador,  Don  Francesco  Pacheco,  at  the  time  when  Juarez  held  at  Vera  Cruz 
while  the  government  of  Miramon  expired  at  Mexico,  had  passed  through  Vera  Cruz  and 
gone  to  find  Miramon,  whom  hie  had  recognized  as  the  legitimate  government  almost  to 
the  eve  of  the  day  when  it  was  to  fall  under  the  blows  of  the  Mexican  nation,  tie  had 
been  expelled  for  having  taken  part  in  the  intrigues  in  progress  at  that  moment ;  Spain 
had  never  pardoned  this  offence. 

Yon  see,  gentlemen,  how  and  with  what  interests  England  on  the  one  side,  and  Spain  on 
the  other,  were  called  to  Mexico.  England,  who  knows  how  to  count,  had  stipulated,  in 
the  treaty  of  London,  an  arrangement  according  to  which  no  nation  could  obtain  particular 
advantages ;  she  thus  preserved  her  rights  and  her  credits ;  moreover  she  took  but  a 
very  moderate  part  in  the  expedition,  for  hhe  had  informed  our  government  that  she  would 
no,t  furnish  any  troops  for  disembarkment  in  the  country. 

As  to  France,  gentlemen,  as  to  French  interests,  the  honorable  minister  without  portfolio 
spoke  of  them  in  eloquent  terms,  in  two  discourses  present  to  your  memory.  He  said  that 
the  accumulated  outrages  of  twenty  years  demanded  that  a  French  force  should  be  sent  to 
protect  our  countrymen  and  at  last  compel  justice  to  be  done  to  them. 

Twenty  years !  that  would  be  pretty  loug  for  France  ;  and  if  such  has  been  the  sole 
motive  of  the  expedition,  if  these  accumulated  outrages,  of  which  the  houoiable  minister 
spoke  with  so  much  eloquence,  were  the  real  cause  of  the  enterprise,  I  would  make  you 
but  oue  reproach,  that  of  having  undertaken  it,  not  twenty  years,  but  at  least  ten  years  too 
late  for  the  responsibility  of  the  present  government. 

The  Chamber  should  understand  it  well,  for  it  is  the  main  point  of  debate  in  the  question 
before  you. 

There  were  indeed  some  grievances,  some  claims  founded  on  the  part  of  our  countrymen. 
For  three  years  Mexico  was  rent  by  civil  war,  for  three  years  especially  there  were  two 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  127 

governments,  and  neither  of  the  two  was  sufficiently  powerful  to  restrain  the  marauding 
bands  that  infested  the  roads  and  attacked  those  who  exposed  themselves  to  meet  them. 
We  have  in  Mexico  a  little  French  colony  composed  of  from  2,000  to  3,000  persons. 
Claims,  which  have  not  beea  yet  sufficiently  justified,  had  been  indeed  carried  to  the  con 
sulate.  In  fine,  it  was  the  state  of  the  country  which  had  brought  on  these  new  grievances, 
and  with  the  exception  of  one  serious  case  which  interested  the  English  much  more  than 
us,  it  might  be  said  that  if  grievances  existed  for  twenty  years,  they  had  not  augmented. 
In  these  last  years,  there  was  a  serious  grievance.  The  old  president,  Miramon,  at  the 
mdment  when  he  was  about  to  fall,  finding  no  more  resources  to  pay  his  last  troops,  had 
laid  hands  on  660,000  piastres  deposited  in  the  English  legation.  He  had  seized  on  it  with 
the  assistance  of  Marquez  and  certain  other  persons,  and  that  was  one  of  the  reasons  which 
decided  England  to  interfere. 

Here,  gentlemen,  I  pause  a  moment.  Juarez  was  just  installed  at  Mexico.  He  was  in 
extreme  penury ;  in  such  penury  that  M.  de  La  Fuente,  his  ambassador  in  France,  could 
not  leave  for  want  of  funds  to  pay  his  passage.  I  ask  of  the  government  if  that  was  tb/e 
moment  to  proceed  to  avenge  our  countrymen,  and  to  require  payment  of  indemnities 
which  an  exhausted  treasury  could  not  give  ? 

Was  there,  however,  on  the  part  of  the  government  of  Juarez,  a  bad  faith  or  ill-will  to 
justify  the  expedition  ?  That  has  been  maintained  ;  but  an  attentive  scrutiny  shows  the 
reverse.  If,  obliged  to  seek  resources  from  all  quarters,  he  issued  the  decree  of  July  17, 
which  suspended  the  payment  of  the  indemnities  due  to  the  three  powers  that  signed  the 
treaty  of  London — if  he  did  this,  representations  were  made  by  our  agents,  his  ministers 
consented  to  reconsider  that  decree,  and  alleged  only  their  inability  to  furnish  pecuniary 
satisfaction. 

So,  you  will  immediately  see  a  still  more  complete  demonstration  :  that  was  not  the 
sole,  the  real  motive  of  the  enterprise  which  is  now  carried  on,  and  of  which  I  have  to  seek 
the  causes.  It  is  certain,  and  this  can  no  longer  be  called  in  question,  that  there  existed, 
in  the  ideas  of  two  of  the  contracting  powers,  the  design  of  favoring  the  establishment  in 
Mexico  of  a  monarchical  form  of  government.  This  was  denied  in  the  session  of  March  13, 
1862  ;  it  was  denied  also  in  the  session  of  the  month  of  June,  but  now  a  clearer  light  is 
thrown  on  these  denials ;  and  indeed,  gentlemen,  I  proceed  to  furnish  you  immediately  a 
moral  proof  of  it  which  will  strike  your  mind.  I  was  saying  just  now  how  our  little 
French  colony,  given  to  a  very  limited  commerce,  could  not  furnish  the  elements  of  a 
credit  of  such  a  nature  as  to  explain,  on  the  part  of  .a  government  such  as  that  of  France, 
the  resolution  of  undertaking  such  an  expedition  as  this  to  Mexico. 

Claims  then  were  wanting  ;  and  this  is  so  true,  that  the  only  creditor  who  now  claims, 
in  the  ultimatum  of  our  plenipotentiaries,  a  considerable  sum,  a  sum  of  from  sixty  to 
seventy-five  millions — this  creditor  is  a  well-known  banking-house — that  of  Jecker. 

Well,  gentlemen,  give  me  your  attention,  and  tell  me  whether  what  I  am  now  going  to 
reveal  to  you  does  not  show  you  what  spirit  prevailed  in  the  organization  of  the  Mexican 
expedition.  The  Jecker  banking-house  was  Swiss  ;  its  chief  was  Swiss  ;  he  was  born  at 
Porentruy,  at  a  period  when  that  city  did  not  belong  to  France.  Do  you  know,  gentlemen, 
at  what  time  this  creditor,  who  is  going  to  be  protected,  has  become  French  ?  Do  you 
know  what  is  the  date  of  his  naturalization  ?  The  date  of  his  naturalization  is  the  26th  of 
March,  1862.  You  may  refer  to  the  Bulletin  des  Lois,  No.  13,441,  under  the  date  of 
August  31,  1862,  and  you  will  see  that  a  decree,  dated  March  26  preceding,  has  rendered 
him  French,  in  whose  name  we  now  proceed  to  claim  an  enormous  sum,  which  claim  has 
been  one  of  the  causes  of  the  rupture  of  the  treaty  of  London  in  Mexico  and  the  departure 
of  the  allies.  I  have  then  reason  to  say  that  the  causes  of  the  expedition  well  studied 
are  not  those  which  you  can  read  in  the  discourses  of  the  honorable  minister ;  time  has 
advanced,  and  truth  has  advanced  with  time,  and  discloses  to  us  to  some  extent  the  real 
nature  of  things. 

As  to  this  project  of  favoring  the  establishment  of  a  monarchical  authority,  of  a 
monarchy  in  Mexico,  in  truth  if  our  diplomacy  has  conceived  it,  it  was  ignorant  of  what 
all  the  world  knew,  and  did  not  follow  those  rules  which  I  believe  superior  to  those  of 
diplomatic  skill,  namely,  the  rules  of  justice  and  of  common  sense.  Who  of  you,  gentle 
men,  has  not  already  understood  that,  if  we  went  with  arms  to  Mexico,  with  the  idea  of 
proposing  to  that  country  to  choose  a  government  freely,  Mexico,  terrified  by  the  display  of 
these  ambassadors  and  these  mediators,  would  see  in  it  an  attempt  at  invasion,  and  not  the 
benevolent  mediation  of  powers  animated  by  kindly  sentiments  ?  therefore,  reason 
inflexibly  dictated  the  result  which  has  not  failed  to  be  produced — that  is,  one  of  two  things : 
either  the  Mexicans,  degraded  as  you  said  they  were,  knowing  them  badly,  would  yield  to 
the  foreigner  and  surrender  their  rights  as  a  people ;  or  else,  uniting  ia  one  common 
sentiment  against  the  invaders,  and  finding  in  the  national  opinion  their  resources  for 
defence — poor,  it  is  true,  but  the  peoples  that  are  poor  are  sometimes  those  that  defend 
themselves  most  energetically — would  form  in  effect  one  nation,  but  one  nation  turned 


128  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

against  those  who  brought  them  this  offensive  mediation.  Wherefore,  also,  you  could  not 
succeed  except  on  condition  that  you  paid  yourselves  the  price  of  your  triumph.  Behold, 
gentlemen,  a  policy  which  judged  itself,  as  it  has  been  judged  by  events,  and  which  was 
understood  long  ago  by  men  possessed  at  the  same  time  of  intelligence  and  authority  in 
their  country.  Indeed,  you  told  the  English  minister  what  your  hopes  were.  What  did 
he  reply  to  you  ?  Or  rather  what  did  he  tell  you  in  those  despatches,  since  published  ? 
Earl  Russell  wrote  under  date  of  the  month  of  February,  1862,  to  the  ambassador  at 
Vienna : 

"  I  have  received  your  excellency's  despatch  on  the  subject  of  the  propositions  to  place 
the  Archduke  Maximilian  on  the  throne  of  Mexico,  and  you  observe  that  this  project  has 
been  conceived  by  the  Mexican  refugees  at  Paris.  This  class  of  people  are  notorious  for 
their  unfounded  calculations  on  the  strength  of  their  partisans  in  their  native  country,  and 
for  the  extravagance  of  their  hopes  of  assistance.  Your  excellency  will  see  by  the  docu 
ments  laid  before  Parliament,  that  Marshal  O'Donnell  is  of  opinion  that  it  is  a  chimerical 
idea  to  wish  to  establish  a  constitutional  monarchy  in  Mexico  by  means  of  a  foreign  inter 
vention." 

Behold,  gentlemen,  what  everybody  repeated ;  behold  what  was  understood  by  every 
one  except  you  ;  and  see  how,  when  you  asked  English  diplomacy  to  consent  to  the 
establishment  in  Mexico  of  a  monarchy  to  be  governed  either  by  the  Archduke  Maximilian 
or  by  some  other  candidate,  English  diplomacy  smiled  and  said  to  you  :  We  are  willing, 
but  yours  be  the  undertaking.  So  then,  gentlemen,  on  this  point  there  cannot  be  two 
opinions ;  and  in  the  discourse  of  a  man  who  more  especially  represented  your  policy  in 
Spain,  in  the  discourse  of  M.  Mon — discourse,  gentlemen,  which,  like  that  of  General  Prim, 
has  not  been  published  in  the  French  journals  that  I  know  of — in  the  discourse  of  M.  Mon 
we  read  this : 

"  Why  this  word  afrancisados,  by  whieh  it  is  sought  to  designate  certain  persons?  Let  it 
be  clearly  explained :  let  them  tell  us  what  are  the  French  interests  which  we  are  going  to 
defend  in  the  question  in  debate.  What  are  they  ?  If  there  is  any  one  who  can  say,  he 
certainly  knows  neither  the  treaty,  nor  the  negotiations,  nor  the  motive  of  the  expedition. 
What  interest  had  Spain  ?  Spain  had  greater  interests  involved  in  this  question  than  any 
of  the  powers  that  have  signed  the  treaty.  Spain  had  the  great  interests  which  I  have 
mentioned  and  which  gave  us  a  part  to  act  superior  to  that  of  the  other  nations.  And 
France,  gentlemen — what  are  the  interests  of  France  in  this  question ;  what  are  the 
powerful  motives  that  she  had  to  unite  with  Spain  in  such  distant  countries,  where  so  many 
events  have  happened,  where  we  have  procured  her  so  many  occasions  of  disgust,  where 
she  has  had  so  many  mischances  ?  What  was  the  interest  of  France  ?  A  claim  for  certain 
sums  of  money  ;  the  protection  of  some  three  or  four  .thousand  Frenchmen  employed  in  a 
little  trade. 

"Such  was  the  interest  of  France,  who  sent  an  expedition  to  which  the  majority  of  the 
empire  was  opposed,  because  it  was  contrary  to  its  interests.  As  to  me,  when  I  met  in  the 
streets  of  Paris  my  particular  friends,  men  of  importance  in  the  country,  they  said  to  me, 
*  We  understand  that  you  are  satisfied  ;  but  we,  what  are  we  to  do  there  ?  what  have  we 
to  gain  there  ?  what  compensation  are  we  to  obtain  for  all  the  money  that  we  are  going  to 
spend,  for  all  the  men  that  we  are  going  to  lose  ?'  Who  wished  Prince  Maximilian  to  be 
monarch  of  Mexico?  What  interest  had  France  in  this?  What  matter  was  it  to  the 
Emperor  that  Prince  Maximilian  should  be  King  of  Mexico?" 

See,  gentlemen,  how  impossible  it  is  to  mistake  the  import  of  the  treaty  of  London. 
That  treaty  is  judged  by  itself;  no  diplomatist  of  character  can  have  signed  it,  with  the 
end  proposed,  without  gravely  compromising  the  interests  of  the  policy  of  our  country. 

I  assert  it,  gentlemen,  in  the  name  of  reason,  in  the  name  of  logic ;  but  if  I  wished  to 
rise  higher,  to  rise  to  principles  which  the  country  cannot  abandon  without  losing  some 
thing  of  its  strength  and  of  its  moral  influence  in  the  world,  I  would  say  that  it  is  with 
profound  regret,  with  profound  grief,  that  we  have  seen  France  obliged  to  address  to  the 
Mexicans  a  proclamation  which  recalls  that  addressed  in  1792  to  France  by  the  gene 
ralissimo  of  the  armies  of  Prussia  and  Austria.  (Exclamations  from  a  great  number  of 
benches.) 

Some  voices  :  Very  good.   ' 

M.  ERNEST  PICARD.  Yes,  gentlemen.  And  my  words  must  not  be  misunderstood — must 
be  taken  in  the  sense,  in  the  only  sense,  which  I  wish  to  give  them.  There  is  no  doubt, 
gentlemen,  with  regard  to  the  language  which  a  nation,  whether  animated  by  good  or  by 
bad  intentions,  is  obliged  to  use  when  presenting  itself  in  arms  before  another  nation. 
Do  you  know  how  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  expressed  himself  in  1792?  "Convinced,"  he 
says,  "  that  the  sane  part  of  the  French  nation  abhors  the  excesses  of  a  faction  that  holds  it 
in  subjection,  and  that  the  great  majority  of  the  inhabitants  await  with  impatience  the 
moment  of  assistance  to  declare  themselves  openly  against  the  odious  undertakings  of  their 
oppressors,  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  and  his  Majesty  the  King  of  Prussia  call  upon 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  129 

them  and  invite  them  to  return  without  delay  to  the  path  of  reason  and  of  justice,  of 
order  and  of  peace.  It  is  with  these  views  that  I,  the  undersigned,  commander-in-chief 
of  the  two  armies,  declare  : 

"That,  drawn  into  the  present  war  by  irresistible  circumstances,  the  two  allied  courts 
propose  to  themselves  no  other  end  than  the  happiness  of  France,  without  any  intention 
of  enriching  themselves  by  conquests." 

I  do  not  wish,  gentlemen,  to  insist  on  this  idea,  which,  I  am  certain,  is  yours,  too  ;  by 
insisting  upon  it,  I  would  fear  to  hurt  the  sentiments  I  experience  myself;  but  I  say  that 
the  treaty  of  London,  thus  understood,  can  have  none  but  unfortunate  results,  and  that 
what  should  come  to  pass  can  be,  and  ought  to  be,  foreseen  by  men  who  should  have  con 
sidered  what  necessary  consequences  may  flow  from  their  acts. 

•  And,  in  fact,  gentlemen,  what  was  to  come  to  pass?  The  troops  depart  for  Mexico,  and 
from  the  first  hour  a  disagreement  shows  itself.  There  is  question  first  of  settling  the 
amount  of  the  sums  due  to  us  ;  an  ultimatum  must  be  drawn  up.  Here,  again,  in  the 
name  of  my  country,  I  feel  the  blush  rise  to  my  cheek,  when  I  think  of  what  has  been 
said  in  the  presence  of  our  plenipotentiaries,  what  they  have  been  obliged  to  hear. 

See  how  a  man  who,  I  acknowledge,  does  not  sympathize  with  your  policy,  and  who, 
moreover,  is  now  irritated,  see  how  General  Prim  renders  account  of  the  first  conference. 
[Exclamations  and  murmurs.]  Be  calm,  gentlemen,  I  take  the  words  uttered  by  General 
Prim  at  a  time  when  he  was  not  irritated,  and  I  take  them  simply  to  state  facts. 

"It  was  then  for  Admiral  Jurien  to  give  account  of  the  ultimatum  proposed  by  M.  de 
Saligny,  and  it  is  here  the  disagreement  commenced.  The  French  claims  comprise  the 
payment  of  twelve  millions  of  piastres,  the  figure  at  which  the  French  minister  has  esti 
mated  those  which  he  deems  legitimate.  They  comprise  the  execution  of  a  contract  of 
Miramon  with  a  commercial  house  originally  Swiss,  and  afterwards  become  French,  con 
cluded  at  the  moment  when  his  government  was  in  the  agonies  of  dissolution. 

"At  the  mention  of  the  Jecker  contract,  the  English  representatives  cried  out  in  one 
voice  that  that  was  an  inadmissible  demand. 

"  This  disagreeable  incident  paralyzed  for  the  moment  the  progress  of  the  negotiations, 
and  placed  us  in  a  position  of  great  embarrassment." 

In  fact,  gentlemen,  from  this  first  moment,  for  this  first  motive,  discord  shows  itself ; 
community  of  action  in  effect  ceases  ;  each  one  of  the  nations  will  itself  defend  its  own 
ultimatum,  whereas  neither  the  English  nation  nor  the  Spanish  nation  is  willing  to  accept 
the  pretensions  of  our  ministers. 

They  talk  of  it  in  France.  Now,  in  France,  what  is  said,  and  how  shall  we  explain  the 
singular  ignorance  in  which  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  was  left  in  this  regard  ? 

In  a  conversation  between  Lord  Cowley  and  M.  Thouvenel,  the  latter  expresses  himself 
thus,  as  it  appears  from  a  letter  of  Lord  Cowley  to  Lord  John  Russell :  "  M.  Thouvenel 
says  that,  neither  in  his  conversations  with  me  nor  in  his  instructions  to  M.  de  Flahault, 
has  he  consented  to  abandon  the  Jecker  claim  ;  that  he  had  never  known  so  as  to  form  an 
opinion  on  the  subject;  that  he  did  not  know  to  what  point  French  interests  were  in 
volved  in  it ;  that,  consequently,  he  should  leave  the  whole  affair  to  the  discretion  of  M. 
de  Saligny,  in  whose  probity  he  reposed  entire  confidence ." 

See  how  things  went  on;  and  if  you  will  please  to  remember  that  on  the  26th  of 
March,  1862,  (this  despatch  is  dated  the  14th,)  at  this  date  only,  that  is,  ten  days  after 
this  despatch,  the  banker  Jecker  obtained  his  letters  of  naturalization,  you  will  see  that 
there  is  in  this  affair  an  enigma  which  the  lucid  speech  of  the  minister  for  foieign  affairs 
without  portfolio  would  strive  to  make  us  understand.  [Murmurs  of  approbation  and  dis 
approbation.] 

So,  scarcely  had  this  first  cause  of  discord  manifested  itself,  when,  behold,  a  second 
arises.  A  vessel  brings  to  Vera  Cruz  the  famous  Miramon,  Padre  Miranda,  and  thirty  per 
sons  more  or  less  celebrated  of  the  last  government  of  Mexico.  Then  the  English  minis 
ter  pretends  that  ex-President  Miramon  having  laid  hands  on  660,000  piastres  which  be 
longed  to  the  English  legation,  he  should  be  considered  not  as  a  political  individual,  but 
as  an  ordinary  malefactor,  and  that,  in  consequence,  his  first  duty  is  to  demand  that  he 
should  be  compelled  to  re-embark. 

Who  resists  this  re-embarcation  ?  At  first  it  is  General  Prim,  but  he  yields.  This 
argument,  says  Sir  Charles  Wyke,  had  its  weight  with  General  Prim,  but  it  was  only  half 
accepted  by  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere,  and  M.  Dubois  de  Saligny  always  opposed  it. 
The  packet  brought  Miramon  with  thirty  persons,  among  whom  was. the  famous  Father 
Miranda  and  other  members  of  the  clerical  party.  It  seems  that  his  partisans  awaited 
him  on  the  coast  with  horses  and  arms,  and  all  that  was  necessary  to  renew  the  civil  war. 

You  can  understand,  gentlemen,  that  in  such  circumstances,  when  the  conferences  were 
opened  which  are  known  under  the  name  of  the  Preliminaries  of  La  Soledad,  it  is  evident 
that  the  plenipotentiaries  were  destined  not  to  find  themselves  unanimous. 

But  before  terminating  this  incident  of  the  history  of  the  Mexican  expedition,  let  me 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 9 


130  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

be  permitted  to  recall  to  your  minds  the  remarkable  speech  delivered  before  you  by  the 
minister  of  foreign  affairs.  You  know  how  the  honorable  M.  Billault,  fascinating  you 
by  his  eloquence,  elicited  your  applause  by  telling  you  that  in  that  country,  Mexico,  they 
called  a  robbery  a  seizure,  and  that  the  tribunals  condemned  only  to  civil  reparation  those 
who  had  taken  away  the  property  of  others.  He  made  allusion  to  a  judgment  of  the  10th 
of  August,  1861,  rendered  precisely  on  the  occasion  of  the  carrying  off  of  the  funds  of  the 
English  legation,  and  of  which  the  motive  is  as  follows  : 

"Considering  as  being  comprised  in  the  first  category  the  seizure  of  the  funds  destined 
for  the  payment  of  English  creditors,  effected  by  order  of  the  rebel  chiefs  Miramon  and 
Marquez,  November  17,  1860,  in  the  house  No.  11,  street  of  the  Capuchins ." 

You  understand,  gentlemen,  that  the  Mexicans,  whatever  confidence  they  may  have  had 
in  our  words,  in  our  proclamations,  must  feel  very  uneasy  with  regard  to  the  success  of  a 
regeneration  which  commenced  by  the  introduction  of  Miramon,  of  Father  Miranda,  and 
of  several  others ;  of  Marquez,  gentlemen,  who  now  fights  under  our  flag,  and  who, 
nevertheless,  was  celebrated  in  Mexico  for  his  ferocity  ;  of  Marquez,  who  is  one  of  the 
principal  persons  concerned  in  those  armed  attacks  committed  on  the  highways  against 
which  our  countrymen  were  to  be  protected. 

What  policy,  then,  gentlemen,  inspired  the  government  when  it  acted  in  this  way  ? 
And  to  what  influence  did  it  yield  ?  In  truth,  when  I  inquire  what  the  conditions  are  of 
the  regeneration  of  Mexico,  and  what  on  the  point  of  these  conditions  was  the  real  idea 
of  the  government,  I  find  it  quite  hesitating,  and  I  commence  to  fear  that  the  government 
is  committing  serious  errors  in  principle  and  doctrine. 

When,  for  the  first  time,  it  addressed  itself  to  England,  asking  the  concurrence  of  the 
latter  with  it  in  a  plan  of  action  in  common,  England,  gentlemen,  which  in  matters  of 
external  policy  has  a  fixed  idea, asked  two  things:  An  amnesty  and  the  establishmeut  in 
Mexico  of  religious  liberty.  What  did  our  government  reply?  I  find  the  evidence  of  it 
in  a  despatch  of  M.  Barrot  of  June  2,  1862.  It  replied  that  it  consented  to  the  amnesty, 
but  that  it  refused  the  establishment  of  religious  liberty  in  Mexico.  It  replied  in  the  fol 
lowing  terms,  or  at  least  its  ambassador,  M.  Barrot,  expressed  himself  in  those  terms : 

"The  cabinet  of  London  desires  at  the  same  time  a  general  amnesty  and  the  adoption 
of  a  system  of  religious  toleration.  The  first  of  these  measures  seem  also  to  the  Em 
peror's  government  indicated  by  the  situation  the  day  when  the  parties  shall  have  been 
reconciled.  But  it  has  not  concealed  from  the  British  government  that  the  establishment 
of  religious  liberty  in  Mexico  appeared  to  it  to  offer  a  serious  objection,  besides  being  un 
called  for  by  any  necessity  in  the  political  or  moral  condition  of  the  country." 

These  facts  being  known,  is  it  not  unnecessary  to  say,  with  the  English  ministers  who 
were  witnesses  of  it,  what  I  find  in  a  despatch  of  the  ambassador  of  London  to  Earl  Rus 
sell,  thus  couched,  under  date  of  May  2, 1862  : 

"I  would  deceive  your  lordship,"  says  he,  "if  I  concealed  from  you  my  personal  conviction 
that  there  exists  a  fixed  determination,  though  not  avowed,  to  overturn  the  government 
of  Juarez,  whatever  may  be  the  consequences  of  that  act,  and  whether  civil  war  results 
from  it  or  not." 

See  how  our  policy  in  Mexico  was  understood.  The  honorable  minister  to  whom  I  reply 
will  say,  perhaps,  that  it  was  judged  severely  and  judged  by  rivals.  But  I  would  wish 
that,  at  least,  the  events  could  answer  for  him,  and  that  those  which  have  followed  should 
not  have  happened. 

The  preliminaries  of  La  Soledad  are  opened ;  the  conferences  are  held,  and  you  know 
how  a  discord  breaks  out.  Here  also  I  accuse,  and  I  accuse  directly,  the  government  of 
an  act  which  I  find  one  of  those  acts  the  most  to  be  regretted  and  the  most  painful  that 
exist  in  our  diplomatic  history. 

Arrived  in  Mexico,  at  Vera  Cruz,  under  a  climate  where  the  yellow  fever  reigns,  our 
plenipotentiaries,  in  the  interest  of  the  health  of  our  troops,  obtain  from  the  government 
of  Juarez  permission  for  them  to  proceed  to  the  upper  plateau,  beyond  the  defiles  guarded 
by  the  Mexican  troops,  during  the  deliberations ;  on  their  word  of  honor  that,  when  those 
deliberations  should  be  terminated  or  broken  off,  if  broken  off  they  should  be  without  re 
sult,  they  should  resume  their  position  and  return  to  this  side  of  the  defilei.  Well,  in 
accordance  with  an  order  issued  from  hence,  our  troops,  who  would  have  a  thousand  times 
preferred  to  take  these  defiles  which  would  not  have  resisted  them,  were  obliged  to  march 
forward  to  establish  themselves  at  Orizaba,  and  to  assist  in  sorrow  at  the  violation  of  the 
engagements  made. 

Oh,  gentlemen,  it  is  always  imprudent  to  desire  to  regenerate  the  people  when  we  are 
not  sufficiently  sure  of  ourselves  ;  and,  indeed,  when  the  government  pursues  in  Mexico 
such  conduct  as  I  have  briefly  sketched,  I  ask  myself  whether  it  has  not  understood  what 
there  is  rash  in  this  expedition,  and  whether  it  does  not  regret  bitterly  to  have  neglected, 
in  undertaking  it,  the  counsels  and  the  control  of  the  representatives  of  the  nation. 

So,  also,  you  know  how,  on  the  9th  of  April,  the  conference  being  broken  off,  according 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  .         131 

to  orders  issued  directly  from  here,  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere  declares  that  he  will 
inarch  on  Mexico  ;  the  English  declare  that  they  are  going  to  withdraw,  a  thing  which,  I 
think,  they  had  foreseen  in  advance  ;  and  the  Spanish  imitate  them. 

I  pass  no  opinion  on  the  conduct  of  the  Spanish,  and  I  agree  with  what  the  minister 
has  said  in  regard  to  the  English,  who  seem  not  to  have  deceived  us.  Yet  I  rind  in  this 
rupture  of  the  alliance,  in  this  cessation  of  action  in  common  thus  coming  to  pass  without 
the  French  government  being  able  to  make  any  cause  of  complaint  out  of  it,  to  protest 
against  its  allies,  or  to  reply  to  what  has  been  said  in  every  assembly  with  regard  to  our 
diplomatic  conduct — I, find  I  say,  an  occasion  to  address  a  very  severe  reproach  to  those 
who  represent  our  policy,  a  reproach  for  the  want  of  foresight  against  which,  it  seems"  to 
uie,  they  will  find  it  difficult  to  defend  themselves. 

See,  gentlemen,  how  the  Mexican  expedition  has  been  conducted  to  this  day.  What 
will  be  the  consequences  of  it?  What  will  be  the  result?  What  do  you  wish  to  do  in 
Mexico,  and  what,  in  fine,  is  your  policy  ?  I  know  that  at  this  moment,  and  at  this 
moment  only,  when  the  conferences  are  broken  off,  when  all  things  have  passed  as  I  have 
said,  there  appears  unexpectedly  a  system  of  grand  policy  which  seems  to  have  been  kept 
in  reserve,  and  which,  in  any  case,  would  save  appearances  only  at  the  expense  of  the 
frankness  of  our  agents. 

They  tell  us  that  there  is  an  interest  superior  to  this  that  the  United  States  of  the  north 
should  not  encroach  upon  Mexico,  that  we  must  resist  their  invading  power,  and  that  it  is 
an  interest  of  gruat  policy,  of  very  great  policy,  which  has  taken  us  to  Mexico  and  which 
keeps  us  there. 

Oh,  gentlemen,  I  do  not  examine,  I  shall  not  examine  at  length  the  after-thought 
scheme  thus  inaugurated  ;  I  find  that  it  is  in  such  manner  judged  by  the  facts,  in  such 
manner  refuted  by  the  first  principles  of  political  and  common  sense,  that  I  am  unwilling 
to  believe  that  it  is  the  foundation  of  the  discourse  which  we  shall  hear  in  reply  to  our  ob 
servations. 

How,  indeed  !  Go  to  Mexico  in  arms,  that  is  to  develop  American  sentiment  in  Mexico  ; 
to  invade  Mexico  with  the  assistance  of  French,  Spanish,  or  English  troops  ;  that  is  giving 
up  Mexico  to  America.  That  was  the  opinion  of  one  of  the  colleagues  of  the  minister, 
when,  in  1849,  in  the  discussion  on  the  affairs  of  La  Plata,  M.  Rouher  said  that  it  was  in 
expedient  to  undertake  the  expedition,  because  this  expedition  would  only  develop  ttye 
American  spirit  which  it  was  not  our  interest  to  develop. 

And  the  proof  ;  do  you  wish  to  have  it  ?  You  will  find  it  in  connexion  with  the  course 
of  argument  which  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  to  you.  The  next  day  after  that  on  which 
they  are  threatened  by  you,  what  steps  do  the  Mexicans  take  ?  in  what  direction  do  they 
turn  their  eyes  ?  to  whom  do  they  apply  ?  where  is  their  refuge  ?  who  is  the  man  that  be 
comes  that  day  the  most  important  in  the  diplomatic  corps  ?  It  is  the  representative  of 
the  United  States.  And  when  the  government  of  President  Juarez  says  to  us,  "  I  have 
just  been  installed  yesterday;  lam  without  resources,  without  money;  J  cannot  satisfy 
your  claims  ;  I  cannot  give  you  a  dollar  ;  but  I  am  going  to  borrow,  I  am  going  to  borrow 
of  the  United  States  ;  I  will  pledge  to  them  a  part  of  our  territory  ;"  we  must  reply  to  it, 
"  Your  territory  is  pledged  to  us ;  consequently  we  forbid  you  to  hypothecate  it  in  order  to 
pay  us."  This  argument,  I  am  sure,  ought  to  be  appreciated  by  the  minister  as  it  de 
serves  ;  it  is  an  expedient  of  war  and  diplomacy  ;  but  it  is  no  less  true,  and  it  is  the  only 
truth  which  I  would  wish  to  set  clearly  before  your  eyes,  that  from  the  day  when  France 
assumes  a  threatening  attitude  to  Mexico,  that  very  day  Mexico  turns  to  the  United 
States,  and,  so  to  speak,  surrenders  itself  up  to  them. 

Consequently,  let  us  lay  aside  this  political  scheme  ;  it  dates  from  the  day  of  the  rupture 
of  the  conferences  and  the  departure  of  the  allies,  and  I  much  fear  that  the  only  end  sought 
in  this  is  the  wish  to  redeem  a  blunder  by  an  imaginary  profundity  of  plan  and  scheme 

There  remains  then,  gentlemen,  the  political  question  on  which  you  have,  in  my  opin 
ion,  to  exercise  a  great  and  legitimate  interest. 

The  question  is  submitted  to  you  in  the  draught  of  an  address  ,  you  hope  that  the  vrar 
will  have  a  happy  and  speedy  termination.  Who  would  not  subscribe,  gentlemen,  to  these 
expressions  ?  But  at  the  same  time  we  find  them  quite  inoffensive  ;  that  the  war  should 
have  a  happy  and  speedy  termination,  every  one  wishes  that.  But  how  should  it  finish  ? 
what  policy  should  we  pursue  in  Mexico  ?  Should  we,  as  the  Spanish,  who  wish  to  resume 
the  conferences,  ask  us,  prepare  ourselves  for  a  temporary  occupation  ?  Do  you  wish  to 
inaugurate  in  Mexico,  at  the  distance  of  2,000  leagues  from  us,  a  new  Algeria,  which  you 
will  try  to  colonize  while  you  prepare  the  senatus  consultum  which  is  to  finish  the  coloniza 
tion  of  the  other  Algeria,  which  you  have  for  thirty  years  so  little  and  so  badly  colo 
nized  ?  Do  you  wish  that  the  resources  of  France  should  be  periodically  and  annually 
sent  to  aid  the  revolutions  or  the  tumults  of  the  Mexican  agents  who  have  duped  you,  and 
of  whom  you  are  only  the  followers  in  this  policy  of  enterprise  and  adventure  in  which 
you  have  involved  yourselves?  Do  you  wish  this?  lay  so,  at  least;  and  in  a  question 


132  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

which  so  momentarily  concerns  France,  its  policy,  its  destinies,  its  future,  its  finances,  let 
us  know  what  is  in  store  for  us  ;  let  us  not  be  doomed  to  find,  some  morning,  on  awaking, 
when  we  least  expect  it,  declarations  of  war  which  we  could  not  have  foreseen,  declara 
tions  of  policy  which  we  cannot  accept.  We  are,  in  the  end,  the  parties  who  give  the 
money  and  who  give  the  men  ;  it  is  to  us  that  account  must  be  rendered  ;  it  is  we  who  are 
to  be  consulted,  and  consequently,  when  a  war  of  this  nature  is  undertaken,  we  should 
know  what  end  you  propose  to  give  it. 

So,  gentlemen,  this  will  doubtless  be  for  the  government  an  occasion  to  inform  us  about 
its  external  policy.  What  is  it  ?  what  does  it  seek  to  effect  ?  It  seems  to  me  that  it  has 
sought  to  apply,  in  its  external  relations,  the  principle  which  it  applies  so  sorrowfully  and 
so  sadly  in  its  internal  policy,  that  of  force,  [vehement  reprobation  ;]  that  is  to  say,  impo- 
tency  itself.  [Murmurs.] 

Has  it  succeeded  in  it  ?  And  after  so  much  blood  spilled  by  our  soldiers,  let  us  see  and 
let  us  see  closely  what  is  your  influence  in  Europe.  We  are  a  great  nation  ;  we  know  it 
well,  and  for  this  reason  alone  that  you  have  the  honor  of  governing  us,  you  can  speak 
loudly  and  speak  firmly.  But  are  not  your  policy  and  your  diplomacy  strangely  distanced 
by  those  of 'the  neighboring  powers  ?  When  the  throne  of  Greece  becomes  vacant  who  re 
ceives  the  advantages  of  this  vacancy  ?  To  whom  are  the  eyes  turned?  Who  are  the  can 
didates  that  are  proposed,  and,  above  all,  what  are  the  institutions  that  are  sought  ?  [To 
the  question  !  To  Mexico  !] 

You  console  yourselves  by  giving  sad  counsels  to  those  in  Prussia  who  desire  resistance, 
and  who  give  to  the  ministers  of  a  king,  perhaps  blind,  the  detestable  counsel  not  to 
yield  to  the  will  of  the  nation.  [Murmurs.] 

Yesterday  you  were  at  Turin  for  Turin  ;  to-day  you  are  at  Rome  for  Rome    [Murmurs  ] 

M.  the  Baron  MARIANI.  Stay  in  Mexico,  and  speak  of  Mexico. 

M.  ERNEST  PICABD.  If  this  policy  is  an  enigma  we  should  have  the  clue  to  it.  Tell  us 
who  you  are  ;  tell  us  what  are  your  names.  A  year  ago  you  appealed  to  the  nationalities ; 
then  there  was  exultation  through  all  Europe,  and  it  seemed  that  France,  under  the  impulse 
of  its  government,  was  going  to  deliver  the  people.  [Cries  of  no,  no.]  Yesterday  you  heard 
the  declaration  of  the  minister  ;  you  know  how  he  treats  the  Polish  nationality  which  ought 
never  perish.  [Renewed  murmurings.] 

I  resume  now,  and  assert,  if  you  are  for  the  principle  of  non-intervention  you  must  ex 
plain  otherwise  your  war  in  Mexico.  If,  on  the  contrary,  you  are  for  the  principle  of  in 
tervention,  you  should  not  be  in  Mexico  when  you  ought  to  be  elsewhere.  [Noises  ] 

The  PRESIDENT.  M.  David  has  the  floor. 

Baron  JEROME  DAVID.  Gentlemen,  I  have  been  struck  by  one  fact  in  the  discourse  which 
we  have  just  heard  ;  it  is  that  the  Spanish,  the  English,  and  the  Mexicans,  everybody  is 
right  and  France  alone  is  wrong.  [That's  so  ;  good  good.]  I  confess  to  you  that  my 
feelings,  that  my  national  pride  revolts  at  this  idea.  [Good,  good.] 

I  oppose  the  amendment  which  has  just  been  defended  by  the  honorable  M.  Picard.  I 
oppose  it,  while  acknowledging  at  the  same  time  that  the  Mexican  expedition  has  caused 
vehement  excitement  in  the  country.  The  distance,  the  nature  of  the  obstacles,  the  fore 
seen  increase  of  the  expenses,  the  uncertainty  of  the  results,  must  have  impressed  and 
must  yet  impress  painfully  all  those  who  are  not  deeply  convinced  of  the  imperious  neces 
sity  of  this  expedition.  The  discussions  kept  up  in  a  neighboring  nation  have  not  contrib 
uted  to  the  formation  of  an  opinion  favorable  to  the  policy  of  the  government  towards 
Mexico.  But,  as  I  firmly  approve  this  policy,  I  shall  endeavor  to  refute  such  views  as  can 
not  gain  credit  without  injury  to  justice  and  truth.  [Good.] 

Gentlemen,  have  we  need  of  the  documents  placed  before  our  eyes  to  know  that  the  in 
sinuations  contained  in  the  amendment  should  not  be  accepted  ;  to  know,  according  to  the 
expressions  mads  use  of  by  the  honorable  M.  Picard,  that  the  government  can  justify  the 
expedition  which  it  has  undertaken  ;  to  know  that  the  Emperor's  government  should  have 
accepted  the  Mexican  war  without  having  sought  it  ? 

Have  we  forgotten  that  a  preceding  government  found  itself,  under  the  same  circum 
stances,  obliged  to  demand  by  force  the  redress  of  these  same  grievances  ?  I  shall  not  be 
wanting  in  the  regard  due  to  fallen  dynasties,  when  I  say  that  the  government  to  which  I 
allude  did  not  usually  permit  itself  to  be  carried  away  by  exaggerated  susceptibilities  at  a 
period  of  ultra  pacific  tendencies.  In  1839  the  address  of  the  Chamber  included  these  words: 

"Ihe  outrages  and  spoliations  to  which  our  countrymen  have  been  subjected  in  Mex 
ico  demand  an  exemplary  satisfaction,  and  your  government  should  have  required  it.  The 
Chamber  hopes  that  it  shall  have  taken  prompt  and  decisive  measures  to  obtain  it." 

It  was  during  the  discussion  of  the  same  address  that  M  Piscatory  cried  out  :  "  France 
has  descended  from  the  rank  which  she  occupied  ;  it  is  painful  to  me  to  say  it,  but  I  do 
say  it,  it  is  my  duty  and  my  right."  We  must  not  use  such  language  under  the  empire. 

The  government  of  July  confined  itself  to  half  measures  ;  the  blockade  of  1838,  the 
capture  of  San  Juan  de  Ulloa,  the  descent  upon  Vera  Cruz,  did  not,  in  any  respect,  remedy 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  133 

the  state  of  affriirs ;  the  actual  government  has  been  no  less  willing  to  push  moderation  to 
its  utmost  limits  ;  the  treaty  of  1853,  the  conciliatory  mission  of  Admiral  Penaud  in  1858, 
the  diplomatic  proceedings  anterior  to  the  treaty  of  October  31,  1861 — are  not  all  these  un 
deniable  proofs  of  our  patience  ? 

What  remained  to  be  done  ?  Was  it  necessary  to  undertake  by  force  of  arms  the  repa 
ration  of  our  grievances  ?  Should  we  have  acted  with  inopportune  timidity  when  there  was 
question  of  the  French  honor  ?  Would  the  second  of  these  ways  suit  my  opponents  ?  In 
any  case,  I  maintain  that  the  first  was  the  only  one  which  becomes  the  Imperial  govern 
ment. 

Gentlemen,  our  grievances  against  Mexico  have  been  strangely  slurred  over  by  tactics 
habitual  with  parties.  Some  of  these  grievances  have  been  omitted  ;  the  most  serious  have 
been  thrown  into  the  back-ground  ;  the  least  striking  have  been  discussed  at  length,  so  as 
to  lose  sight  of  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  resulting  from  their  being  seen  altogether. 
[Good  ;  that's  so.] 

We  have  in  Mexico,  not  3,000,  but  more  than  8,000  fellow-countrymen.  Among  them, 
several  have  been  the  victims  of  assassination,  of  robberies,  of  spoliations  of  all  kinds. 
They  have  had  to  bear  forced  loans,  military  contributions,  sometimes  amounting  to  5  per 
cent,  of  their  capital.  French  commerce  has  been  capriciously  subjected  to  ruinous  and 
abusive  duties  of  importation  and  exportation.  Finally,  all  these  misdeeds  have  been  fol 
lowed  by  the  rupture  of  solemn  engagements  guaranteed  by  diplomatic  conventions.  To 
remain  quiet  would  be  truly  to  show  oneself  quite  regardless  of  national  honor,  unless,  in 
deed,  a  person  regulates  his  susceptibility  according  to  the  dangers  of  the  case,  or  supposes 
the  flag  of  France  too  small  to  extend  its  protecting  folds  to  the  shores  of  the  New  World. 
[Good,  good.] 

There  are  not  many  members  in  this  assembly  disposed  to  think  that  we  ought  to  bear 
these  injuries  in  silence  or  content  ourselves  with  showing  our  indignation  by  an  ineffect 
ual  military  manifestation.  After  having  taken  up  arms  we  cannot  lay  them  down,  we 
will  not  lay  them  down,  but  with  the  certitude  that  we  will  not  have  to  recommence  pe 
riodically  a  murderous  and  expensive  campaign.  So  we  will  not  let  our  most  legitimate 
rights,  I  will  say  even  our  duties,  be  obscured  in  the  confusion  of  words  or  ideas.  We  will 
justly  interfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of  Mexico  as  often  as  our  interests  shall  there  be  in 
volved  to  a  momentous  extent ;  we  will  assign  to  them  the  place  which  is  acquired  for  them 
by  our  efforts  and  by  our  sacrifices  ;  we  are  bound  by  the  very  fact  of  our  expedition  to 
treat  only  with  a  government  offering  serious  guarantees  for  the  future ;  and  if  it  is  not 
granted  to  us  to  influence  the  Mexicans  in  the  choice  of  their  government,  it  will  be  incum 
bent  upon  us  to  inquire  whether  that  government  promises  efficacious  protection  to  the 
life,  to  the  property  of  our  countrymen,  and  a  sure  fulfilment  of  stipulated  engagements. 

Let  us  examine  from  this  point  of  view  the  actual  government  of  Mexico,  that  govern 
ment  recently  defined  in  the  following  terms  in  the  tribune  of  the  Spanish  Senate  by  the 
president  of  the  counsel  of  the  Queen's  ministers.  "  In  Mexico  there  is  nothing  but  pro 
scription  of  the  vanquished  and  established  anarchy  in  government." 

The  democratic,  federalist  party,  the  party  of  the  puros,  to  which  M.  Juarez  belongs, 
after  having  figured  with  various  chances  in  all  the  troubles  that  have  agitated  Mexico  since 
its  independence,  finally  attained  to  power  by  the  fall  of  Santa  Ana,  in  the  month  of  Au 
gust,  1855  ;  it  maintained  itself  until  the  insurrection  at  Mexico,  which  overthrew  Presi 
dent  Comonfort  in  the  beginning  of  1858.  M.  Juarez,  constitutional  vice-president  at  that 
period,  established  himself  at  Vera  Cruz,  whence  he  kept  up  a  contest,  terminated  by  his 
attainment  to  power  in  January,  1861,  after  the  defeat  of  the  government  at  Mexico, 
under  Miramon. 

The  history  of  Mexico  remains,  during  these  iast  years,  what  it  was  previously  ;  individ 
uals  more  or  Jess  audacious,  causing  theinselves  to  be  followed  by  some  thousands  of  sol 
diers,  proclaimed  a  plan,  a  system  of  government. 

The  principles  of  conservatism  or  progression  formed  the  basis  of  these  proclamations. 
The  chiefs  of  each  of  the  belligerent  parties  adjudged  to  themselves  the  commission  of; 
saving  the  nation.     Meanwhile  they  levied  imposts,  extorted  money  from  foreigners,  in 
fested  the  highways,  pillaged  the  churches,  devastated  the  country.     So  far  did  it  go,  gen 
tlemen— and  what  I  am  going  to  say  belongs  to  history — so  far  did  it  go,  that,  in  the  course 
of  the  year  1858  alone,  there  occurred  in  Mexico  eight  regular  battles,  twenty-four  serious 
combats,  thirty-nine  secondary  encounters — in  all  seventy-one  engagements. 

Therefore  you  will  vainly  seek  there  for  roads,  for  canals,  for  works  of  art  ;  you  would 
look  in  vain  for  the  slightest  notion  of  political  or  social  economy.  Exorbitant  tariffs  im 
poverish  the  receipts  of  the  government  by  exciting  a  contraband  trade  along  the  open 
frontier  of  500  leagues  which  separates  the  United  States  from  Mexico.  There  is  every 
where,  in  Mexico,  folly,  disorder,  want  of  security  for  strangers.  To  discover  the  least 
vestiges  of  civilization  we  must  go  back  to  the  epoch  of  the  empire  of  Montezuma,  which 


134  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

has  given  place  only  to  the  tyrannical  monopoly  of  Spain  or  the  disastrous  convulsions  of 
the  Spanish  American  republics. 

In  Mexico  there  are  eight  millions  of  inhabitants  separated  by  difference  of  race,  of 
manners,  and  of  language,  who  know  no  other  equality  than  that  of  oppression  by  ambi 
tious  upstarts  who  found  their  private  fortunes  on  the  ruin  and  degradation  of  the  nation. 

For  the  rest,  I  grant  you,  conservatives,  democrats,  federalists,  puros,  are  all  equivalent, 
[approbative  laughter,]  all  pursue  the  same  line  of  conduct  ;  it  is  an  incontestable  fact. 
However,  I  may  be  permitted  to  state  that  there  is  a  striking  distinction  between  the  con 
servatives  and  the  progressionists,  the  puros,  to  whom  M.  Juarez  belongs  ;  it  is  that  the 
conservatives  have  k  patriotic  shame  entirely  unknown  to  M.  Juarez  and  his  friends. 

However  strange  this  assertion  may  appear,  it  is  confirmed  by  facts.  The  separation  of 
Texas,  its  admission  into  the  American  Union,  the  cession  of  Upper  California  and  New 
Mexico,  were  accomplished  only  after  memorable  battles  sustained  by  the  Mexican  army 
under  the  orders  of  the  conservative  General  Santa  Anna.  The  conservative  General  Mir- 
amon,  of  whom  mention  was  made  a  while  ago,  found  in  his  patriotism,  at  the  moment 
of  greatest  trial  in  1860,  the  energy  to  protest  against  the  odious  McLane  treaty,  sub 
scribed  by  M.  Juarez  and  his  friends,  a  treaty  which  placed  all  Mexico  in  the  hands  of  the 
United  States. 

The  compliance  of  M.  Juarez  was  not  useless  to  him.  The  following  year  the  American 
Captain  Jarvis,  commanding  the  man-of-war  Saratoga,  took  part  with  M.  Juarez  by  forci 
bly  seizing  on  two  Mexican  vessels  which  were  carrying  from  Havana  arms  and  munitions 
of  war  for  the  army  of  operation  which  was  besieging  Vera  Cruz.  It  is,  then,  to  M.  Juarez 
and  his  friends  and  party  that  we  should  first  apply  the  reproof  justly  incurred  by  citizens 
relying  upon  foreign  assistance.  It  was  also  M.  Juarez  who  in  1861  wished  to  borrow  ten 
millions  of  dollars  from  the  United  States,  by  delivering  to  them  the  province  of  Sonora 
and  other  parts  of  the  Mexican  territory.  Such  acts  call  our  attention  to  the  consistency 
of  Mexico,  to  the  morality  of  the  means  employed  by  M.  Juarez,  in  whose  cause  it  is  now 
sought  to  raise  the  prestige  attaching  to  the  defence  of  one's  native  land. 

M.  Juarez  applied  to  the  United  States  for  money.  Let  us  see  their  opinion  with  re 
gard  to  Mexico,  and  then  we  will  be  forced  to  recognize  that  to  borrow  money  of  the 
United  States  is  to  sell  Mexico  to  the  United  States. 

President  Buchanan  said  in  his  message  of  1858:  "  Mexico  has  been  in  a  constant  state 
of  revolution  almost  since  the  moment  when  it  conquered  its  independence.  Military 
chiefs,  one  after  another,  have  usurped  the  government  in  rapid  succession.  The  differ 
ent  constitutions,  adopted  at  different  periods,  have  been  reduced  to  nullity  almost  as  soon 
as  proclaimed.  The  successive  governments  have  been  unable  to  afford  effectual  protection 
either  to  Mexican  citizens  or  resident  foreigners  against  violence  and  illegality." 

We  read  further  on  :  "The  truth  is,  that  this  beautiful  country,  blessed  with  a  produc 
tive  soil  and  a  beneficent  climate,  finds  itself  reduced  by  civil  dissensions  to  a  condition  of 
anarchy  and  impotence  almost  irremediable." 

Then  the  message  asks  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  should  assume  a  tem 
porary  protectorate  over  the  northern  parts  of  the  States  of  Chihuahua  and  Sonora  by  es 
tablishing  military  posts  there.  Is  this  significant  enough?  President  Buchanan  submits 
to  Congress  the  suitableness  of  establishing  military  posts,  without  even  regarding  the  con 
sent  of  Mexico 

Mr.  Buchanan  says  also  in  his  message  of  1859  :  "  Is  it  possible  that  Mexico  must  be 
abandoned  to  anarchy  and  ruin  without  an  effort  to  deliver  and  save  her  ?  Will  the  com 
mercial  nations  of  the  world  who  have  so  many  interests  involved  in  Mexico  remain  'indif 
ferent  to  this  result  ?  The  United  States  especially,  which  should  have  the  greatest  num 
ber  of  commercial  relations  with  Mexico — will  they  permit  this  neighboring  state  to  ruin 
and  destroy  itself  ?  Without  aid  Mexico  cannot  resume  its  position  among  the  nations, 
nor  enter  upon  a  career  fruitful  in  good  results.  Every  American  citizen  must  be  deeply 
moved  at  this.  A  government  which  cannot  or  will  not  repress  such  disorders  deserts  its 
duty." 

Finally,  we  read  further  on:  "  Mexico  is  a  ship  drifting  with  the  current  of  the  ocean 
and  governed  only  by  the  passions  of  opposing  parties  that  dispute  the  government  with 
one  another." 

Behold  the  judgment  of  the  President  of  a  republic.  It  is  not  out  of  place  to  contrast  it 
with  the  opinions  of  our  honorable  opponents. 

The  messages  quoted  show  that  the  United  States,  after  having  already  conquered  the 
third  part  of  Mexico,  would  not  be  slow  to  seize  upon  the  rest.  Their  policy  in  the  New 
World  was  well  settled.  They  wished  to  remove  Spain  from  her  ancient  colonies  under 
the  pretext  that  the  island  of  Cuba,  by  its  geographical  position,  commands  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi,  one  of  the  principal  arteries  of  their  commerce.  They  sought  to  purchase 
it  with  thirty  millions  of  dollars.  Their  attitude  towards  the  Spanish  American  republics 
was  that  of  expectation.  Persuaded  that  these  republics  would  be  absorbed  by  the  Amer- 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  135 

ican  Union,  they  commenced,  by  means  of  treaties,  to  assure  to  themselves  the  transit  over 
the  most  suitable  points  for  the  connexion  of  the  two  oceans.  The  bases  of  these  treaties 
were  successively  enlarged.  They  asked  the  establishment  of  neutral  ports  at  the  extremi 
ties  of  the  lines  of  transit.  Then  they  claimed  the  abolishment  of  all  custom-house  duties 
on  American  merchandise,  and  authority  to  transmit  troops  and  munitions  of  war.  Finally, 
they  specified  the  grant  to  the  United  States  of  the  right  to  assure  by  force  the  security  of 
the  transit,  which  thus  made  them  masters  of  the  great  routes  of  commerce. 

Behold  the  whole  diplomatic  history  of  the  United  States  with  the  rest  of  the  New  World. 
The  success,  has  been  complete  as  far  as  concerns  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec.  As  to  the 
republics  of  Costa  Kica,  Nicaragua,  and  New  Granada,  they  yet  oppose  these  pretensions 
with  the  assistance  of  England,  which  likewise  showed  itself  at  the  time  of  the  invasion  of 
Central  America  by  the  Anglo-American  adventurer  Walker.  Nevertheless,  the  opposition 
was  drawing  to  a  close,  when  civil  war  surprised  the  United  States  in  the  full  career  of  the 
application  of  the  celebrated  doctrine  of  President  Monroe — of  that  doctrine  which  declared 
that  all  the  States  of  America  have  devolved  on  the  Anglo-American^,  whose  duty  it  is  to 
oppose  in  every  manner  the  interference  of  Europe  in  the  affairs  of  the  New  World. 

Gentlemen,  the  projects  of  the  Anglo-Americans  would  not  have  failed  to  be  soon 
realized,  whilst  placing  Europe  in  a  condition  of  inferiority,  of  which  the  dangers  fully 
manifest  themselves.  However,  the  European  powers  that  signed  the  treaty  of  October 
31,  1861,  now  follow  a  different  system  in  their  policy  towards  Mexico.  France  has  loyally 
persevered  in  the  line  of  conduct  originally  traced  out  by  common  consent. 

Let  me  be  permitted,  gentlemen,  to  show  forth  this  truth  whilst  throwing  into  the  back 
ground  the  accessory  facts  to  which,  in  my  opinion,  too  much  importance  has  been  attached 
in  other  discussions  on  the  same  subject ;  I  shall  very  succinctly  place  in  relief  the  principal 
points  of  the  alliance  of  the  three  powers. 

I  select  a  primary  point  which  serves  as  a  basis  for  the  treaty  of  October  31 — that  is,  the 
overthrow  of  M.  Juarez  and  his  government.  The  maintenance  of  M.  Juarez  was  recog 
nized  as  incompatible  with  the  end  specified  in  the  preamble  of  the  treaty,  namely,  the 
effectual  protection  of  persons  and  property,  and  the  execution  of  stipulated  engagements 
with  the  three  powers  contracting. 

Whatever  interpretation  it  may  be  sought  to  give  to  M.  Thouvenel's  despatch  of  October 
11,  1861,  addressed  to  our  ambassador  at  London,  after  a  conversation  with  Lord  Cowley, 
we  are  forced  to  recognize  that,  twenty  days  before  the  signing  of  the  treaty,  England 
admitted  a  priori,  as  well  as  we  did,  the  fall  of  M.  Juarez  and  his  government ;  the  diversity 
of  opinion  concerned  only  the  greater  or  less  influence  that  was  to  be  exercised  on  the  form 
of  the  government  that  was  to  replace  it. 

As  to  Spain,  she  declared  herself  still  more  clearly  ;  the  Queen's  minister  of  state  wrote 
to  M.  Mon,  ambassador  to  Paris,  September  7,  fifty-three  days  before  the  treaty  of  October 
31:  "If  England  and  France  agree,  to  act  in  accord  with  Spain,  the  forces  of  the  three 
powers  will  unite,  as  well  to  obtain  reparation  for  outrages  as  to  establish  a  regular  and 
stable  order  of  things  in  Mexico."  On  the  8th  of  October — that  is  to  say,  twenty-three 
days  before  the  treaty  of  October  31 — the  minister  of  the  Queen  of  Spain  wrote  again  to  M. 
Mon  :  "  Far  from  renouncing  its  projects,  (the  action  in  common  of  Spain,  France,  and 
England,)  the  Spanish  government  is  more  persuaded  every  day  that  the  accord  of  the  three 
governments,  in  procuring  satisfaction  for  offences  received  and  the  reparation  of  all  injuries, 
will  contribute  more  or  less  directly  to  create  in  Mexico  a  regular  and  settled  state  of 
affairs,  which  will  permit  the  establishment  of  a  government  affording  security  and  repose 
to  the  unfortunate  people  of  that  country,  and  guarantees  for  the  interests  and  the  lives  of 
strangers." 

These  two  despatches,  gentlemen,  are  explicit ;  they  speak  of  the  establishment,  of  the 
creation,  of  a  new  order  of  things  ;  this  is  the  sense  of  article  11  of  the  treaty  of  October  31. 

The  high  contracting  parties  engage  not  to  exert  in  the  internal  affairs  of  Mexico  any 
influence  of  such  a  nature  as  to  attack  the  right  of  the  Mexican  nation  to  choose  and  to 
constitute  freely  the  form  of  its  government. 

Does  not  this  paragraph  place  beyond  discussion,  beyond  doubt,  the  overthrow  of  the 
existing  government  in  order  to  choose  and  constitute  a  new  one  ? 

I  come  to  establish  a  second  important  point — that  is,  that  the  three  powers  had  admitted 
the  eventuality  of  a  march  to  Mexico.  England  had  declared  from  the  beginning  that  her 
assistance  should  be  limited  to  a  display  of  maritime  forces;  but  Spain,  who  sent  the 
strongest  contingent  of  forces  for  disembarkation,  recognized,  from  the  6th  of  November, 
that  it  was  possible  that  there  might  be  occasion  to  march  upon  Mexico.  Here  is  the 
despatch  of  the  ambassador  of  France  at  Madrid,  addressed  on  the  6th  of  November  to  our 
minister  of  foreign  affairs  : 

"MONSIEUR  LB  MINISTRB  :  As  I  have  had  the  honor  to  make  known  to  your  excellency 
this  morning  by  telegraph,  I  have  communicated  to  Marshal  O'Donnell  and  M.  Calderon 
Collantes  the  desire  expressed  by  your  excellency  that  instructions  should  be  given  to  the 


136  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

commanders-in-chief  of  the  Spanish  and  French  forces  in  Mexico,  in  order  that  these  com 
manders  may,  if  the  circumstances  appear  favorable  to  them,  march  upon  Mexico. 

"The  Duke  of  Tetuan  agreed,  without  hesitation,  to  the  opinion  of  the  Emperor's 
government ;  he  declared  to  me  and  authorized  me  to  say,  that  very  elastic,  discretionary 
instructions  would  be  given  to  the'commander  of  the  Spanish  forces,  and  that  he  would 
moreover  send  him  a  private  letter,  signed  by  himself,  authorizing  him  to  act,  if  the  case 
should  occur  in  the  sense  of  the  eventual  measures  indicated  by  your  excellency's  despatch. 

"At  the  close  of  a  conversation  which  I  had  on  the  same  subject  with  M.  Calderon 
Collantes,  the  first  secretary  of  state  has  authorized  me  to  inform  you  that  his  opinion  was 
conformable  in  every  respect  to  that  expressed  by  Marshal  O'Donnell,  and  to  confirm  in 
his  name  the  engagement  entered  into  with  me  by  the  president  of  the  council." 

The  treaty  of  October  31  specifies  precisely  the  results  to  be  attained,  but  in  no  respect 
limits  the  course  of  military  operations  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  says,  "  That  the  commanders 
of  the  allied  forces  are  authorized  to  accomplish  the  operations  which  shall  be  judged,  on 
the  spot,  the  most  suitable  to  realize  the  end  specified  in  the  preamble  of  the  treaty."  The 
treaty  said  no  more,  because  the  hope  was  cherished  that  it  would  suffice  to  seize  and  occupy 
the  different  fortresses  and  military  positions  of  the  coast,  to  decide  the  people  to  shake  off 
the  yoke  under  which  they  groaned. 

M.  Calderon  Collantes,  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  had  said,  in  the  commencement  of 
October,  1861,  to  M.  Barrot,  our  ambassador,  "That,  in  his  opinion,  the  active  employ 
ment  of  the  allied  forces  would  be  useless,  and  that  their  moral  action  would  suffice." 
That  was  calculating  too  much  on  the  spontaneous  energy  of  populations  prostrated  by 
forty  years  of  continual  discord. 

I  resume,  gentlemen,  the  consideration  of  the  meaning  and  purpose  of  the  treaty  of 
October  31. 

Spain  and  England  appeared  resolved,  as  well  as  we  did,  to  overturn  the  government  of 
M.  Juarez,  recognized  as  incompatible  with  the  results  to  be  attained  by  them  in  common. 
From  the  moment  that  the  capture  of  San  Juan  de  Dlloa  and  the  occupation  of  Vera  Cruz 
failed  to  produce  the  desired  effects,  it  was  necessary  to  march  onward  without  waiting  till 
the  void  should  be  formed  around  us,  to  remove  from  the  warm  country,  to  penetrate  into 
the  more  favorable  and  more  salubrious  regions,  to  await  re-enforcements  if  they  should  be 
necessary,  and  to  plant  the  allied  banners  on  the  walls  of  Mexico. 

The  secondary,  very  secondary  incidents  of  the  exaggerated  claims  of  M.  Dubois  de 
Saligny  on  the  subject  of  the  Jecker  debt,  to  protection  given  to  General  Almonte,  the 
hypothesis  of  a  monarchial  regime  with  an  archduke  of  Austria,  cannot  be  called  up  in  good 
faith  to  explain  the  abandonment  of  which  we  have  been  the  object ;  for  they  weakened 
in  no  respect  the  principal  object  of  the  enterprise.  [Good  ] 

This  abandonment  was  decided  upon  at  the  moment  when,  instead  of  acting,  they  par 
leyed  ;  from  the  moment  when,  instead  of  striking  the  government  of  M.  Juarez,  they 
strengthened  it,  they  gave  it  by  negotiations  the  moral  force  that  was  wanting  to  it.  Our 
plenipotentiaries  have,  perhaps,  failed  in  energy,  but  the  government  has  remained  firm 
in  the  line  of  conduct  which  it  had  traced  out  and  which  it  wished  to  pursue.  As  to  our 
plenipotentiaries,  we  must  take  into  account  the  restricted  means  which  they  had  at  their 
disposal  in  the  beginning.  Whence  comes  it.  then,  that  England  and  Spain  have  with 
drawn  from  an  enterprise  conducted  conformably  to  the  preliminary  understanding  of  the 
three  powers?  I  shall  try  to  treat  this  delicate  question — I  shall  treat  it,  if  not  with  talent, 
at  least  patriotically,  [good,]  and  I  hope  to  show  that  France  can  say  she  has  persevered 
loyally  in  the  line  of  conduct  which  she  has  traced  for  herself.  I  shall  treat  this  question 
with  all  the  regard  due  to  friendly  nations,  and  at  the  same  time  with  the  frankness 
becoming  our  lawful  rights. 

Before  betaking  myself  to  this  examination,  I  shall  call  attention  to  the  general  situation 
of  the  New  World,  in  order  to  show  clearly  the  conflicting  interests  in  Mexico.  It  is  one 
of  those  questions  which  becomes  obscured  when  viewed  in  their  petty  details,  but  which, 
on  the  contrary,  become  clear  and  rise  to  their  true  height  when  they  are  placed  on  their 
proper  level. 

Passing  from  the  frontiers  of  the  United  States  to  the  extremities  of  South  America  you 
will  meet  only  the  former  Spanish  colonies,  with  the  exception  of  Guiana  and  Brazil.  Since 
their  liberation,  which  belongs  to  the  history  of  another  age,  these  colonies  have  generally 
been  given  up  to  internal  dissensions,  excited  in  the  name  of  federalism  or  of  centralization. 
When  a  European  nation  interferes  in  the  affairs  of  one  of  these  republics,  all  the  rest  are 
thereby  thrown  into  a  profound  excitement. 

The  idea  of  Bolivar,  the  liberator  of  South  America,  was  that  all  these  republics  should 
be  united  in  a  treaty  of  defensive  union  ;  and  so  it  was  that  in  1856  a  treaty  of  alliance 
was  concluded  at  Santiago,  in  Chili,  between  the  representatives  of  Peru,  Chili,  and  Ecuador. 
In  the  course  of  the  years  1856,  1857,  1858,  this  treaty  was  submitted  to  the  approbation 
of  the  republics  of  Central  America,  of  Venezuela,  and  of  New  Granada. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  137 

In  1861,  the  President  of  Peru  took  the  initiative  in  a  treaty  of  alliance  between  all  the 
American  governments  in  order  to  resist  all  action  on  the  part  of  Europe  in  the  affairs  of 
the  New  World.  This  treaty  of  alliance  included  the  following  significant  phrase  :  "To 
attack  the  independence  of  one  of  the  Spanish  American  republics  is  to  wound  that  of  all." 
In  1862,  a  deputy  of  Chili,  M.  Artega  Aleamparte,  asked  his  government,  in  open  assembly, 
to  take  part  against  us.  M.  Leoane,  minister  from  Peru  to  La  Plata,  strove  to  rouse  the 
national  feelings  of  the  States  of  the  Argentine  Confederation,  of  Paraguay,  and  of  the 
Oriental  State  ;  he  appears  to  have  failed  in  that  part  of  his  mission  which  consisted  in 
obtaining  effective  measures.  All  these  republics  are  too  much  embarrassed  with  their  own 
affairs  to  seek  for  external  complications. 

Gentlemen,  I  desired  to  deduce  from  these  facts  that  the  question  in  debate  in  Mexico 
is  not  merely  a  Mexican  question,  but  one  which  concerns  the  interests  of  France  and  of 
Europe  in  all  the  New  World.  Circumstances  have  brought  us  to  undertake  an  expedition 
to  Mexico,  when  it  was  necessary  to  show  that  we  would  support  our  countrymen  in  all 
regions  where  they  might  happen  to  be.  [Good,  good.] 

After  these  preliminary  explanations,  let  us  examine,  gentlemen,  the  conduct  of  the  three 
powers. 

England  considerably  surpasses  other  powers  in  her  commercial  relations  with  the  New 
World  ;  even  the  commercial  relations  of  the  United  States  are  behind  hers.  The  posses 
sions  of  Belize,  in  the  bay  of  Honduras,  permit  her  to  profit  by  the  commercial  transactions 
of  the  rich  Mexican  provinces  of  Yucatan  and  Tabasco,  and  to  explore  Central  America  ; 
she  has  often  even  interfered  in  the  events  that  have  agitated  those  countries.  Hence  arose 
serious  and  frequent  difficulties  with  the  United  States,  of  which  difficulties  the  Clayton- 
Bulwer  treaty  is  the  best  testimony.  The  English  policy,  like  the  American  policy,  has 
persistently  striven  to  prevent  the  probable  pretensions  of  Spain  over  her  former  colonies, 
in  order  not  to  see  them  rescued  from  the  state  of  commercial  and  industrial  infancy  in 
which  they  languish  in  order  not  to  lose  a  market.  It  appears  evidently,  from  the  recent 
discussions  in  the  Spanish  Cortes,  that  England  decided  upon  the  Mexican  expedition  solely 
to  prevent  Spain  from  undertaking  it  alone.  The  English  policy,  so  justly  styled  a  policy 
of  material  interests  by  the  Marquis  of  Havana,  ex-ambassador  from  Spain  to  Paris,  had 
especially  tended  to  participate  but  feebly  in  the  expedition  so  as  to  disengage  itself  from 
the  treaty  of  October  31  on  the  first  occasion,  whilst  causing  Spain  to  follow  her  example. 
This  occasion  the  English  plenipotentiary,  Sir  Charles  Wyke,  undertook  to  bring  about  by 
shuffling  the  cards — pardon  me  the  expression — on  minor  points  of  detail,  so  as  to  treat 
separately  with  M.  Juarez,  whom  they  were  to  overturn. 

As  Spain  took  sides  with  England  the  expedition  ran  a  chance  of  miscarrying,  whilst 
leaving  to  Great  Britain  the  merit  of  having  removed  the  arms  of  the  European  powers 
from  Mexico— a  thing  which  could  not  fail  to  cause  a  deep  sensation  in  America  ;  a  thing 
which  could  not  but  consolidate  her  influence  ;  a  thing  which  could  not  but  extend  her 
relations  of  importation  and  exportation  and  benefit  her  commerce.  We  have  defeated 
these  calculations  by  a  perseverance  which  was  not  counted  on.  That  was  forgotten  which 
causes  our  superiority,  and  perhaps  our  isolation,  namely,  that  we  subordinate  our  profits 
and  our  advantages  to  the  principles  of  civilization  and  of  morality,  which  are  the  marks 
of  greatness  of  the  times.  [Applause.] 

English  diplomacy  shows  itself  less  accommodating  than  it  was  in  Mexico,  when  it  is 
alone  in  the  case.  In  1856  a  casus  belli  was  made  with  New  Granada  on  account  of  a  delay 
in  the  payment  of  some  millions  to  an  English  creditor,  Mr.  Mackintosh.  In  1859,  in 
consequence  of  the  detention  at  Assumption  of  an  English  subject,  Mr.  Canstalt,  an  English 
vessel,  without  any  previous  declaration  of  war,  gave  chase  in  the  river  La  Plata  to  a  Para 
guayan  vessel,  the  Tamari,  which  had  on  board  the  son  of  the  President  of  Paraguay  ;  M. 
Lopez  had  to  return  to  Buenos  Ayres  in  all  haste  and  proceed  to  Assumption  by  way  of  land. 

I  do  not  ambition  for  my  country  the  policy  of  England,  however  lucrative  it  may  be. 
[Good,  good.]  We  must,  however,  acknowledge  that,  in  the  Mexican  question,  it  has 
shown  itself  skilful,  enough  to  escape  officially  the  charge  of  disloyalty.  [Sensation.] 

As  to  Spain,  gentlemen,  her  grievances  had  an  exceptional  importance  ;  her-  resolution 
to  have  recourse  to  arms  was  anterior  to  ours  ;  her  military  contingent  was  stronger,  her 
army  was  commanded  by  a  brilliant  general,  well  known  by  numerous  deeds  of  war.  These 
different  reasons  explain  the  position  assigned  to  Spain  in  the  beginning  of  the  expedition. 

I  shall  not  go  back  to  the  treaty  of  La  Soledad  ;  its  clauses  are  well  known  to  you.  I 
shall  say  only  that  they  are  a  symptom  of  the  hesitancy  of  General  Prim,  a  hesitancy  which 
should  be  deemed  merely  transitory,  to  judge  from  his  correspondence  of  March  20  and  21, 
1862.  The  chief  of  the  Spanish  expedition  said  that  he  wished  even  to  burn  his  vessels  in 
order  to  march  as  a  soldier  ;  his  warlike  humor  reawoke  in  presence  of  the  fresh  injuries 
committed  by  the  Mexican  government,  and  twenty-four  hours  afterwards  Admiral  Jurien 
de  la  Graviere  received  intimation  that  General  Prim  was  embarking  his  troops. 

We  had  never  been  expelled  from  the  New  World  after  a  series  of  reverses  once  cele- 


138  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

brated  ;  we  never  had  our  standards  suspended  in  testimony  of  defeat  under  the  vaults  of 
the  cathedral  of  Mexico  ;  the  violences  exercised  against  the  French  arose  from  the  gene 
ral  disorder,  and  not  at  all  from  national  hatred  ;  our  ambassador  had  never  been  expelled 
from  Mexico,  and  yet  we  have  remained  faithful  to  our  alliance,  whilst  the  Spanish  army 
set  sail,  abandoning  us  to  a  contest  with  an  enemy  numerically  much  superior  ;  abandoning 
us  to  a  struggle  with  the  calamities  of  war,  under  an  inexorable  climate,  during  the  worst 
season  of  the  year.  [Applause  ] 

Surely,  if  the  Spanish  army  had  not  been  already  tried,  if  General  Prim  had  not  been 
renowned  for  his  personal  bravery,  the  retreat  of  the  Spanish  troops  would  be  very  much 
like  a  flight  from  danger.  This  supposition  is  inadmissible.  I  think  we  must  search  in 
another  order  of  ideas  for  the  origin  of  the  facts.  General  Prim  could  not  resist  the  illu 
sions,  the  seductions,  that  have  dazzled  all  the  representatives  of  Spain  charged  to  repress 
by  force  the  excesses  of  the  Spanish  American  republics.  In  1856,  after  the  sequestration 
of  Spanish  property  by  President  Comonfort,  an  imposing  fleet,  having  on  board  S'r  de  los 
Santos  Alvarez,  minister  from  Spain,  appeared  before  Vera  Cruz,  to  retire  at  the  end  of 
some  days  without  having  done  anything  and  without  having  obtained  anything.  In  1860, 
after  the  massacre  of  some  hundred  Spaniards  in  Venezuela,  some  Spanish  vessels  again 
appeared.  After  remaining  some  time  before  La  Guayra  they  retired,  without  having 
obtained  the  least  satisfaction  from  the  cabinet  of  Caraccas.  General  Prim  shows,  for  the 
third  time,  a  Spanish  plenipotentiary  failing  to  carry  out  the  instructions  of  his  govern 
ment,  in  order  to  make  more  noise  than  work.  [Good,  good.] 

Gentlemen,  all  the  representatives  of  Spain  that  arrive  in  the  New  World  are  seized  with 
a  veritable  fever  of  national  ambition.  The  official  language,  the  men  who  direct  atfairs, 
the  manners  of  the  population  of  the  towns,  the  religious  practices,  the  traditions,  the  in 
scriptions  on  the  monuments,  everything  recalls  to  them  the  Spanish  dominion  ;  then  they 
say  to  themselves  that  Spain  might  reanimate,  might  easily  revive  the  elements  of  pros 
perity  now  hidden  behind  the  anarchy  of  the  moment,  provided  she  raises  no  new  barriers 
between  herself  and  her  former  colonies  by  a  recourse  to  violent  measures,  This  illusion 
is  easily  worked  up  by  the  crafty  diplomacy  of  the  natives  and  Creoles  of  America.  Have 
things  happened  this  time  also  in  the  same  style  in  Mexico  ?  Everything  induces  us  to 
believe  so. 

Spain,  thanks  to  the  measures  of  France,  now  figures,  in  the  European  system,  in  the 
ranks  of  the  great  powers  ;  thanks,  also,  to  the  wisdom  of  her  statesmen,  she  has,  for 
some  years  past,  taken  a  truly  remarkable  flight ;  her  preponderance  in  the  New  World 
would  give  her  an  eclat  surpassing  the  days  of  her  greatest  splendor.  Could  Spain  realize 
this  grand  idea  she  would  be  worthy  of  the  gratitude,  of  the  admiration  of  her  citizens. 
But  successes  of  this  kind  disdain  egotism  and  chicanery  ;  nations  that  pursue  such  objects 
should  commence  by  raising  their  banners  from  the  degradation  into  which  the  reverses  of 
other  times  have  thrown  them.  The  confidence  and  the  esteem  of  nations  are  accorded 
only  to  loyalty  and  the  moral  strength  of  nations.  So  we  are  permitted  to  doubt  whether 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Spanish  expedition,  whatever  may  have  been  his  intentions, 
has  served  his  country  well  in  withdrawing  after  the  example  of  England. 

For  the  rest,  we  need  not  regret  too  bitterly  the  withdrawal  of  Spain  in  an  enterprise  in 
which  she  had  the  honor  of  marching  by  our  side ;  we  will  prove  but  once  the  more  that, 
to  have  justice  done  us,  we  can  do  without  allies.  We  have  gone  to  Mexico  under  the 
impulse  of  necessity  ;  we  will  stay  there  under  the  impulse  of  duty  and  fidelity  to  the  end 
set  in  view.  Our  allies  have  acted  differently  ;  that  is  a  matter  that  concerns  them  ;  in 
such  cases,  on  each  one  be  the  responsibility  of  his  own  acts. 

The  honorable  M.  Picard  asks,  What  is  the  end  pursued  by  the  government  ?  Gentlemen, 
I  am  not  in  the  secrets  of  the  government ;  I  cannot,  therefore,  answer  him  absolutely  ; 
but  it  is,  however,  an  end  which  appears  evident  to  me  ;  which  can  be  immediately  under 
stood,  provided  we  examine  it  without  passion,  without  prejudice  ;  provided  we  examine 
with  precision  the  state  of  affairs.  We  desire,  and  the  treaty  of  October  31  says  so  clearly — 
we  desire  security  for  persons  and  property,  with  a  stable  and  regular  government ;  we 
shall  soon  be  enabled  in  Mexico  to  second  such  measures  as  will  answer  this  programme. 
How  long  shall  we  stay  there?  How  long  shall  we  figure  in  the  ulterior  events  of  Mexico  ? 
In  this  respect  I  cannot  unite  my  wishes  with  those  expressed  in  the  address.  For  questions 
of  this  nature  previsions  and  precise  replies  are  difficult.  In  any  war  whatever  the  future 
belongs  to  the  unforeseen.  All  that  can  be  said  at  present,  all  that  can  be  said  for  certain, 
is,  that  the  difficulties  which  we  will  have  to  conquer  will  be  slight  beside  the  difficulties 
already  surmounted  by  our  army  and  navy  with  a  degree  of  self-denial  and  courage  above 
all  praise.  [Good,  good.]  Our  fleet  will  no  longer  be  stationed  along  the  coast;  the 
means  of  transportation  are  being  organized  ;  a  railroad  will  shorten  the  distance  through 
the  hot  country  ;  our  troops  are  encamped  in  the  more  salubrious  regions  ;  all  arms  of  the 
service  will  rival  each  other  in  emulation  and  zeal,  and,  without  any  doubt,  our  soldiers 
will  soon  be  in  Mexico. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  139 

Gentlemen,  there  is  an  idea  cherished  with  much  complacency  when  it  is  desired  to  offtr 
opposition  to  the  Emperor's  government.  They  say,  "But  when  you  are  at  Mexico  wil1 
you  be  any  further  advanced?"  It  is  enough  to  have  studied,  to  have  read  the  history  of 
the  transactions  of  Mexico  for  the  last  forty  years  to  know,  in  an  incontestable  manner, 
that  the  occupation  of  Mexico,  Puebla,  and  the  seaports  will  comprise  the  whole  of  Mexico  ; 
there  will  be  partial  resistance  here  and  there,  which  will  cease  of  itself  for  want  of  means 
of  propagation.  The  city  of  Mexico  is  the  point  of  union  where  all  the  elements  of  Mexi 
can  vitality  are  concentrated  ;  it  is  the  capital  and  the  heart  of  the  nation  ;  and  surely  it 
cannot  be  seriously  said  that  once  at  Mexico  we  will  not  be  further  advanced  than  at  the 
setting  out  of  the  expedition.  At  the  city  of  Mexico  we  will  serve  as  a  rallying  point  for 
the  reaction  of  the  masses  against  the  upholders  of  disorder.  Our  presence  at  Mexico  will 
be  an  energetic  and  salutary  act  of  repression  ;  it  will  be  felt  throughout  the  whole  of  the 
New  World.  Our  maritime  commerce,  assured  of  protection,  will  multiply  its  operations 
in  America  to  the  great  advantage  of  international  intercourse  and  commercial  develop 
ment.  Our  emigrants  will  carry  with  confidence  the  genius  of  the  nation  into  the  wilder 
ness  of  the  New  World  ;  there  will  be  an  outlet  for  those  ardent  and  discontented  imagi 
nations  that  now  turn  their  eyes  towards  the  era  of  revolutions. 

Gentlemen,  what  I  say  may  be  criticised  ;  my  words  may  be  deemed  quite  poetical,  hut 
utterly  void  of  the  reality  ;  it  may  be  pretended  that  I  place  myself  in  a  world  of  chimeras. 
Will  not  these  assertions  be  refuted  by  considering,  for  example,  that  the  Argentine  Con 
federation,  that  country  so  rich  in  products  of  all  sorts,  has,  for  a  territory  of  200,000 
square  leagues,  only  800,000  inhabitants,  or  four  persons  to  the  square  league,  whilst  in 
France  there  are  1,100.  And  this  is  also  the  case  in  Mexico,  in  Central  America,  and  in 
all  the  old  Spanish  colonies  of  the  continent ;  everywhere  there  is  an  enormous  dispropor 
tion  between  the  extent  of  territory  and  the  amount  of  population.  How  does  it  happen 
that  the  population  does  not  increase  ?  It  is  because  there  is  no  security.  Adventurers, 
and  even  honorable  men,  can  repair  to  these  distant  countries,  but  commercial  enterprises 
recoil  before  such  innumerable  apprehensions.  Is  it  not  a  prudent  and  generous  under 
taking  to  restore  to  native  production  and  commercial  activity  an  important  part  of  the 
globe,  of  which  at  present  the  richness  remains  in  a  state  of  absolute  sterility? 

Now,  if  we  consider  the  question  in  a  purely  real  point  of  view,  for  at  that  I  aim,  there 
is  not  one  European  power  that  has  not  been  injured  in  its  relations  with  the  Spanish 
American  republics.  To  cite  but  one  instance,  which  has  reference  to  the  people  whom  I 
have  the  honor  to  represent :  A  few  years  ago  a  Girondist  emigration  was  attracted  to 
Paraguay  to  establish  a  colony  there,  which  was  called  New  Bordeaux.  Not  one  of  the 
engagements  entered  into  by  the  president  of  that  state  were  kept,  and  after  some  months' 
residence  most  of  our  countrymen  died,  after  tribulations  of  every  kind.  Others  took  refuge 
in  Buenos  Ayres. 

In  America,  in  La  Plata  especially,  our  diplomatic  agents  have  continual  discords  and 
quarrels  on  account  of  serious  and  numerous  claims  against  the  local  governments. 

There  are  more  than  100,000  Frenchmen  scattered  through  the  Spanish  American  repub 
lics.  Before  the  Mexican  expedition,  it  might  be  thought  that  we  abandoned  all  influence 
beyond  a  certain  circle  ;  that  we  knew  not  how  to  afford  to  our  countrymen  any  other 
assistance  than  that  of  protocols.  When  an  English  subject  is  touched,  the  blow  that 
strikes  him  resounds  throughout  all  England.  Shall  we  permit  it  to  be  supposed  that  we 
are  lallen  into  lethargy  ?  Shall  we  let  it  be  supposed  that  we  are  incapable  of  protecting 
our  own  ? 

Truly  it  is  too  easy  to  spread  alarm  and  false  suggestions  among  a  public  not  always 
correctly  informed  as  to  the  state  of  affairs ;  truly  it  is  too  easy  to  enumerate  the  rough 
labors  of  our  soldiers  and  sailors  whilst  attacking  the  spirit  of  system  or  adventure  which 
has  caused  them.  When  facts  are  thus  distorted,  when  this  manner  is  adopted,  why  not 
have  the  courage  to  bo  logical  to  the  end  ?  Why  not  have  the  boldness  to  say  that  they 
are  satisfied  with  a  restricted  influence  for  their  country  on  the  European  continent  ;  that 
beyond  this  our  countrymen  should  seek  assistance  under  other  flags,  [noise,]  like  those 
eastern  vessels,  which  shelter  their  fortunes  and  their  heads  under  foreign  protectorates? 
[Good,  good.]  If  we  reject  this  degradation  and  disgrace  we  must  proclaim  the  Mexican 
expedition  so  much  the  more  meritorious  by  how  much  the  more  arduous  and  difficult  it 
is.  Our  worthy  army,  too,  must  be  sustained  in  the  midst  of  its  severe  trials  by  the  con 
sciousness  that  we  are  usefully  defending  the  honor  and  the  interests  of  France.  [Good.] 
Our  soldiers  and  our  sailors,  so  admirable  and  so  devoted,  should  have  faith  in  their  work  ; 
and  in  fine,  those  among  them  who  fall  in  those  distant  regions  should  know  well  that 
they  sleep  in  glorious  death  in  serving  the  cause  of  humanity,  of  right,  and  of  civilization. 
[Good,  good.] 

(The  speaker  was  congratulated  by  many  of  his  friends  ) 

The  PRESIDENT.  Does  the  Chamber  desire  some  minutes  of  repose  ?    [Cries  of  "Yes,  yes."] 


140  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

[The  session  is  suspended  for  twenty  minutes.  It  is  resumed  at  a  quarter  before  five 
o'clock.] 

The  PRESIDENT.  Does  any  one  of  the  authors  of  the  amendment  desire  the  floor  to  reply 
to  M.  David  ? 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  Mr.  President,  I  should  have  desired  to -reply  to  the  minister. 

A  MEMBER.  The  minister  will  reply  to  you. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  My  intention  was  to  spare  the  time  of  the  Chamber.  It  is  well  known 
that  I  am  at  its  disposal ;  if  it  desires  me  to  reply  to  the  honorable  M.  David — [cries  of 
44 Yes, yes;  speak."] 

Gentlemen,  the  remarkable  speech  which  you  have  just  heard  causes  him  who  is  charged 
with  the  honor  of  replying  to  it  to  experience  an  embarrassment  which  I  can  explain  in 
a  few  words.  I  am  not  commissioned  to  defend  that  which  has  been  attacked  by  the  hon 
orable  M.  David,  and  he  does  not  appear  to  me  to  have  justified  that  which  was  criticised 
by  my  honorable  friend,  M.  Picard.  Grant  that  the  government  of  Juarez  has  to  reproach 
itself  with  serious  wrongs ;  that  it  is  by  no  means  popular  in  Mexico  ;  that  England  has 
been,  as  opposed  to  us,  haughty  and  perfidious ;  that  Spain,  our  ally,  has  broken  the 
treaty  which  united  her  with  us — all  these  things,  gentlemen,  have,  in  the  discussion  in  which 
we  are  now  engaged,  only  a  secondary  importance. 

I  will  say  as  much,  and  perhaps  still  more  justly,  of  the  brilliant  considerations  which  I 
have  remarked  in  the  speech  of  our  honorable  colleague.  His  generous  spirit  has  encoun 
tered  no  difficulty,  no  limit ;  and,  if  we  believe  him,  France  would  have  for  her  mission 
to  spread  everywhere  the  lights  and  benefits  of  civilization  ;  to  substitute  order  for  anarchy  ; 
to  plant  the  principles  of  morality  and  self-respect  wherever  they  are  badly  known;  and  to 
accomplish  this  glorious  work  she  should  regard  neither  the  treasures  which  flow  from  her 
liberal  hand,  nor  the  blood  of  her  children  which  she  sacrifices.  This  generous  programme 
has  the  inconvenience  of  strangely  involving  the  policy  which  our  interests  and  our  strength 
order  us  to  restrain;  and  it  is  not  to  open  outlets  for  human  activity;  it  is  not  even  to  per 
mit  those  diseased  and  impotent  imaginations,  of  which  M.  David  just  spoke,  to  go  and 
seek  under  eastern  skies  for  realities  which  they  have  dreamed,  that  our  soldiers  can  be 
engaged  and  our  treasures  spent. 

Moreover,  gentlemen,  I  may  be  allowed  to  add  that  all  these  things  could  have  found  a 
more  suitable  place  in  the  discussion  of  last  year.  If  the  Chamber  had  heard  them  then, 
it  would  have  known  to  what  it  engaged  itself ;  it  could  have,  with  full  knowledge  of  the 
question,  followed  the  honorable  M.  David  in  those  brilliant  and  distant  expeditions,  or  else 
stopped  short  with  those  who  advised  it  to  reserve  its  treasures  for  cases  exclusively  per 
sonal  to  us  And  the  language  then  held  by  the  minister  very  little  resembles  that  which 
we  now  find  in  the  mouth  of  the  honorable  M.  David. 

Permit  me,  gentlemen,  to  refer  back  to  that,  for  there  is  the  real  question.  We  have 
to  ask  ourselves  how  and  why  the  expedition  has  been  undertaken  ;  how  it  seems  to  have 
deflected  from  its  primitive  design,  and  how  it  may  be  terminated  ;  all  which  questions,  I 
need  not  say,  in  the  highest  degree  concern  the  future,  the  honor,  and  the  morality  of 
France.  At  the  moment  in  which  I  am  speaking,  gentlemen,  there  are  very  few  families 
that  are  not  uneasy  in  consequence  of  this  war — glorious  undoubtedly,  but  already  disas 
trous,  and  yet  so  obscure. 

It  is  becoming,  then,  in  the  means  of  control  that  belongs  to  it,  that  the  legislative  body 
should  be  able  to  clear  up  that  which  is  yet  confused,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  I  entreat 
you  to  have  the  kindness  to  hear  me  for  a  few  minutes. 

Well,  without  repeating  the  details  given  to  you  by  my  honorable  confrere,  M.  Picard, 
[laughter,]  I  wished  to  say,  my  colleague,  I  hope  the  Chamber  will  excuse  my  mistake  ;  I 
made  use  of  a  softer  word  than  I  am  in  the  habit  of  employing.  [««  Yes,  yes."  "  Go  on, 
go  on."]  I  was  saying  that  it  would  be  rash  for  me  to  repeat  all  the  details  given  to  you 
by  my  honorable  colleague,  Master  Picard.  [General  hilarity.]  I  have  need,  gentlemen, 
that  your  indulgence  should  be  on  a  level  with  my  weakness.  ["Go  on,  go  on."]  I  ask 
your  pardon  for  these  failings.  ["  No,  no"  "Go  on."] 

The  honorable  M.  Picard  has  explained  to  you  in  what  circumstances  the  treaty  of  Lon 
don  was  signed,  and  on  this  point  I  might  grant  to  our  honorable  colleague,  M.  David,  all 
that  he  has  said  rel  ttively  to  the  outrages  of  which  our  countrymen  have  been  the  object. 
In  this  respect  it  is  a  matter  of  public  notoriety  throughout  the  entire  world  that  Spanish 
America  is  unhappily  given  up  to  a  sort  of  chronic  anarchy. 

Mexico,  on  this  point,  is  not  an  exception  to  the  evil  ;  and  if  we  examine  its  neighbors 
in  Bolivia,  in  the  Argentine  republics,  we  will  meet  examples  in  every  respect  analogous. 
That  France  should  protect  those  who  suffered  thus  ;  that  she  should  interfere  diplomati 
cally — by  arms,  even,  if  it  was  necessary — no  one  would  contest,  and  when  the  honorable 
M.  David  recalled  certain  discussions  entered  into  under  the  monarchy  of  July,  the  military 
enterprises  to  which  it  resigned  itself,  in  spite  perhaps  of  its  too  pacific  tendency,  the  hon 
orable  M.  David  showed  us  an  evil  on  which  every  one  is  agreed,  and  which  it  was  urgently 


MEXICAN   AFFAIES.  141 

sought  to  heal.  Only  all  exaggerations  should  have  been  avoided.  Now,  permit  me  to 
say  that  no  serious  explanatioti  has  yet  been  rendered.  For  if  the  despatches  of  our  charge 
d'affaires  have  brought  to  our  notice  instances  of  violence  to  property  and  person,  the  rep 
resentatives  of  friendly  powers  have  replied  that  these  violences  were  the  consequence  of 
a  state  of  things  engendered  by  the  civil  war  ;  that  all  the  successive  governments  should 
be  accused  of  them,  and  the  responsibility  not  made  to  fall  exclusively  on  M.  Juarez. 

And  in  fact,  gentlemen,  it  has  been  told  you  General  Miramon,  his  lieutenant,  Marquez, 
and  others  whom  it  is  useless  to  mention,  had  all  successively  occupied  the  presidential 
chair,  and  the  civil  war  was  awhile  ago  related  to  you  in  energetic  terms  by  the  honorable 
speaker  to  whom  I  reply  ;  and  it  is  during  the  phases  of  this  civil  war  that  our  country 
men  have  had  most  to  suffer;  for  what  is  most  remarkable  is,  that  if  the  claims  which  have 
been  addressed  to  the  government  date  from  to-day,  their  causes  go  back  to  yesterday,  that 
is,  to  a  period  when  Juarez  was  not  yet  established  in  the  city  of  Mexico. 

I  have  said  that  I  did  not  wish  to  repeat  what  has  been  already  shown  ;  nevertheless,  I 
must  remark  that  Juarez  belonged  to  the  civil  order.  He  was  a  lawyer  ;  he  afterwards  be 
came  a  magistrate.  He  was  president  of  the  supreme  court  at  the  mqment  when  the  suf 
frages  of  his  fellow-citizens  called  him  to  the  presidency.  His  election  wasopposed  by  force  ; 
he  was  compelled  to  fly  ;  and  after  long  wanderings  in  the  United  States,  he  came  to  seek 
refuge  at  Vera  Cruz,  where  hi  authority  was  recognized.  It  was  not  till  towards  the  end 
of  the  year  1861,  in  the  last  days  of  December,  that— the  power  of  Mirarnon  having 
crumbled  away — Juarez  proceeded  to  occupy  at  Mexico  the  place  that  had  been  regularly 
assigned  to  him  by  the  usual  method  of  constitutional  institutions. 

And  it  is  at  the  moment  when  Juarez  proceeds  to  take  his  seat  that  all  the  reclamations 
are  addressed  to  him,  of  which  the  charge'  d'affaires  of  France  has  spoken  ;  and  he  is  yet 
exposed  to  all  the  horrors  of  civil  war,  which  the  capture  of  Mexico  has  been  unable  to 
stop  ;  he  struggles  amid  the  convulsions  of  a  violent  state.  It  is  at  this  moment  that  we 
send  in  our  complaints,  and  that  Spain  and  England  join  in  our  quarrel. 

Hitherto  the  attitude  of  France  is  irreproachable.  They  cannot  reproach  her  with  hav 
ing  too  lightly  received  the  information  given  to  her  by  her  agents  who  engage  her  to  hold 
herself  in  a  state  of  distrust.  But  what  is  important,  and  what  certainly  will  have  its  in 
fluence  with  you,  is,  that  the  two  great  powers  that  acted  in  concert  with  us  had  the  same 
interests  that  we  had.  No  one,  indeed,  has  dared  to  maintain  that  in  the  different  acts  of 
violence  committed  in  Mexico  there  have  been  any  specially  directed  against  the  French. 
If  our  national  colony  m  Mexico  is  important,  which  I  acknowledge,  the  English  and 
the  Spanish  have  establishments  there  no  less  considerable. 

Indeed,  our  honorable  colleague,  M.  David,  just  awhile  ago  told  you  what  vigor,  what 
vigilance,  England  usually  displayed  in  the  protection  of  her  subjects.  It  is,  theu,  gen 
tlemen,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  protecting  them  that  the  three  powers  form  an  agreement — 
that  they  wish  to  form  an  expedition  against  Mexico,  and  obtain  by  main  force  respect  for 
treaties  hitherto  most  outrageously  violated. 

I  acknowledge,  gentlemen,  that  at  this  moment  there  was  presented  to  the  minds  of  the 
negotiators  a  hypothesis,  which  I  have  the  right  to  qualify  now  as  a  chimera,  which  has 
sprung  from  the  brain  of  some  exiles,  and  which  probably  has  been  the  cause  of  all  the 
evil.  This  hypothesis  was  the  following  :  that  the  government  of  Juarez  was  as  unpopu 
lar  as  frail  ;  as  detested  as  all  those  which  had  preceded  it ;  that  as  soon  as  an  imposing 
force  should  present  itself  he  would  be  immediately  abandoned  by  all  his  partisans  ;  and 
that  it  would  be  possible  to  construct  a  new  government.  Permit  me,  gentlemen,  to  say 
that,  if  this  hypothesis  could  appear  seductive  when  it  was  proposed  at  length  by  interested 
lips,  it  seems  that  it  found  from  the  very  beginning  its  counteraction  in  the  very  inanity 
of  the  element  that  it  designated,  and  that  were  to  be  disposed  in  order  to  reconstitute  the 
pretended  new  government,  which  was  to  offer  to  the  belligerent  parties  sufficient  guaran 
tees,  for.  after  all,  it  was  only  substituting  Mexican  element  for  Mexican  element.  And  if 
you  introduce  the  foreign  element  there,  it  will  be  an  active  element  of  dissolution.  In 
deed,  no  one  doubts  but  that  a  haughty  nation  like  the  Mexican,  which,  perhaps,  pushes 
national  vanity  too  far,  might  regard  with  suspicion  and  distrust  the  undertakings  of  the 
foreigner. 

These  considerations  did  not  occur  to  the  minds  of  the  negotiators,  so  much  eloquence 
did  these  refugees  display  when  they  pleaded  the  cause  of  the  exile  whilst  pleading  that  of 
their  personal  interest  It  was  thought  that  it  was  only  requisite  to  touch  the  soil  of 
Mexico  in  order  that,  at  the  instant,  what  the  minister  last  year  called  the  phantom  of  a 
government  of  Juarez  should  immediately  vanish;  and  this  had  been  announced — I  appeal 
to  your  memories  and  to  the  proclamation,  become  famous,  of  the  loyal  officer  who  com 
manded  the  troops — encountering  obstacles  on  which  they  had  not  calculated.  Our  soldiers 
were  to  be  received  with  crowns  of  flowers.  Here  were  lying  promises,  extravagant  dreams, 
on  the  faith  of  which  it  was  wrong  to  enlist  the  policy  and  the  arms  of  France. 

I  acknowledge,  however,  that  this   hypothesis  had  been  diplomatically  foreseen,  and 


142  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

under  this  respect  our  honorable  colleague  M.  David  was  perfectly  right  to  call  attention  to 
it.  Only  in  this  regard  I  would  address  a  direct  reproach  to  the  member  of  the  cabinet. 
Whatever  be  our  position  in  the  state,  although  it  be  quite  modest,  although  it  becomes 
none  of  us  to  exaggerate  it,  it  must,  however,  be  acknowledged  that  it  transcends  all  posi 
tions  in  two  respects,  which  are  equally  interesting  to  be  recalled  to  mind. 

In  the  first  place,  we  dispose  of  the  finances ;  and  in  the  second  place,  having  acquired 
the  right  of  advising  the  government  on  its  external  as  well  as  on  its  internal  policy,  we 
have  the  right  to  speak  with  frankness.  Our  respect'  ought  not  to  arrest  the  truth  upon 
our  lips.  It  is  our  duty  to  declare  the  whole  truth  as  soon  as  ever  we  are  asked,  and  if  we 
were  convinced  that  a  war  was  unjust,  that  it  had  been  undertaken  on  false  principles,  wo 
should  say  so,  we  should  refuse  our  concurrence,  for  the  blood  of  France,  its  treasures,  can 
not  be  lavished  but  with  our  responsibility.  And  it  is  for  this  reason,  gentlemen,  that,  in 
similar  conjunctions,  the  words  which  are  pronounced  by  the  government  ought  to  be  im 
pressed  with  the  most  complete  frankness. 

I  regret  not  to  be  able  to  make  this  concession  to  those  which  were  pronounced  in  the 
month  of  March  last. 

You  know,  in  fact,  that  at  this  period  all  was  yet  uncertainty  and  confusion,  as  far  as 
concerned  the  Mexican  expedition.  Official  information  was  wanting  to  us  ;  we  were  con 
vinced  that  in  fact  the  little  expeditionary  corps,  which  had  been  directed  to  the  shores  of 
the  Atlantic,  had  no  other  purpose  than  to  solicit,  to  demand,  and  to  obtain,  in  case  of 
need  by  force  of  reparation  for  the  grievances  of  our  countrymen. 

And  yet  Europe,  which  has  a  fine  ear,  heard  rumors  of  various  indiscretions  which  had 
transpired  through  the  imperfectly  closed  doors  of  diplomacy,  and  of  which  the  press  had 
obtained  possession.  The  most  extraordinary  things  were  repeated.  It  was  said,  especially, 
that  there  was  an  intention  of  overturning  the  republic  of  Mexico,  not  to  put  in  the  place 
of  the  deposed  president  a  man  of  the  country,  acquainted  with  its  language,  its  usages, 
familiar  with  all  the  necessities  of  the  government,  but,  what  was  most  strange  to  the 
south,  a  prince  of  the  north,  an  archduke  of  Austria. 

And  you  have  not  probably  forgotten,  gentlemen,  the  reserved  manner  in  which  he  who  has 
the  honor  to  address  you  thought  it  his  duty  to  explain  himself  in  this  regard  whilst  asking 
of  the  government  such  information  as  it  interested  you  to  obtain.  For,  permit  me  to 
subjoin  it  here,  gentlemen,  here  was  the  dividing  line  between  these  two  opposing  policies — 
that  of  our  colleague,  the  honorable  M.  David,  and  that  of  my  honorable  colleague,  M. 
Picard ;  M.  David  wishing  to  have  civilization  reign  in  Mexico,  even  at  the  price  of  our 
millions  and  of  our  armies  ;  M.  Picard  and  I  modestly  demanding  that  we  should  confine 
ourselves  to  going  to  Mexico  to  obtain  payment  of  the  contributions  which  are  due,  and 
re-establish  security  which  is  threatened. 

What  will  the  minister  answer?  His  language,  gentlemen,  will  be  perfectly  clear,  and 
it  will  be  impossible  for  you  not  to  recognize  that  it  is  the  second  of  these  policies  which 
the  minister  has  adopted. 

"England  and  Spain,"  said  he,  "have  joined  with  us.  The  same  offers  have  been  made 
to  the  United  States  ..."  Hear  the  sequel,  gentlemen  ;  if  we  may  use  such  a  word  in  a 
discussion  so  serious,  I  might  say  that  this  application  is.  piquant.  "  But  the  United  States 
do  not  seem,  in  regard  to  Mexico,  to  concentrate  their  views  on  a  simple  reparation  of 
injury  done  ;  their  policy  sees  things  otherwise,  and  we  have  decided  to  act  without  them." 

Wonderful !  The  United  States  are  ambitious  ;  they  are  neighbors  ;  they  have  the  imme 
diate  occasion  of  sin  ;  we  who  are  so  very  distant,  who  can  undertake  expeditions  only  at 
very  great  expense,  we  are  wise  of  necessity,  and  we  desire  nothing  further  than  the  repa 
ration  of  our  grievances. 

"But,"  added  the  minister,  "  should  not  this  union  of  the  three  powers  of  itself  completely 
reassure  you  against  the  particular  suppositions  on  which  you  build  your  discourse  ?  Be 
yond  patent,  declared  facts,  you  persist  in  seeing  I  know  not  what  secret  machinations  of 
France  in  favor  of  a  foreign  interest 

"When  such  suppositions  are  affirmed,  there  should  be  at  least  some  proofs,  and  you 
have  none. 

"The  treaty  made  between  the  three  powers  is  clear  and  precise.  The  object  is  to  de 
mand  of  Mexico :  1st,  a  more  effectual  protection  for  the  property  and  persons  of  their 
subjects;  2d,  the  execution  of  the  obligations  entered  into  with  them  by  that  republic." 
And  the  second  article  of  the  treaty  adds:  "The  three  contracting  parties  engage  them 
selves,  &c.,  &c.''  But  this  is  a  thing  already  known  to  you,  and  I  shall  not  repeat  it. 

"All  this,"  said  the  minister  also,  "  clearly  indicates  to  you  both  what  the  three  powers 
wish  to  effect  in  common,  and  what  they  forbid  themselves  to  do." 

And,  after  having  explained  that  the  occupation  of  the  capital  is  necessary  for  the  repa 
ration  of  our  grievances,  the  minister  adds:  "  See  why  our  standards  are  carried  to  Mexico. 
Our  troops,  having  set  'out  on  the  20th  of  February,  should  have  now  arrived  there." 
Unhappily,  gentlemen,  events  proceed  not  as  fast  as  our  speeches. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  143 

It  is  not  the  orators  that  I  attack  ;  the  intention  of  the  minister  was  full  of  patriotism, 
but  he  did  not  foresee,  I  am  sure,  the  obstacles  of  all  kinds  which  our  brave  soldiers  were 
to  encounter. 

The  minister  continued  :  ' '  Now,  if  in  the  midst  of  this  conflict,  through  a  reaction  easily 
conceivable,  the  unfortunate  populations  of  those  countries,  weary  at  last  of  all  the  evils 
inflicted  on  them  for  forty  years  by  the  incessant  alternatives  of  anarchy  and  tyranny, 
formed  the  wish  to  shake  off  at  length  the  yoke  of  their  oppressors  conquered  by  us ;  if  in 
an  hour  of  good  sense,  of  instinct  of  sovereign  welfare,  they  endeavored  to  give  to  them 
selves  at  least  a  government  of  order  and  liberty,  shall  we  hinder  them?" 

80  we  go  to  Mexico  not  to  hinder  it  from  giving  itself  a  government. 

"This  case,"  also  added  the  minister,  "is  precisely  provided  for  by  the  treaty  as  well 
as  by  the  instruction:  we  will  not  bind  the  people  by  force  .  .  . 

' k  We  will  not  go  to  violate  at  Mexico  the  independence  of  the  popular  will  ;  but  we 
will  leave  these  unfortunate  people  perfectly  free  .  .  .  .  ;  if  they  wish  to  continue  their 
miserable  existence,  we  will  not  impose  on  them  a  better  fate." 

One  could  not  be  more  categorical  than  this ;  and  it  is  here  that  the  minister  is  in  com 
plete  variance  with  our  honorable  colleague,  M.  David  : 

"  Yes,  if  at  the  sight  of  our  squadrons  there  is  revealed  in  this  Mexican  people  a  move 
ment  attracting  them  towards  us,  we  will  not  close  our  arms  to  them,  but  we  will  not  use 
force ;  and  if  they  prefer  the  miserable  government  under  which  they  live,  we  will  do 
nothing  to  cause  its  downfall." 

These  are  the  words  that  were  spoken  in  the  name  of  the  government ;  here  is  the  en 
gagement  in  the  face  of  which  you  have  given  your  adhesion  to  its  policy.  And  as  to 
those  allusions  which  I  had  unfortunately  allowed  myself  to  make  in  regard  to  that 
Austrian  prince,  see  with  what  disdain  the  minister  replies  to  me: 

"And  as  to  those  rumors  which,  says  the  honorable  member  with  remarkable  foresight, 
give  umbrage  to  the  ambassador  of  her  Britannic  Majesty,  permit  me  to  decline  dwelling 
upon  them.  Officers  have  said  at  parting  that  they  were  going  to  Mexico  to  enthrone  a 
foreign  prince.  What !  you  imagine  that  this  great  secret  of  diplomacy,  if  it  ever  existed, 
would  have  been  thus  confided  to  the  first  officer  that  catne  on  his  way  to  Mexico !  This  is 
not  certainly  serious.  If,  as  you  say,  our  ally  has  become  uneasy  at  these  rumors,  you  tell 
us  also  that  she  applied  to  the  proper  quarter  for  information  as  to  their  foundation  in 
reality  ;  she  asked  our  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  and  you  acknowledge  yourselves  the 
reply  has  been  a  denial  of  the  truth  of  these  rumors." 

This  is  important,  gentlemen  ;  for  if  the  contrary  is  true,  what  will  you  think  of  the 
language  of  the  minister  ? 

As  to  me,  it  |s  painful  to  me  to  suppose  that  the  Chamber  has  been  deceived ;  yet,  to 
repel  such  a  supposition,  I  must  admit  another  equally  inadmissible ;  it  is  that  the  minister 
of  foreign  affairs  has  so  well  kept  the  secret  that  the  minister  without  portfolio  did  not 
know  it.  [Laughter.]  For  it  is  in  the  month  of  March,  1862,  that  this  language  is  held 
to  you.  Now  hear  what  was  that  of  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  in  the  month  of  Octo 
ber,  1861,  that  is,  at  the  very  time  that  the  treaty  was  signed.  He  gives  an  account  of  a 
conversation  had  with  the  English  minister: 

"  Such  an  event  (he  speaks  of  the  social  dissolution  in  Mexico)  cannot  be  a  matter  of 
indifference  to  England,  and  the  principal  means,  in  our  opinion,  to  prevent  its  accomplish 
ment  would  be  the  establishment  in  Mexico  of  a  regenerative  government  strong  enough 
to  arrest  its  internal  dissolution."  Pursuing  the  development  of  these  ideas  in  the  form 
of  an  intimate  and  confidential  conversation,  "  I  have,"  says  he,  "added  that, in  case  the 
contingency  which  I  have  indicated  should  be  realized,  the  Emperor's  government,  free 
from  all  anticipations  of  self-interest,  laid  aside  in  advance  all  ideas  of  aspiring  to  the 
candidacy  for  any  prince  of  the  imperial  family,  and  that,  desirous  of  respecting  the  sus 
ceptibilities  of  all  parties,  it  would  see  with  pleasure  the  choice  of  the  Mexicans  and  the 
assent  of  the  powers  fall  on  a  prince  of  the  house  of  Austria." 

See,  gentlemen,  the  value  of  ministerial  denials.  They  are  themselves  belied  by  official 
documents.  The  truth  has  not  been  told  to  the  Chamber,  [murmurs  of  disapprobation  ;] 
indeed,  its  conscience  has  been  ensnared.  [Cries  of  No,  No  ]  For  if  the  Chamber  had 
known  that  there  was  question,  not  of  avenging  our  countrymen,  but  of  destroying  one 
government  to  replace  it  -by  another,  its  decision  would  certainly  have  been  different. 
[Renewed  marks  of  disapprobation.] 

However  it  be,  you  see  that,  in  this  first  phase  of  the  expedition,  you  were  assured  at  the 
same  time  by  the  concurrence  of  the  other  two  powers  and  by  the  declaration  made  to 
you,  that  our  forces  and  our  treasures  should  be  employed  only  in  avenging  our  own 
injuries  ;  and  that  if  we  ought  to  accept  a  political  regeneration  that  might  be  offered  to 
us,  we  ought  by  no  means  to  impose  it. 

Three  months  pass  away,  and  from  the  month  of  March  I  proceed  to  the  month  of  June, 


144  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

1862,  when  the  same  discussion  continued  before  you,  after  the  withdrawal  of  England  and 
in. 

Our  honorable  colleague,  M.  David,  has  told  us  that  England  never  participated  in  this 
expedition  but  with  reluctance ;  that  she  was  well  pleased  to  leave  the  burden  of  it  to 
France  and  Spain  and  reap  the  fruits  herself. 

If  this  is  so,  I  derive  from  this  concession  of  my  honorable  opponent  the  proof,  that  I 
just  sought,  of  the  exaggeration  of  the  pretended  violences  committed  against  resident 
foreigners  in  Mexico  ;  and  if  thit  which  has  been  said  was  true,  England  would  never  have 
shown,  in  regard  to  her  own  subjects,  that  strange  disdain  of  their  lives  and  property. 

As  to  Spain,  every  one  will  acknowledge  with  me  that,  from  this  point  of  view,  she  had 
interests  conformable  to  ours.  Yet  discord  slipped  in  among  the  allies.  These  are,  M. 
David  has  told  you,  secondary  facts.  I  ask  him  a  thousand  pardons ;  these  are,  on  the 
contrary,  capital  facts,  not  only  because  they  leave  us  alone  exposed  to  all  the  results  of 
this  hazardous  expedition,  but  also  because  they  throw  a  light  extremely  precious  on  the 
real  motives  which  should  be  set  forth  in  opposition  to  the  apparent  motives  which  alone 
the  Chamber  has  known. 

It  appears  from  all  the  official  documents  published,  that,  when  the  plenipotentiaries 
met  at  La  Soledad,  the  charge"  d'affaires  of  France  brought  forward  an  ultimatum  against 
which  the  charge's  d'affaires  of  England  and  Spain  protested ;  and  they  immediately  de 
clared  that  they  had  come,  not  to  establish  such  or  such  a  government,  not  to  oppose  such 
or  such  an  individual,  but  to  obtain  serious  guarantees  and  reparation  of  grievances. 

Permit  me,  gentlemen,  to  say  here  what  undoubtedly  has  already  occurred  to  your  minds, 
that  this  scheme,  so  brilliantly  set  off  by  the  eloquence  of  him  to  whom  I  reply — that  is  to  say, 
the  scheme  of  a  government  inaugurated  for  the  greater  glory  and  the  greater  advantage  of 
France — should  not  cause  us  to  forget  the  material  elements  of  the  question.  I  suppose 
that,  in  fact,  France  entertained  this  view  in  the  very  beginning  ;  I  suppose  that  she  con 
cealed  it  from  the  eyes  of  the  Chamber ;  and  this  point  is  incontestable,  that,  at  least  to 
accomplish  it  worthily,  must  she  have  been  ruled  by  questions  of  principle  and  not  by 
questions  of  person. 

You  tell  us  that  you  went  to  attack  Juarez.  I  reply  that  you  went  to  inaugurate  General 
Almonte ;  you  have  made  yourselves  the  champions  of  an  individual ;  you  had  in  your 
train  the  pernicious  remnants  of  the  Mexican  exiles,  who,  deserting  the  true  principles  of 
nationality,  appealed  to  the  foreigner  to  conquer  back  for  them  the  power  they  had  lost. 
Here  is  the  explanation  of  this  moral  revolt  in  Mexico.  In  all  that  the  honorable  M.  David 
has  said  with  regard  to  the  elements  of  dissolution  there  is  much  truth.  It  must  be 
acknowledged  that,  when  a  country  is  delivered  up  for  many  years  to  an  anarchy,  so  to 
speak,  chronic,  it  seems  very  near  its  dissolution  ;  but,  as  my  friend  M.  Picard  said,  there 
is  a  way  of  reuniting  immediately  those  wills  divided  by  miserable  ambition  ;  they  can  be 
reunited  in  one  common  sentiment,  the  love  of  country. 

Does  it  not  belong  to  France  to  awake  this  sentiment  ?  Can  she  not  take  advantage  of 
it  ?  Consult  all  those  who  know  Mexico  ;  they  will  tell  you  that  if  the  Spaniards  were  de 
tested,  the  French  were  regarded  with  affection.  I  go  so  far  as  to  assert  that  if  the  French 
Lad  announced  at  first  that  they  would  not  interfere  in  any  way  with  the  internal  politics 
of  the  country,  that  they  came  to  re-establish  order,  that  it  was  a  matter  of  little  conse 
quence  to  them  that  the  presidential  chair  should  be  occupied  by  such  or  such  a  one,  the 
road  to  Mexico  would  have  been  open  to  them.  In  place  of  this,  they  present  themselves 
with  an  ultimatum,  in  which  they  say  to  Juarez,  the  choice  of  the  national  suffrage,  "De 
part  ;  you  are  a  monster  and  the  enemy  of  the  human  race."  Should  we  be  surprised  that 
Mexican  pride  revolted  ;  that  from  all  sides  they  rushed  to  arms  ;  and  that  this  people,  who 
was  supposed  to  have  fallen  into  complete  dissolution,  resisted  this  French  expedition? 
thanks  certainly,  I  doubt  not,  to  the  advantages  of  a  material  situation,  but  also  to  prove 
that  it  wished  to  defend  the  sacred  soil  of  the  country  against  the  invasion  which  threatened 
it. 

They  told  Juarez  to  vacate  his  place  ;  and  there  are  two  ways  of  declaring  this  sad  truth 
to  a  government — either  to  say  so  directly,  or  to  inform  it  of  it  by  presenting  an  ultimatum 
impossible  to  be  executed.  This  is  what  happened,  and  this  is  precisely  why  the  ministers 
of  England  and  Spain  resisted  this  pretension  of  our  minister.  And  here  I  cannot  avoid 
remarking  with  what  deplorable  levity,  to  use  no  severer  expression,  this  affair  was  con 
ducted. 

What  was  the  importance  of  the  debts  due  to  us  by  Mexico  as  regulated  by  treaty  ?  I 
have  said,  gentlemen,  that  Mexico  was  our  debtor,  according  to  treaty  signed,  for  750,000 
piastres.  There  were  other  claims,  but  they  were  conditional ;  the  amount  did  not  reach 
5,000,000  of  francs 

What  does  our  charge"  d'affaires  do?  Gentlemen,  read  the  first  article  of  his  ultimatum: 
••  Mexico  engages  to  pay  to  France  the  sum  of  12,000,000  of  piastres,  at  which  is  estimated 
the  whole  of  the  French  claim."  Sixty  millions  of  francs !  If  in  private  affairs,  gentle- 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  145 

men,  a  similar  process  were  employed,  what  qualification  would  you  apply  to  those  who 
had  recourse  to  it? 

Well,  the  minister  himself  was  not  informed  of  this  claim  ;  he  was  ignorant  of  it  when 
he  was  advised  of  it  by  the  protests  of  the  allied  powers.  Behold,  gentlemen,  in  what  re 
served,  yet  firm,  terms  he  observes  to  his  charge  d'affaires  that  perhaps  he  had^gone  too- 
far.  "  The  figure  at  which  the  department  has  been  forced  to  value  our  claims  did  not  reach 
that  fixed  by  your  first  article." 

What !  Gentlemen,  our  charge  d'affaires,  in  a  matter  so  important,  acted  without  an  un 
derstanding  with  his  minister.  A  blank  was  given  for  750,000  piastres,  and  by  a  shameful 
overcharge  pretensions  are  so  far  raised  as  to  demand  60,000,000  of  francs. 

The  minister  is  not  informed  of  it,  and  he  is  under  the  necessity,  when  addressing 
the  ambassador  of  France  at  London,  to  acknowledge  that  in  fact  the  thing  is  pushed  very 
much  too  far.  "  In  writing  to  M.  Dubois  de  Saligny,"  says  the  same  minister,  "in  the 
sense  of  the  preceding  developments,  I  have,  moreover,  left  him  at  liberty  to  use  further 
the  latitude  allowed  him  by  my  first  instructions  to  modify  his  demands." 

To  modify  his  demands  !  And  it  is  France  that  speaks — France  that  has  an  army  at  her 
back,  that  seems  to  have  but  a  word  to  pronounce  to  triumph  over  this  petty  people  ;  she 
demands  60,000,000,  when  there  are  due  only  750,000  piastres,  and  perhaps  5,000,000.  I 
shall  not  dwell  upon  this  subject,  gentlemen  ;  it  affects  your  sentiments  of  probity  too  for 
cibly  not  to  be  understood  by  you. 

I  might  say  as  much,  and  yet  more  forcibly,  of  another  article  of  the  ultimatum,  which 
is  designated  as  No.  3.  It  is  utterly  inexplicable  ;  it  should  draw  categorical  explanations 
from  the  government  which  has  hitherto  kept  silence  on  the  subject;  arid  if  I  have  any  re 
proach  to  make  to  the  commission,  it  is  that  they  have  not  previously  called  for  them.  Al 
ready,  indeed,  gentlemen,  the  questions  of  last  year  had  put  them  on  the  way  ;  they  knew 
that  it  was  a  rotten  affair,  and  that  the  thing  should  at  all  events  be  cleared  up. 

Here  is  article  3d  :  "  Mexico  shall  be  bound  to  the  entire,  loyal  and  immediate  execution 
of  the  contract  concluded  in  the  month  of  February,  1859,  between  the  Mexican  govern 
ment  and  the  Jecker  house." 

Now,  what  is  the  importance  of  this  contract?  15,000,000  of  piastres  or  75,000,000  of 
francs  ;  and  it  was  required  that  Mexico,  in  the  state  of  distress  in  which  it  was,  should 
succumb  under  the  weight  of  our  armies  or  pay  60,000,000  at  first  and  75,000,000  after 
wards,  that  is,  135,000,000  francs. 

Such  were  the  demands  made.  It  was  in  a  military  way  that  Mexico  was  addressed  ;  and 
if  obedience  was  not  rendered  to  these  demands,  war  was  to  be  declared.  It  is  the  first  time, 
in  my  knowledge  at  least,  that  in  a  diplomatic  treaty,  in  an  ultimatum,  in  a  summons  ad 
dressed  by  an  armed  people  to  one  whom  it  can  invade,  that  there  are  thus  found  stipulated 
guarantees  of  reimbursement  for  an  affair  purely  private,  and  I  add,  for  an  affair  that  was 
known  at  the  time  by  those  residing  in  Mexico  as  a  shameful  transaction. 

Assuredly  the  responsibility  cannot  attach  to  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  ;  but  if  his 
honor  is  entirely  acquitted  iu  this  regard,  have  I  not  the  right  to  accuse  his  prudence  ? 
Was  he  permitted  to  ignore  the  Jecker  affair  ?  Did  it  not  make  noise  enough  in  Mexico  ? 
When  there  was  question  of  this  departure  for  Mexico,  everything  was  done  with  such 
carelessness  that  they  ignored  the  men,  the  things,  the  realities  with  which  they  were  to 
come  in  contact.  Here,  however,  is  the  position  assumed  by  the  minister  of  foreign  af 
fairs,  and  you  will  see  in  what  terms  he  expresses  himself  on  this  point  : 

"  As  to  what  especially  concerns  article  3,  relatively  to  the  Jecker  affair,  there  is  evi 
dently  a  distinction  to  be  made  in  this  case  between  what  directly  concerns  our  interests 
and  what  is  foreign  to  ifc.  When  General  Miramon  issued  the  decree  which  brought  on  his 
contract  with  the  Jecker  house,  the  communications  of  the  legation  having  stated  that  for 
eign  commerce  derived  considerable  advantage  from  the  financial  measure  facilitated  by 
that  house  to  the  Mexican  government,  it  was  natural  that  we  should  regard  it  as  of  great 
utility  to  hinder,  as  much  as  possible,  the  revocation  of  this  measure  and  of  the  operations 
which  facili fated  it.  It  is  with  this  view  that  the  instructions  of  the  department  have  in 
vited  you,  as  you  have  already  t;vk«n  the  initiative,  to  sustain  the  claims  and  maintain  the 
complaints  provoked  on  this  question  by  the  conduct  of  the  government  of  Juarez.  It 
would  now,  however,  appear  from  the  opposition  with  which  you  have  met  on  the  part  of 
Sir  Charles  Wyke  to  your  demands  in  respect  to  this  affair,  that  no  advantage,  they  say, 
would  accrue  to  foreign  commerce  from  the  contract  made  with  the  Jecker  house,  but  that 
this  latter  only  would  be  exclusively  benefited  by  the  accomplishment  of  this  contract.  I 
do  not  sufficiently  understand  the  state  of  the  case,  but  I  call  your  attention  to  the  im 
portance  of  distinguishing  well  in  this  affair  between  what  may  really  involve  the  interests 
which  it  is  our  duty  to  defend,  and  what  may  concern  others  of  a  very  different  character. 

"The  actual  government  cannot  pretend  to  deprive  our  countrymen  of  advantages  as 
sured  to  them  by  a  regular  measure  adopted  by  the  'administration  of  General  Miramon, 
for  the  only  reason  that  that  measure   emanated   from   an   enemy  ;  but  we,  on  our  part, 
H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 10 


146  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

• 

would  have  DO  fou&datiop  in  reason  were  we  to  \vish   to  impose  obligations  on  the  actual 
government  that  did  not  flow  essentially  from  governmental  responsibilty." 

Ah,  gentlemen ,  I:.M  \«.-:tr  I  heard  the  minister  without  portfolio  repeat  with  complacency , 
"  When  \ve  are  a  great  people,  when  we  aie  a  great  government,  wbt-n  we  direct  great  af 
fairs,  we  should  also  be  a  vigilant  minister.1'  :  :  ami  it  was  not  permitted  thus 
to  involve  negotiations  on  uncertainties,  on  sup]  :ich  the  least  ex 
amination  cause?  to  vanish  and  perhaps  crmnblt  uuder  the  reprobation  of  the  public  con 
science.  What  !  the  minister  is  not  in^trueted:  he  is  ignoiaut.  At  the  smallest  objection 
made  by  the  representative  of  Ei, gland,  he  stops  short  and  sa\s  that  it  is  possible  that  the 
government  of  Miramon  has  done  a  thing  that  was  not  entirely  indifferent  to  foreign  com 
merce. 

But  if  all  these  things  exist  you  ought  to  have  known  them  ;  you  are  minister  in  order 
to  know  them  ;  it  was  your  duty  to  obtain  information.  War  is  not  a  play  left  to  the  ca 
prices  of  a  vain  ambition  ;  when  people  engage  in  it,  when  they  send  their  fleets  beyond 
the  seas,  when  they  deprive  their  country  of  her  children  and  her  money,  \ve  should  know 
what  they  wish  to  do  and  what  thty  wish  to  demand  ;  and  we  should  not.  at  the  very  first 
claim,  immediately  recoil  as  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  has  done,  uncertain  as  he  was 
about  the  pretensions  of  his  representative. 

But,  gentlemen,  this  is  not  enough,  and  it  is  not  only  on  the  ignorance  of  the  minister 
of  foreign  affairs  that  I  rely  to  characterize  this  deplorable  affair  as  I  should  ;  it  is  on  its 
own  nature,  and  it  behooves  you  to  understand  it  thoroughly.  These  75,000,000  that  Jecker 
claims  were,  the  representative  of  England  asserted',  a  manifest  robbery  in  regard  to  the 
Mexican  public  and  government.  Who,  in  fact,  was  Jecker?  He  was,  as  you  have  been 
told,  a  Swiss  banker  ;  he  arrived  poor  in  Mexico,  and  in  twenty  years  has  made  a  fortune 
of  more  than  three  millions,  which,  I  may  mention  it  in  passing,  proves  that  foreign  com 
merce  is  not  entirely  abandoned  to  plunderers.  [Laughter.]  In  possession  of  a  fortune  so 
considerable,  he  has  plunged  into  great  industrial  schemes  ;  he  has  embarked  in  those  en 
terprises,  objects  of  the  dreams  and  the  hopes  of  the  speculators  of  other  times  as  of  the 
speculators  of  to-day,  which  sometimes  hide  behind  diplomacy  to  acquire  the  confidence  of 
the  public.  I  refer  to  partnerships  in  common  ;  Jecker  engulphed  considerable  capital  in 
them,  and  in  1859  his  affairs  became  much  embarrassed. 

Beside  him  was  another  person  who  was  not  less  so  ;  I  refer  to  General  Miramon.  At  the 
end  of  his  resources,  having  pillaged  even  the  churches,  as  our  honorable  colleague,  M. 
David,  very  well  observed,  (for  this  party  which  they  call  ultra-clerical,  be  sure,  does  not 
belie  its  name,  and  when  it  wishes  to  coin  money  with  religion  it  does  not  spare  it,)  General 
Miramon,  with  empty  coffers,  turns  to  Jecker  who  can  offer  him  only  similar  ones.  But 
there  was  the  public  to  replenish  the  one  and  the  other  ;  and  it  was  then  that  they  made 
that  wonderful  scheme,  and  that  they  said  to  one  another,  "  If  Jecker  is  authorized  by  the 
government  to  make  a  great  loan,  the  public  will  come  into  it  ;  the  Mexican  public  (it  is  a 
little  French  in  this  respect)  [laughter]  will  believe  the  line  promises  that  will  be  made  to 
them,  and  when  they  will  be  told  that  they  will  derive  a  handsome  emolument  from  it 
they  will  bring  their  capital.  But  there  was  not  question  only  of  capital.  If  they  had 
authorized  Jecker  to  issue  fifteen  millions  in  paper,  and  if  they  had  thought  that  he  would 
find  fifteen  millions  of  specie,  they  would  have  committed  a  grave  error,  and  these  gentle 
men  were  incapable  of  that.  [Laughter.]  All  who  are  acquainted  with  Mexico  know  to 
perfection  that  it  is  flooded  with  false  money.  The  successive  governments  have  wished  to 
leave  a  souvenir  behind  them,  and  that  souvenir  is  bankruptcy.  They  have  all  emitted 
bills  of  crtdit  with  which  they  have  flooded  the  country,  and  which,  to  be  sure,  they  for 
got  to  pay  when  they  left  power.  [Renewed  laughter.] 

There  were,  especially,  the  Peza  bills,  issued  in  1856,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  but  the  date 
is  of  little  importance  ;  what  I  am  sure  of  it*,  that  they  circulated  among  the  Mexican 
people  enormously  depreciated.  Those  who  took  them  at  7  per, cent,  weie  considered  rash  ; 
these  bills  sold  only  for  6  per  cent,  of  their  nominal  value.  Well,  it  was  arranged  between 
General  Miramon  and  the  Jecker  house  that  the  Jeckei  house  should  it-sue  fifteen  millions 
of  paper  to  be  guaianteed  by  the  government.  The  government  guaranteed  its  reimburse 
ment  at  the  end  of  five  years  by  means  of  annuities  which  I  need  not  explain  ;  it  guaran 
teed,  moreover,  the  payment  of  the  interest  semi-annual' y,  and  the  Jecker  house  was 
commissioned  for  this  operation. 

But  the  Mexican  government,  as  I  have  had  the  honor  of  sayiom,  did  not  expect  to 
receive  fifteen  milions  ;  far  from  it.  It  was  S'tid  that  the  Pezi  bills  would  be  received  in 
payment  at  their  nominal  value,  provided  they  were  willing,  ori  these  bill-;,  to  pay  25  per 
cent,  in  specie.  These  25  per  cents,  chemically  disengaged  (I  hope  t'»  \i  will  allow 

me  this  expression)  from  all  these  scoria1  of  stock-jobbing,  formed,  in  n-ality.  the  net  residue 
which  was  to  return  into  the  treasury  of  Mexico. 

However,  as  Jecker  is  the  associate  of  Miramon,  Minunon  will  i\-.:i  come  off  best. 
[Laughter.]  The  net  profit  was  to  be  3,750,000  piastres  to  the  Jecker  louse,  which  being 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  147 

commissioned  for  this  operation,  had  allowed  itself  a  commission  of  20  per  cent.,  that  is, 
750,000  piastres  ;  and  as  it  was  in  its  counting-rooms  that  the  semi-annual  interest  was  to 
be  paid,  it  had  very  prudently  asked  the  person  with  whom  it  treated  to  let  the  money 
remain  in  its  hands  as  a  guarantee  of  the  debt.  So  that  Jecker  first  deducted  750,000 
piastres  for  commission,  and  afterwards  2,250,000  piastres  for  guarantee  ;  whence  it  followed 
that  the  residue,  which  really  entered  the  coffers  of  the  Mexican  government,  was  only 
750,000  piastres.  And  if  you  please  to  take  notice  that  the  Mexican  government  repre 
sented  by  Miramon  borrowed  15,000,000  of  piastres,  yon  will  see  that  it  borrowed  at  90 
per  cent.  [Laughter.] 

You  think  we  are  at  the  end  ?  Ah  !  it  is  because  you  know  not  the  usages  of  traffickers 
in  Mexico.  See  how  matters  were  carried  on  : 

It  has  been  said  that  the  foreign  merchants  took  a  considerable  number  of  these  bills.  I 
have  here  the  txpo&i  of  the  operation,  and  see  what  it  states.  I  have  made  an  exact  esti 
mate  of  the  bills  taken  by  the  public,  and  the  public  were  yet  much  too  confiding,  for  they 
took  about  471,275  piastres  ;  as  to  the  surplus,  it  remained  in  the  hands  of  Jecker,  who 
was  unable  to  negotiate  it,  that  is,  fourteen  millions  and  a  fraction  of  a  million. 

1  have  forgotten  to  give  the  Chamber,  and  I  ask  pardon  for  it,  but  I  am  not  as  much  at 
my  ease  here  as  at  the  palace.  [Laughter.]  I  have  forgotten  to  give  the  dates  of  the 
operation.  This  operation  took  place  in  the  month  of  February,  1859  ;  it  was  at  that  time 
that  Jecker  issued  a  part  of  those  bills  and  in  the  course  of  the  year  1860. 

Did  Jecker  place  in  the  hands  of  the  Mexican  government  the  750,000  piastres  for 
which  he  was  accountable?  No.  See  what  he  had  the  ingenuity  to  make  Miramon 
accept.  I  said  ingenuity  ;  I  am  wrong  ;  usurers  everywhere  resemble  each  other,  and  it  is 
not  only  in  Mexico  that  children  are  compelled  to  receive  things  of  which  they  have  the 
least  need.  [Laughter.]  Miramon  was  to  receive  1,490,414-  piastres.  Here  is  what  he 
did  receive  :  The  public  paid  in  money  52,541  piastres  and  £6  fractions.  Jecker  paid 
566,386  piastres  and  27  fractions,  which  in  reality  makes  Jecker  to  have  paid  in  specie  on- 
these  1,490,414  piastres  only  618,927  piastres.  He  paid  in  afterwards,  in  bills  issued  by 
Zuloaga,  342,000  piastres  ;  in  Peza  bills,  30,000  piastres  ;  in  Jecker  bills,  24,750  piastres  ; 
to  the  order  of  sundries  on  the  customs,  100,000  piastres  ;  in  equipments,  70,000  piastres  ; 
in  various  bills  receivable,  6,750  piastres  and  56  fractions  ;  in  reimbursement  of  the  Grosso 
debt,  298,000  piastres;  sum  total,  1,490,428  piastres  and  39  fractions.  This  Grosso, 
whose  reimbursement  is  here  put  into  account  as  payment  for  298,000  piastres,  is  a  nephew 
of  Miramon.  Miramon  had  conceded  to  him  the  exclusive  privilege  of  clothing  the  Mexi 
can  troops,  which,  as  our  soldiers  must  be  by  this  time  convinced,  is  an  operation  costing 
very  little  to  him  who  is  charged  with  it.  [General  laughter.]  This  Grosso  had  the  inge 
nuity  to  present  a  bill  for  payment  of  298,000  piastres,  and  if  the  investigations  which  have 
been  sent  me  are  correct,  the  Mexican  government  has  been  certainly  robbed  of  two-thirds. 

It  is  by  means  of  all  these  deductions  that  Jecker  succeeded  in  charging  the  Mexican 
government  with  all  these  sums  on  which  he  paid  in,  in  reality,  only  750,000  piastres.  It 
follows  from  this,  that  having  disbursed  in  all  1,000,000  of  piastres,  in  reality  he  retained 
1,500,000,  so  that  instead  of  being  a  creditor  he  should  be  accounted  a  debtor.  And  here 
is  the  honest  capitalist  in  whose  favor  our  minister  interferes,  for  whom  our  ultimatum  is 
going,  perhaps,  to  shed  the  blood  of  the  French  soldiers  and  the  Mexican  soldiers  ;  here  is 
the  reason  of  our  intervention  ;  here  are  the  lessons  of  morality  and  civilization  that  France 
is  going  to  give  the  world.  [Expressions  of  dissent  from  many  benches.] 

And  as  a  final  fact,  I  shall  add  the  following  :  It  has  been  said,  and  repeated  at  different 
times  in  the  papers,  that  it  was  the  fall  of  Miramon  that  caused  the  failure  of  Jecker. 
Nothing  more  untrue.  Jecker  failed  in  the  month  of  May,  1860.  I  have  the  record  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  meeting  held  by  his  creditors  in  September,  1860,  and  it  was  in 
December,  1861,  that  Miramon  was  overthrown. 

Gentlemen,  Jecker's  bills  were  admitted  in  his  failure  and  bought  at  a  low  price.  Is 
Jecker  the  keeper  of  them  ?  Has  he  caused  them  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  third  parties  ? 
Should  we,  in  this  respect,  consider  as  furnishing  information  worthy  of  being  .brought 
before  the  Chamber  all  the  data  in  our  hands  ?  You  all  know  to  what  I  allude.  We  have 
received  letters  emanating  from  members  of  the  Jecker  family,  and  intercepted.  From 
these  letters  it  would  appear  that  Jecker  flattered  himself,  very  unreasonably,  no  doubt, 
and  calumniously,  that  he  would  find  (among  the  high  personages  and  functionaries  of 
France)  a  support  which,  certainly,  he  has  never  found.  As  for  me,  I  am  much  better 
pleased  to  say  that  such  letters  cannot  be  mentioned  here'.  I  could  have  wished  that  the 
Moniteur  explained  itself,  and  that  in  presence  of  a  fact  so  public,  and  which  was  of  a  nature 
to  alarm  the  conscience  of  all  honest  people,  it  gave  them  a  complete  denial.  Much  more 
so  ;  and  it  is  the  only  fact  that  I  wish  to  retain,  for  it  is  unfortunately  testified  by  an  act 
of  the  French  administration,  because  in  one  of  these  letters,  which  bore  the  date  of  August 
31,  1862,  the  correspondent  informs  Jecker,  as  a  precious  advantage  gained,  of  the  publi 
cation  in  the  Bulletin  des  Lois  of  his  act  of  naturalization. 


148  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

The  fact  is  true,  and,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  inexplicable.  How?  It  is  in  the  progress  of 
our  debates,  after  it  had  been  revealed  that  the  Jecker  debts  concealed  a  veritable  rascality, 
'that  Jecker  is  thus  picked  up  by  the  administration  and  made  a  French  citizen  !  Can  we 
not,  from  this,  conclude  that  it  is  an  assistance  given  to  this  rotten  claim  ?  Happily,  gentle 
men,  the  developments  made  in  this  Chamber  are  before  the  world,  and  it  will  be  impos 
sible  for  diplomacy  to  obtain  public  sanction  for  such  a  proceeding.  But,  in  fine,  do  not 
the  honest  public  desire  to  have  all  this  thing  cleared  up  in  a  categorical  manner  ?  When 
I  point  out,  in  this  deplorable  affair,  unpardonable  consequences,  demands  which  cannot  be 
justified,  this  war  so  rashly  undertaken,  those  ultimatums  which  are  belied  by  those  who 
ought  to  know  them  and  maintain  them  ;  and  when  at  the  end  of  this  demonstration  I  find 
the  French  nation  offering  shelter  to  this  man  who  has  never  ceased  to  be  a  Mexican  and 
a  miserable  agitator,  I  have  a  strong  right,  I  think,  to  call  to  these  facts  all  your  atten 
tion,  your  entire  consideration,  and  to  ask  that  the  government  would  be  pleased  to  dispel 
the  sad  clouds  that  hang  over  the  probity  of  its  agents. 

This  is  what  I  have  to  say  in  regard  to  thie  article  3  of  the  ultimatum,  and  you  under 
stand  that  it  cannot  be,  especially  in  a  French  assembly,  considered  as  secondary.  Every 
thing  that  touches  honor,  everything  that  touches  dignity,  everything  that  would  be 
stigmatized  in  private  life,  everything  that  would  be  stricken  down  by  the  law,  everything 
that  would  be  condemned  by  the  magistrate,  cannot  be  let  pass  with  impunity  and  admitted 
in  public  life.  And  now  must  we  be  astonished  that  this  ultimatum  caused  England  to 
withdraw  ?  Must  we  be  astonished  that  Spain  was  unwilling  to  accept  the  responsibility  of  it  ? 

Do  not  forget— and  this  is  also  one  of  the  characteristic  traits  of  this  deplorable  enter 
prise—that  the  charge'  d'affaires  of  France  raised  the  pretension  that  each  of  the  powers 
should  produce  its  own  ultimatum  and  its  own  valuation  of  pecuniary  claims,  without  the 
other  belligerent  powers  being  allowed  to  discuss  them,  so  that  each  one  was  mistress  of 
the  situation  ;  for  it  sufficed,  for  example,  for  England  to  claim  a  thousand  millions  to 
render  the  war  fatally  necessary. 

It  is,  then,  on  this  question  of  money,  in  regard  to  which  the  government  can  no  longer 
maintain  the  discussion  which  it  abandons,  a  circumstance  which  bears  down  the  responsi 
bility  of  its  agent ;  it  is  on  this  question  that  the  bickering  arises  between  the  three  powers 
and  that  war  is  resolved  on. 

Here,  gentlemen,  you  understand  I  must  not  speak  but  with  extreme  reserve.  It  is  not 
my  part  to  say  how,  in  a  military  point  of  view,  history  will  judge,  not  the  soldiers  and 
generals  who  have  displayed  on  the  spot  all  the  bravery,  all  the  skill,  all  the  ardor,  all  the 
resolution,  that  are  ever  found  in  the  French  armies,  but  those  who  have  ordered  this 
expedition,  those  who  have  not  provided  for  it  the  materials,  the  means  necessary  for  its 
prompt  success.  I  desire,  gentlemen,  to  leave  all  these  faults  in  the  shade.  [Demonstra 
tions  in  the  Chamber.] 

A  VOICB.  Leave  nothing  in  the  shade. 

M.  JULES  FAVBE.  They  afflict  me  ;  they  contribute  no  way  to  the  solution  which  we 
seek.  What  we  seek  is  a  prompt  termination,  without  any  diminution  of  our  dignity,  of 
the  war  in  which  we  are  engaged  ;  for  to  pretend  now,  after  all  the  explanations  into 
which  I  have  entered,  that  this  war  is  conformable  with  our  principles,  would  be  to  deny 
what  is  evident.  These  principles,  gentlemen,  are  paraded  on  all  occasions  by  the  minister  ; 
he  everywhere  repeats  that  the  government  which  he  serves  has  sprung  from  universal 
suffrage,  and  that  this  is  a  rule  which  he  intends  to  respect  among  all  neighboring  nations. 

Here  is  what  he  said  on  this  point  in  your  session  of  March  13,  18(>1:  ••  The  principle 
of  non-intervention  being  thus  laid  down,  there  was  yet,  on  the  point  of  general  policy, 
another  reason  which  imperiously  ordered  us  to  respect  it.  We  could  not,  after  having 
proclaimed  at  home,  as  the  basis  of  our  government,  national  sovereignty  and  the  suffrage 
of  the  country,  fail  to  respect  it  among  others.  The  Emperor  has  been  elected  by  the 
people  ;  he  reigns  and  he  glories  in  it,  according  to  the  national  will ;  and  you  would  wish 
him,  beyond  our  frontiers,  to  employ  the  force  confided  to  him  by  that  national  will,  in 
repressing  neighboring  nations,  in  repressing  their  aspirations,  and  snatching  from  their 
hands  their  titles  to  sovereignty,  thereby  deny  his  own  legitimacy  !" 

These,  gentlemen,  are  the  words  of  M.  Billault.  I  ask  him,  are  they  ironical  ?  Were 
they  uttered  merely  to  call  forth  our  legitimate  applause  ?  Were  they  not  the  expression 
of  the  minister's  political  conscience  ?  If  I  assume  this  last  supposition,  I  say  to  him, 
By  what  right  are  you  in  Mexico  ?  You  have  gone  there  to  avenge  national  interests  ? 
In  this  purpose  I  follow  you  ;  but  if  these  interests  are  avenged  on  the  soil  itself  of  Mexico, 
if  at  Orizaba,  that  is,  in  a  salubrious  position,  we  are  offered  guarantees,  what  good  is  it  to 
overturn  the  government  of  Juarez?  Is  it  against  Juarez  that  you  intended  this  war? 
Do  you  wish  to  overthrow  him  at  any  cost  ?  Permit  me  to  recall  to  you  your  own  words 
This  government,  against  which  you  precipitate  your  legions,  was  a  shadow — a  breath  of 
air;  it  was  enough  for  you  to  appear,  and  it  would  be  destroyed.  Well,  it  has  resisted 
you  ;  it  has  strengthened  itself  by  what  is  most  generous  in  the  world — that  is,  by  the 
blood  shed  by  our  soldiers. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  149 

Is  not  this  enough  ?  Do  you  wish  to  continue  this  cruel  expedition  ?  Do  you  wish, 
through  a  false  point  of  honor,  to  force  men  thus  to  massacre  each  other  in  order  to  arrive 
at  nothing  ;  in  order  to  arrive  at  a  result  which  will  confound  your  policy,  I  fear  not  to  assert 
it,  for  you  pursue  a  phantasm  when  you  propose  to  raise  on  the  sand  a  solid  edifice  not  to 
be  overturned  by  corning  events. 

You  are  then  in  opposition  with  justice.  You  did  not  tell  the  whole  truth  before  the 
Chamber  when  you  were  interrogated,  and  you  are  now  obliged  to  complete  it.  In  vain 
do  you  take  refuge,  as  my  honorable  friend  M.  Picard  told  you,  behind  the  brilliant 
sophisms  of  a  policy  very  seductive  to  some  minds.  You  wish,  it  is  said,  to  resist  north 
America,  and  you  do  not  see  that  you  call  her  in  !  You  are  going  to  establish  a  point  in 
Southern  America  that  will  become  the  battle-field  whereon  the  United  States  and  Europe 
will  meet. 

Must  we  yield  to  all  your  fancies?  Must  we  find  ourselves  in  a  struggle  with  the  north 
and  fight  beside  the  south?  Would  you  thus  constrain  us  to  espouse  all  the  quarrels  of 
one  people  with  another  ?  Is  this  your  policy  ?  As  for  me,  I  protest  against  it  in  the 
name  of  principle,  in  the  name  of  the  law  of  nations.  I  say  that  there  is  no  possibility  for 
us  to  attack  a  people,  who,  by  maintaining  their  nationality,  by  offering  us  satisfactory 
guarantees,  have  sufficiently  honored  themselves  that  we  should  not  drive  them  contempt 
uously  from  our  courts  without  being  willing  to  hear  them,  and  that  we  should  not  receive 
them  but  at  the  point  of  our  bayonets. 

If  we  have  not  justice  on  our  side,  gentlemen,  what  must  we  say  of  the  final  conse 
quence  of  this  enterprise  ?  For  it  is  the  end,  in  fine,  that  must  be  regarded  in  all  things  ; 
find  when  one  is  in  a  political  position,  when  one  disposes  of  all  the  forces  of  France,  it 
should  riot  be  involved  in  a  blind  affair  in  which  its  digiiitv  or  its  interests  might  have  to 
suffer.  , 

Last  year,  though  well  aware  that  in  the  presence  of  a  body  such  as  this  that  does  me 
the  honor  to  listen  to  me  I  must  carefully  avoid  all  that  could  wound  the  feeling  of 
national  honor,  I  deemed  myself  authorized  to  ask  the  immediate  suspension  of  an  expe 
dition  unfortunately  undertaken,  and  which  could  in  no  way  cause  us  to  consider  that  we 
had  experiencd  a  check,  because  our  soldiers,  in  insufficient  numbers,  had  broken  against 
walls  of  granite.  I  believe  that  I  gave  you  sage  advice,  and  if  it  had  been  followed 
thousands  of  precious  lives,  iugloriously  decimated  by  disease,  would  have  been  preserved. 
Now  you  persist,  and  you  wish  at  all  hazards,  enlarging  the  circle  of  your  policy,  ambitious 
of  military  glory,  you  wish  your  flag  to  wave  over  the  city  of  Mexico. 

Surely,  gentlemen,  if  France  wills  it,  she  will  succeed,  nothing  can  deter  her  ;  and  when 
our  generous  children  meet  an  obstacle,  they  are  so  prodigal  of  the  existence  which  God 
has  given  them  that  nothing  can  resist  them. 

But  should  not  our  hearts  be  moved  at  it  ?  Can  we  coolly  regard  these  human  heca 
tombs  offered  to  that  fantastic,  confused  divinity,  wliich  has  never  been  defined  by  the 
ministers  ?  [Interruptions  and  cries  of  disapprobation.  ]  Can  we  consent  to  have  thou 
sands  of  families  plunged  in  grief  for  the  sterile  glory  of  reaching  the  Mexican  capital  ? 

Now,  gentlemen,  suppose  you  are  at  the  city  of  Mexico,  what  are  you  going  to  do  then  ? 
You  say  that  you  will  overturn  the  government  of  Juarez  !  Undoubtedly.  But  what  will 
you  do  then ?  I  hear  the  honorable  M.  David  immediately  cry  out,  "The  city  of  Mexico 
is  the  heart  of  the  nation  ;  there  all  its  military  resources  are  concentrated."  But  the 
honorable  M.  David,  who  knows  so  well  the  history  and  the  geography  of  Mexico,  will 
permit  me  to  reply  to  him  with  the  following  two  facts  for  consideration :  Mexico,  he 
knows,  has  been  incessantly  rent  by  civil  war,  and  the  city  of  Mexico  has  been  the  sterile 
stake  which  the  different  pretenders  conquered  in  turn,  notwithstanding  which  they  never 
possessed  more  than  an  ephemeral  and  limited  power. 

And  as  to  the  geography — but,  gentlemen,  only  those  who  know  it  not  can  believe  that 
the  conquest  of  the  city  of  Mexico  necessarily  carries  along  with  it  the  conquest  of  Mexico. 
The  city  of  Mexico  is  situated  69  leagues  from  the  coast,  from  Vera  Cruz.  Do  you  know 
what  is  the  greatest  extent  of  Mexico  in  its  utmost  length  ?  It  is  950  leagues  ;  and  in 
these  950  leagues  to  the  northwest  there  are  rich  and  populous  provinces  with  important 
cities. 

I  will  mention  some:  Guanaxuato  has  41,000  inhabitants;  it  is  253  kilometres  to  the 
northwest  of  Mexico,  and  the  whole  State  has  more  than  520,000  inhabitants.  Do  you 
wish  to  proceed  further  ?  Traverse  450  kilometres,  and  you  find  the  city  of  Guadalaxara 
with  60,000  inhabitants.  You  have  then  Valladolid  with  18,000  ;  you  have  the  State  of 
Xalisco  with  800,000,  and  others  which  I  shall  not  mention,  for  feau  of  mistake,  for  I  do 
not  possess  the  same  amount  of  information  as  the  honorable  M.  David,  and  mine,  I 
acknowledge,  is  of  very  recent  date.  Yet  it  is  guaranteed  by  all  the  books  of  geography, 
which  know  perhaps  more  than  all  of  us,  and  which  we  can  consult. 

Well,  when  the  French  shall  reach  the  city  of  Mexico,  they  will  establish  a  government, 
I  suppose  ;  it  may  be  Almonte,  it  may  be  the  Archduke  Maximilian,  who  is,  perhaps,  yet 


150  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

kept  in  reserve  in  spite  of  all  asseverations  to  the  contrary  ;  it  may  be,  perhaps,  any  other 
prince  of  Germany,  for  in  this  respect  the  fertility  of  Germany  is  inexhaustible.  [Laughter.] 
But  when  this  German  prince  shall  have  been  established,  what  will  you  do  ?  You  must 
support  him.  Juarez  with  his  legions,  with  his  partisans,  (if  not  Juarez,  some  other  rep 
resentative  of  nationality)  will  retire  into  the  provinces  that  remain  free.  Will  you  follow 
him  ?  After  having  traversed  sixty-nine  leagues  to  reach  the  city  of  Mexico,  will  you 
traverse  nine  hundred  more  to  conic  up  with  him  who  will  resist  you  ?  We  are  at  Orizaba  ; 
we  have  made  twenty-two  leagues  ;  we  have  already  spent  more  than  one  hundred  and 
four  millions  without  counting  what  we  know  nothing  of,  which  makes  five  millions  a 
league.  [Demonstrations  in  the  Chamber.]  At  this  cost  all  the  treasures  of  France  would 
not  suffice.  [Interruptions.  Marks  of  disapprobation.]  And  what  would  be  the  end  ? 
To  regenerate  Mexico,  to  impose  a  stable  government  on  that  unfortunate  people  ?  J3ut 
it  cannot  be  stable  except  on  condition  that  you  support  it  by  your  arms.  Consult  expe 
rience. 

In  1848  the  United  States  waged  war  with  Mexico.  The  United  States  bordered  upon 
Mexico  ;  they  had  all  the  facilities  for  sending  men  and  munitions  of  war.  Well,  not 
withstanding  this,  the  United  States  spent  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  and  the  war 
lasted  two  years. 

I  acknowledge,  gentlemen,  and  it  is  a  confession  which  I  desire  to  make  to  the  honor  of 
France,  that  war  costs  less  with  us  than  in  America  ;  yet,  whatever  this  concession  be 
worth,  we  must  acknowledge  that  a  war,  two  thousand  leagues  from  one's  country,  neces 
sitates  enormous  sacrifices  ;  that  to  defend  our  rights  we  need  not  place  ourselves  in  un 
acceptable  conditions.  What  you  say  now  of  the  honor  of  your  flag  you  will  be  obliged  to 
say  afterwards ;  the  first  fault  will  draw  you  into  a  second  one,  and  you  will  find  your 
selves  under  an  impossibility  of  withdrawing.  This  will  be  another  Roman  occupation, 
without  the  glory  of  having  maintained  a  great  principle.  You  will  not  then  have  the 
right  to  say  that  it  is  in  the  interest  of  the  Catholic  world,  but  only  in  the  interests  of  the 
Mexicans,  that  you  will  spend  fifty  millions  a  year,  and  that  you  will  send  30,000  men 
annually,  of  whom  a  great  number  will  be  cut  down  by  the  murderous  effect  of  the  climate. 

This  is  a  line  of  policy  with  which  I  can  not  agree  ;  and  when  I  remain  convinced  that 
this  expedition  has  been  undertaken  only  on  the  faith  of  lying  communications,  [disappro 
bation,]  that  your  representatives  abroad  have  imposed  unacceptable  conditions  which  have 
brought  on  the  rupture  between  us,  England,  and  Spain  ;  when  it  is  in  opposition  to  the 
rights  of  the  Mexicans,  and  the  interests  of  France,  that  this  deplorable  war  is  prolonged, 
I  can  but  entreat  the  Chamber  to  use  the  right  which  appertains  to  it  to  manifest  its  will 
respectfully  and  firmly,  and  to  disengage,  as  I  do  solemnly  by  this  protest,  its  responsibil 
ity  from  that  of  the  government.  [Obstreperous  excitement.] 

His  excellency  M.  BILLAULT,  minister  without  portfolio,  rises  to  speak. 

NUMEROUS  VOICES.     To-morrow  !     To-morrow  ! 

The  PRESIDENT.     The  minister  without  portfolio  has  the  floor. 

His  excellency  the  MINISTER.  Gentlemen,  the  lateness  of  the  hour  compels  me  to  ask 
the  Chamber  to  adjourn  the  discussion  till  to-morrow ;  but  I  make,  in  presence  of  the 
Chamber,  the  engagement  to  refute  thoroughly  all  the  accusations  brought  against  the 
policy  of  France.  [Good,  very  good.] 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.     On  condition  that  I  may  reply. 

The  PRESIDENT.     The  continuation  of  the  discussion  is  deferred  till  to-morrow. 

The  Chamber  adjourned  at  6  o'clock. 

["Le  Moniteur  Univcrsel,"  No.  39,  February  8,  1863,  page  191,  column  4.] 

SESSION  OF  SATURDAY,  February  7. 
His  excellency  the  Duke  of  Morny,  president,  in  the  chair. 

The  session  was  opened  at  2  o'clock.  Baron  J.  David,  one  of  the  secretaries,  read  the 
minutes  of  the  session  of  yesterday  ;  the  minutes  were  adopted. 

The  PRESIDENT.  I  lay  before  the  Chamber  a  letter  from  M.  Arnaud  requesting  leave  of 
absence  on  account  of  ill  health.  There  is  no  opposition?  The  leave  is  granted.  Does 
any  one  desire  to  present  a  report  ? 

M.  CIIABANON.  I  have  the  honor  to  present  a  report  on  the  bill  relative  to  an  extraordi 
nary  impost  by  the  department  of  Gard. 

The  PRESIDENT.  The  report  will  be  printed  and  distributed.  The  order  of  the  day  is  the 
continuation  of  the  discussion  on  the  address. 

(The  ministerial  benches  were  occupied  by  their  excellencies  MM.  Baroche,  minister,  pres 
ident  of  the  council  of  state  ;  Billault,  Magne,  ministers  without  portfolio  ;  De  Parieu,  vice- 
president  of  the  council  of  state  ;  General  Allard,  Boudet,  Vuillefroy,  Boinvilliers,  and 
Viutry,  chairmen  of  committees  in  the  council  of  state.) 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  151 

The  PRESIDENT.  The  deliberation  continues  on  section  third,  and  on  the  amendment  pro 
posed  to  this  section  by  M.  Jules  Favre  and  several  other  members. 

His  excellency  M.  BILLAULT,  minister  without  portfolio.  Gentlemen,  as  I  enter  upon  the 
discussion  of  the  amendment  submitted  to  your  deliberation,  I  cannot  pass  over  in  silence 
the  first  impression  made  upon  me  by  reading  it.  In  the  parliamentary  governments  from 
which  we  have  adopted  the  address  and  its  political  debates,  it  is  a  traditional  custom  that 
the  language  destined  to  be  heard  by  the  sovereign  should  always  bear  the  impress  of  re 
spectful  deference  [Good,  good.]  The  courtesy  of  the  words  does  not  hinder  their  sin 
cerity,  nor,  if  needs  be,  their  firmness. 

I  hear  frequent  mention  of  liberty  as  it  is  in  England.  It  would  be  well  to  consult  the 
English  practice  on  this  point ;  I  do  not  know  that  it  would  be  easy  to  find  in  it  any  phrase 
borrowed  from  the  harshness  manifested  by  certain  amendments  submitted  to  your  atten 
tion.  [Renewed  marks  of  approbation.] 

I  will  draw  from  this  reflection,  but  one  consequence  :  it  is  that  the  extreme  liberty  of 
form  evidences,  whatever  may  be  said,  the  great  liberty  existing  in  fact.  [Good,  good.] 

The  policy  which  France  pursues  in  Mexico,  which  our  soldiers  are  now  defending  in  the 
face  of  the  enemy,  has  been  the  object  of  accusations  which  I  yesterday  promised  the  Cham 
ber  to  refute  to-day.  I  will  trace  step  by  step  the  causes  which  have  induced  the  expedi 
tion,  the  incidents  for  which  it  has  been  sought  to  calumniate  it ;  it  will  not  be  the  fault 
of  the  explicitness  of  my  words  if  each  and  every  fact  is  not  clearly  explained  to  the  Cham 
ber.  [Good.] 

In  the  amendment  submitted  to  you  the  legitimate  causes  of  the  expedition  now  com 
menced  are  denied.  I  proceed  to  enumerate  them  anew  in  brief.  Is  it  denied  that  against 
the  government  of  Juarez  we  had  to  complain  of  three  treaties  obligatory  upon  it,  and  all 
three  by  it  violated,  the  treaty  of  1853,  that  of  1859,  that  of  1861  ?  Is  it  denied  that  these 
three  treaties  stipulated  reparation  for  the  outrages,  the  murders,  the  pillagings,  the  rob 
beries  of  which  our  fellow-countrymen  have  been  the  victims  ?  Is  it  denied  that  the  Mex 
ican  custom-house  revenues  were  assigned,  in  part,  for  the  payment  of  these  reparations? 
Is  it  denied  that  the  government  of  Juarez,  breaking  these  three  treaties,  has  proclaimed 
the  forced  suspension  of  them,  and  has  laid  hands  on  the  funds  collected  for  carrying  them 
into  effect  ?  Is  it  denied  that,  under  the  government  of  Juarez,  the  French  population  has 
been  incessantly  the  victim  of  brutal  violences,  odious  spoliations,  robberies — ill  treatment 
of  every  kind  ?  Is  this  denied  ?  That  government  established  itself  in  the  city  of  Mexico 
towards  the  end. of  1860  ;  we  immediately  accredited  our  minister  ;  in  the  commencement 
of  1861  he  arrived  there  with  the  most  kindly  intentions.  Consigning  all  former  wrongs 
to  oblivion,  we  were  disposed  loyally  to  second  the  efforts  of  the  new  government  to  re-es 
tablish,  if  that  were  possible,  a  little  order  in  the  country.  It  has  required  the  continuance, 
the  constant  accumulation  of  acts  of  violence  and  wrong,  to  induce  us  first  to  withdraw  our 
kindly  feelings,  and  then  to  feel  the  necessity  of  an  efficacious  military  demonstration. 

The  impression  was  sought  to  be  made  yesterday  that  the  wrongs  of  which  we  complain 
were  not  the  act  of  the  government  of  Juarez,  but  were  the  act  of  preceding  governments. 
But  read  all  the  despatches  of  1861,  and  especially  those  of  June,  July,  August,  September, 
October,  and  November,  to  the  moment  when  our  minister,  by  order  of  the  French  gov 
ernment,  was  forced  to  leave  that  deplorable  country  ;  there  is  riot  one  that  does  not  attest, 
on  the  part  of  that  government,  the  violation  of  plighted  faith;  not  one  which  does  not  attest 
robberies,  assassinations,  attacks  of  every  kind  upon  our  resident  country  men.  This  disorderly 
state  of  affairs  is  not  attested  only  by  French  assertions.  You  believe  more  in  the  affirma 
tions  of  the  ministers  of  England  and  Spain  than  in  those  of  the  minister  of  your  own  coun 
try  ?  Be  it  so.  [Good,  good  ]  Well,  Sir  Charles  "VVyke  wrote  to  his  government,  on  the 
27th  of  May,  1861,  that  is,  at.  the  time  when  the  tyranny  of  Juarez  held  sway  in  the  city 
of  Mexico  ;  he  wrote  as  follows  : 

"The  congress,  instead  of  giving  the  government  sufficient  force  to  put  an  end  to  the 
horrible  disorders  that  reign  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  occupies  itself  with  disputes  on 
different  theories  of  the  pretended  government  and  ultra-liberal  principles.  During  this 
time  the  respectable  part  of  the  population  is  left  without  defence  against  the -attacks  of 
the  robbers  and  assassins  -who  swarm  on  the  highways  and  in  the  streets  of  the  capital. 
The  constitutional  government  cannot  maintain  its  authority  in  the  various  States  of  the 
confederation,  which,  in  fact,  are  perfectly  independent ;  so  that  the  same  causes  which 
divided  the  confederation  of  Central  America,  and  which  are  at  work  here,  will  probably 
produce  the  same  results. 

"The  only  hope  of  an  advantageous  change  that  I  can  see  is  in  the  small  conservative 
party  which  may  attain  to  power  before  all  is  lost,  and  which  can  save  its  country  from 
the  ruin  which  threatens  it. 

"  From  the  moment  that  we  shall  make  known  our  determination  no  longer  to  permit 
English  subjects  to  be  robbed  and  assassinated  with  impunity  we  will  be  respected.  All 
sensible  Mexicans  will  approve  a  measure,  the  necessity  of  which  they  are  the  first  to  recog- 


152  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

nize,  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  the  excesses  which,  every  day  and  every  hour,  are  com 
mitted,  under  a  government  as  corrupt  as  it  is  powerless  to  maintain  order  and  to  effect 
the  execution  of  its  own  laws  ' ' 

On  the  28th  of  October  he  wrote  again  :  "The  experience  of  each  day  tends  to  prove 
how  utterly  absurd  it  is  to  seek  to  govern  this  country  with  the  limited  faculties  accorded 
to  the  executive  power  by  the  present  ultra-liberal  constitution.  I  see  no  hope  of  ameli 
oration  but  in  the  advent  of  a  foreign  intervention,  or  in  the  formation  of  a  reasonable 
government,  composed  of  the  principal  men  of  the  conservative  party,  who,  for  the  present, 
are  devoid  of  influence,  and  fear  to  stir  unless  with  mateiial  assistance  from  without." 

These  facts  stated  by  our  agents  were  evident  to  all  the  world.  It  is  true  that  to  acquit 
Juarez  of  them,  these  facts  are  attributed  to  brigandage,  and  it  is  added  that  brigandage  is 
endemic  in  that  unfortunate  country.  We  shall  probably  hear  on  Monday,  gentlemen, 
something  on  Neapolitan  brigandage,  severe  words,  and  they  will  be  well  founded,  but  I 
ask  how,  in  the  face  of  this  seventy  towards  acts  not  directed  against  our  fellow-country 
men,  there  is  found  such  an  abundance  of  indulgence  for  Mexican  brigandage  of  which 
our  citizens  are  the  victims.  [Good,  good  ]  The  government  of  Juarez  is  not  only  guilty 
for  its  impotence,  its  corruption,  as  the  minister  of  England  says  ;  it  is  not  only  culpable 
of  being  unable  or  unwilling  to  prevent  the  brigandages  committed  about  it ;  it  is  not  only 
guilty  of  letting  the  brigands  that  surround  it  go  unpunished  ;  it  is  guilty  of  making  of 
them  colonels,  generals,  friends,  confidants.  ['I hat's  so;  that's  so;  good,  good.J  It  is, 
moreover,  personally  guilty  of  the  direct  violation  of  all  the  engagements  into  which  it 
has  entered. 

Again,  I  ask,  is  it  bound  by  treaties  with  us,  treaties  subscribed  by  its  predecessors,  trea 
ties  subscribed  by  itself?  Has  it  not  violated  these  treaties?  Has  it  not  forcibly  seized  for 
itself  the  sums  collected  for  us,  and  which  those  treaties  had  assigned  to  us  ? 

Here  are  the  facts  ;  they  are  incontestable.  In  the  face  of  these  violations  and  of  these 
violences,  is  there  one  man  in  this  assembly  who  does  not  feel  the  necessity  for  France  to 
enforce  respect  for  the  treaties  made  with  her  and  with  citizens  who  glory  in  being  French 
men  ?  There  was  once  in  the  world  a  people  whose  members  had  to  say  but  one  word,  "  I 
am  a  Eoman  citizen,"  to  insure  universal  respect.  There  is  another  to-day  which,  in  every 
quarter  of  the  world,  enforces  with  equal  energy  respect  for  its  countrymen  ;  acts  of  the 
greatest  energy  are  familiar  to  it  in  this  regard,  and  it  has  just  very  recently  given  a  lively 
proof  of  it  in  the  waters  of  Brazil.  I  admire  its  vigorous  patriotism  ;  but  you  will  not  take 
it  ill  that  the  government  of  France  should  imitate  it,  and  cause  its  countrymen  also  to  be 
respected  as  much  as  British  citizens  are  respected.  [Enthusiastic  approbation.] 

The  cause  of  our  offended  honor,  of  our  treaties  violated,  of  our  funds  carried  off,  the 
cause  of  our  fellow-citizens  harassed,  pillaged,  assassinated — these  causes  cannot  be  aban 
doned  by  a  government  conscious  of  its  obligations,  and  whose  first  duty  it  is  to  make  its 
country  respected. 

You  seek  to  make  these  causes  so  legitimate  be  foi gotten  by  evoking  I  know  not  what 
scandal;  of  which  it  is  hoped  the  mists,  more  or  less  obscure,  will  shade  from  the  eyes  of 
prejudiced  public  opinion  all  the  sincerity  of  purpose,  all  the  justice  of  the  resolutions  of 
the  government.  But  these  mists  will  soon  be  dissipated.  What  it  imports  me  from  the 
beginning  to  state  well  is,  that  in  the  face  of  the  acts  of  the  government  of  Juarez,  there 
is  no  people  so  feeble,  so  timid,  so  pacifically  inclined,  that  would  not  deem  itself  necessi 
tated  to  have  recourse  to  force  to  maintain  its  disregarded  rights. 

Is  not  this  opinion  of  France,  gentlemen,  also  that  of  England  ?  Has  not  England  judged , 
as  we  have  done,  that  the  measure  was  full?  Has  she  not  recalled  her  minister?  Has  she 
not  with  us  signed  a  treaty  for  action  in  common  ?  Has  not  the  sentiment  of  England  been 
also  that  of  Spain  ?  Has  not  Spain  as  well  as  England  made  common  cause  with  us  ?  Has 
she  not  sent  her  troops  upon  Mexican  soil  ?  Has  she  not  judged,  equally  with  us,  that  it  was 
for  her  honor,  that  it  was  for  the  urgent  interest  of  her  citizens  to  resort  to  this  great  and 
last  resort  of  nations,  the  employment  of  force,  when  their  rights  are  violated  ?  There  is 
undoubtedly  no  occasion  to  accuse  either  England  or  Spain  of  this  pretended  desire  to  en 
throne  a  foreign  prince,  or  of  any  Jecker  debt  whatever  to  enforce.  Yet  the  English  and 
the  Spanish  have  judged  as  well  as  we,  for  the  same  reasons  that  we  have,  the  violation  of 
treaties  and  the  vexations  to  which  their  citizens  have  been  subjected,  that  the  occasion 
for  the  employment  offeree  was  presented,  and  that  it  was  necessary  to  use  it. 

I  insist  on  these  facts,  because  it  is  important  to  establish  well  that  the  motives  which 
have  decided  us  would  have  decided  any  nation,  however  little  desirous  of  making  itself 
respected  in  the  world,  and  that  three  great  nations,  identical  ia  their  complaint*,  have 
been  equally  so  in  their  resolution  to  act. 

The  employment  of  force  being  found  necessary,  and  being  resolved  on,  what  have  been 
the  steps  taken  by  the  Emperor's  government  in  consequence?  It  has  been  inserted  that 
its  conduct  has  been  adventurous,  rash.  I  shall  presume  to  show  that  it  has  been  prudent, 
wise,  and  circumspect  In  the  firet  place,  it  had  an  understanding  with  the  powers  which 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  153 

had  the  same  interests  as  France.  It  thus  avoided  all  cause  for  jealousy,  difficulty,  and 
embarrassment,  and  the  three  powers,  in  unison,  regulated  the  conditions  of  their  action. 
France  did  not  even  take,  in  the  beginning,  the  principal  part  in  the  demonstration,  ,The 
proportion  of  the  forces  had  been  agreed  upon.  Spain,  whom  so  many  memories  recall  into 
those  countries,  whom  the  most  important  interests  in  the  very  Gulf  of  Mexico  command 
to  be  strong  and  respected,  Spain  had  found  in  the  traditions  of  her  policy  and  the  good 
will  of  ours  towards  her  the  reasons  for  playing  the  principal  part,  and  having  numerous 
corps  d'armte.  England,  whose  power  is  chiefly  maritime,  gave  the  assistance  of  her  fleets. 
And  as  for  us,  as  resolved  as  the  Spanish,  but  in  less  number,  arid  leaving  to  Spain  the 
honor  of  the  principal  situation,  we  sent  originally  but  2,500  men. 

Thus,  then,  driven  unto  the  last  intrenchments  of  her  honor,  France,  having  come  to 
an  understanding  with  the  great  powers,  having  the  same  interests  as  they,  and  regulating 
with  common  accord  the  concurrence  of  each,  she  who  has  been  accustomed  to  take  the 
chief  parts  took  only  the  second.  Assuredly,  in  such  circumstances,  she  was  neither  rash 
nor  adventurous  ;  she  was  sensible  and  politic.  [Very  good  ;  very  good.] 

Indeed,  there  could  not  well  be  any  great  degree  of  temerity  in  the  fact  that  three 
powers,  among  the  principal  of  the  world,  should  proceed  to  demand  of  a  savage  and 
tyrannical  government  to  yield  at  length  to  reason  and  equity.  There  could  be  nothing  very 
venturesome  in  this  that,  preceded  by  Spain,  followed  by  England,  we  should  undertake 
to  uphold  our  rights  and  our  claims  in  Mexico.  How,  under  these  circumstances,  can  the 
French  government  be  accused  of  having  impiudently  and  with  levity  pported  with  the 
blood  and  treasures  of  its  country  ? 

But  there  has  been  brought  forward  another  serious  imputation  which  it  behooves  us  to 
clear  up.  When,  for  the  first  time,  in  the  month  of  March  of  last  year,  the  Mexican  question 
was  brought  forward  in  this  assembly,  certain  explanations  were  given,  and  recalling  them 
yesterday,  the  eloquent  orator  to  whom  I  reply  has  offered  us  a  strange  dilemma  :  "  Either 
you  have  deceived  the  Chamber,"  said  ha  to  us,  u  or  you  did  not  know  all." 

Has  he  well  weighed  the  import  of  such  words?  To  deceive  the  Chamber!  If  the 
Emperor's  ministers  were  capable  of  such  an  infamous  proceeding  they  should  have  been 
impeached.  [Good,  good.]  I  am  not  aware  that  the  rectitude  of  my  political  life  has  given 
any  one  tbe  right  to  throw  such  an  imputation  on  my  character.  [No,  no  ;  good,  good.] 

But  we  might  not  have  known  all.  Do  you  clearly  understand  the  meaning  of  this? 
This  tends,  on  the  one  side,  to  bring  into  discredit  with  this  assembly  the  authoritative 
declarations  of  the  government,  to  ruin  its  just  authority,  to  destroy  the  faith  which  you 
have  in  it ;  it  tends,  on  the  other  hand,  to  throw  back  upon  him  who  honors  us  with  his- 
confidence  and  his  instructions  such  insinuations  as,  I  am  sure,  you  would  not  accept. 
[Good,  good  ] 

We  know  what  we  ought  to  have  known ;  we  said  what  we  ought  to  have  said.  Recall 
to  mind  the  facts. 

I  know  well  that,  from  the  very  first  day,  the  efforts  of  the  opposition  have  been  directed 
to  drown  the  popularity  of  a  necessary  chastisement  in  the  unpopularity  of  the  gratuitous 
foundation  of  a  foreign  throne.  It  was  requisite  for  this  purpose  to  substitute*  for  the 
reminiscence  of  the  violences  of  which  our  fellow-countrymen  have  been  the  object,  for 
the  reminiscence  of  treaties  violated,  the  prejudice  of  an  enterprise  in  which  all  motives  of 
national  interest  would  have  been  effaced  ;  it  was  necessary  to  endeavor  to  persuade  France 
that  it  was  demanded  of  her  to  sacrifice  her  children,  to  expend  her  treasures,  solely  to 
found  a  throne  for  an  archduke  of  Austria.  But  never,  as  you  know  well,  has  this  acces 
sory  and  conditional  scheme,  subordinate  to  the  wishes  of  the  Mexican  people,  been  either 
the  exclusive  motive  or  purpose  of  the  expedition  undertaken. 

In  this  discussion  the  honorable  orator  to  whom  I  reply  put  forth,  in  effect,  the  assertion 
that  France  was  disinterested  in  the  affair,  that  entire  satisfaction  had  been  assured  to  her> 
and  that  the  expedition  was  undertaken  with  the  sole  view  of  erecting  a  throne  in  Mexico 
and  seating  on  it  a  foreign  prince.  He  cited  certain  indications  from  officers  who  had  de 
clared  ifc.  We  replied  that  we  went  to  Mexico  to  avenge  our  honor,  to  avenge  our  fellow- 
countrymen,  to  compel  the  execution  of  treaties,  to  obtain  the  reparation  due  to  us,  which, 
whatever  he  may  say  to  the  contrary,  Juarez  was  unwilling  to  accord  to  us.  And  then  we 
added  :  "If  the  Mexicans,  weary  of  the  tyranny  from  which  they  suffer  still  rr.ore  than  we 
do,  possess  yet  any  germ  of  energy,  if  they  have  not  been  completely  enervated  by  the 
forty  years  of  anarchy  and  tyranny  which  weigh  upon  them,  if  they  desire  to  repress  all 
those  revolutionarj?-  and  counter-revolutionary  hordes  which  harass  and  oppress  them, 
profiting  by  the  occasion  which  we  are  going  to  offer  them,  if  they  wish  to  endeavor  to- 
found  a  regular  and  reasonable  government,  they  can  reckon  on  our  whole  moral  support ; 
we  will  applaud  their  efforts,  we  will  prosecute  with  our  best  wishes  the  re-edification  of 
the  social  edifice  in  their  unhappy  country.  We  indicated  plainly,  as  the  first  step  in  our 
policy,  the  desire  to  avenge  the  honor  of  France,  the  blood  of  her  children,  and  to  obtain 
reparation  for  all  injuries  done ;  and  then,  as  a  second  step,  in  the  interest  also  of  the 
guarantees  which  we  had  the  right  to  demand,  the  reorganization  by  the  Mexicans  them- 


154  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

selves  of  a  regular,  responsible  government,  capable  of  respecting  plighted  faith.  If  Mexico 
can  give  herself  and  us  this  fundamental  guarantee  she  will  have,  I  repeat,  our  moral 
support,  our  approbation,  our  applause,  and  we  shall  be  happy  to  have  given  her  the  occa 
sion  for  the  resurrection  of  a  great  and  beautiful  country,  plunged  in  misery  for  so  many 
years.  Here  is  our  reply.  [Good.] 

In  what  have  we  concealed  the  ideas  of  the  government?  Read  all  the  proclamations 
that  from  the  first  day  to  the  present  moment  have  emanated  frem  the  French  govern 
ment.  When  I  spoke  in  the  month  of  March  last  you  had  before  your  eyes  the  instructions 
given  by  our  minister  of  foreign  affairs  ;  they  were  clear,  plain,  precise.  In  the  first  place, 
our  interests ;  in  the  second  place,  the  desire  for  the  organization  of  a  real,  effectual  Mexi 
can  government.  The  Emperor,  in  his  memorable  letter  to  General  De  Lorencez,  wrote 
those  noble  words  which  you  have  applauded  :  "It  is  against  my  interests,  my  origin,  and 
my  principles  to  impose  any  government  whatever  on  the  Mexican  people  ;  let  them  choose 
in  full  liberty  the  form  that  suits  them."  Afterwards  General  Forey  made  the  same 
declarations ;  and  I  myself,  in  the  month  of  June  last,  declared  to  you,  as  the  last  possible 
consequence  of  the  line  of  conduct  which  we  intended  to  pursue :  ' '  We  appeal  to  the 
Mexican  people,  and  if  that  people,  free  to  vote  as  ifc  pleases,  decides  even  for  the  govern 
ment  of  Juarez,  well,  be  it  so  ;  let  its  wish  be  accomplished." 

How,  then,  can  we  have  deceived  the  Chamber  ?  How  have  we  ever  concealed  both  the 
principal  purpose  and  the  conditional  hypotheses  ?  If,  in  these  contingencies,  Mexico  hap 
pened  to  desire  a  monarchy,  its  possibilities  have  not  remained  unprovided  for.  Thus  we 
have  arranged  everything  in  its  proper  place.  We  have  not  given  a  contingent  hypothesis 
precedence  of  our  own  interests,  for  when  a  policy  is  pursued  in  the  name  of  one's  own 
country,  it  is  by  the  interest  of  one's  own  country  that  we  must  commence.  [Good. 
good.] 

The  expedition  being  thus  resolved  upon,  its  object  being  determined,  the  ulterior  hypoth 
esis  of  a  foreign  monarchy  being  reduced  to  its  just  value,  the  accords  of  the  three  powers, 
the  measures  for  execution,  and  the  military  concurrence  being  regulated,  what  had  we  to 
do?  The  instructions,  with  which  you  are  acquainted,  specified  clearly  the  course  to  be 
pursued.  In  these  instructions  of  the  12th  of  November,  if  I  remember  right,  it  was  said  : 
"You  will  renew  your  ultimatum" — we  had  already  made  several,  all  without  result — 
"you  will  renew  your  ultimatum,  and  then,  the  ultimatum  being  presented,  you  will  not 
permit  yourself  to  be  diverted  by  delays  and  evasive  promises.  If  the  government  of 
Juarez  evacuates  Vera  Cruz,"  as  it  has  done,  "if  it  seeks  to  establish  a  void  around  you, 
if  it  seeks  to  draw  you  by  artifices  more  or  less  skilful  into  the  loss  of  precious  time,  you 
will  avoid  falling  into  this  snare,  and  immediately  take  the  most  vigorous  measures." 

There  were,  gentlemen,  grave  reasons  for  recommending  this  active  and  resolute  attitude. 
Our  troops  were  arriving  in  Mexico  in  the  month  of  January ;  we  had  before  us,  as  a  suit 
able  season  for  transportation  and  war,  January,  February,  March,  and  perhaps  a  few  days 
of  April.  We  knew  perfectly  that  if  at  that  period  things  were  not  consummated  the 
tyranny  of  Juarez  would  receive  a  redoubtable  and  almost  invincible  auxiliary,  the  black 
vomit.  '  We  knew  very  well  that  it  was  necessary,  in  those  few  words,  to  characterize  justly 
the  cunning  of  that  government  as  well  as  its  violences,  and  to  succeed  in  imposing  upon 
it  the  solution  of  the  question  ;  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost.  Behold  under  what  inspi 
rations  the  expedition  set  out  and  arrived  at  its  destination  ! 

The  honorable  orator  to  whom  I  reply  has  recalled  the  words  which  I  uttered  in  the 
month  of  March,  and  in  which  I  expressed  my  impression  that  our  troops  had  already 
occupied  the  city  of  Mexico,  and  he  added  that  the  words  were  ahead  of  the  soldiers. 
The  soldiers  would  have  been  as  quick  as  the  words  if  the  plan  of  the  Emperor's  govern 
ment  had  been  followed  out.  The  Mexican  government,  at  that  period  a  prey  to  the  most 
complete  anarchy,  without  any  effectual  means,  without  any  resources  of  consequence, 
offered  no  kind  of  resistance,  and  if,  without  being  stopped  by  vain  delays,  the  Spanish  and 
French  troops  had  marched  upon  the  city  of  Mexico,  they  would  have  arrived  there  quicker 
than  my  words.  [Good,  good.] 

See.what  a  humane  prudence  had  foreseen  in  France  ;  it  had  calculated  that  a  corps  d'armee 
of  about  12,000  men,  supported  by  fleets  girding  the  sea-coast,  and  having  three  useful 
months  before  them  to  bring  an  anarchical  and  disorganized  government  to  a  sense  of 
reason,  could,  without  striking  a  blow,  or  by  the  mere  force  of  its  courage,  rapidly  reach 
the  city  of  Mexico.  How  has  it  happened  that  such  prognostications  have  not  been  real 
ized  ?  How  has  it  happened  that  this  expedition,  which  the  most  far-sighted  prudence 
had  planned,  both  as  to  diplomatic  agreement  and  military  effectivity  and  means  of  execu 
tion,  how  has  it  happened,  I  say,  that  this  expedition  has  momentarily  but  so  unexpectedly 
miscarried?  It  is  well  to  recall  it  to  the  Chamber.  On  the  soil  of  Mexico  the  manage 
ment  of  the  affair  was  necessarily  intrusted  to  the  three  plenipotentiaries,  and  there  was 
manifested  from  the  very  first  days  a  singular  divergence  of  their  respective  opinions. 

France  had  proclaimed,  Spain  and  England  had  recognized  with  her,  that  the  govern- 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  155 

raent  of  Juarez  was  a  government  without  faith,  without  consistency,  without  guarantees  ; 
that  it  was  impossible  to  treat  seriously  with  it.  The  experience  of  many  years,  and  espe 
cially  of  the  last  year,  demonstrated  that  Mexican  governments  promised  and  never  kept 
their  promises.  The  three  powers  had  recognized  that  force  alone  could  master  such  a 
condition  of  things,  and  yet  their  representatives,  having  scarcely  landed  on  the  soil  of 
Mexico,  commence  by  recognizing  the  very  government  which  had  rendered  itself  unworthy 
of  recognition,  and  by  negotiating  with  it,,  when  all  negotiation  had  been  recognized  as 
useless,  and  all  engagement  on  its  part  as  illusory  and  superfluous.  The  treaty  of  La 
Soledad  opens  with  this  singular  declaration,  which  I  recall  to  the  attention  of  the  Chamber: 

"Preliminaries  agreed  upon  between  the  Count  of  Reus  and  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  the 

Republic  of  Mexico. 

"  1st.  Admitting  that  the  constitutional  government  which  at  present  directs  the  affairs 
of  Mexico  has  manifested  to  the  commissioners  of  the  allied  powers  that  it  has  no  need 
whatever  of  the  assistance  so  kindly  offered  to  the  Mexican  people,  as  having  at  its  own 
disposal  sufficient  elements  of  force  and  public  opinion  to  maintain  itself  against  all  intes 
tine  revolt,  the  allies,  therefore,  deem  it  their  duty  to  enter  upon  the  way  of  treaties  for 
the  purpose  of  drawing  up  the  claims  which  they  have  to  make  in  the  name  of  their 
respective  nations." 

Thus  our  troops  depart  to  combat  Juarez,  to  impose  on  him  by  force  our  terms  of  satis 
faction  ;  our  troops  depart  knowing  that  no  faith  can  be  placed  in  his  promises  ;  they  go 
there  to  compel  him  to  justice,  and  the  first  act  of  our  representatives  is  to  accept  his  ironical 
acknowledgments  for  a  concurrence  of  which,  he  says,  he  has  no  need  in  order  to  maintain 
himself,  and  to  enter  into  negotiations  with  him.  Was  that  the  policy  of  France  ?  Was 
that  in  accordance  with  the  instructions  which  had  been  given  ?  Was  that  the  policy  pre 
arranged  with  our  allies  ?  And  that  very  same  treaty  of  La  Soledad,  which  recognized  the 
government  that  our  expedition  purposed  to  combat,  which  accepted  the  faith  of  those 
whom  we  attacked  as  perjurers,  that  treaty  adjourned  to  the  loth  of  April  the  opening  of 
negotiations ;  that  is,  if  they  did  not  corns  to  an  agreement,  and  if  the  negotiations  did 
not  give  necessary  guarantees,  the  time  for  effective  military  action  was  passed,  the  season 
of  rains  and  fevers  was  come,  the  roads  were  impassable,  sickness  decimated  the  soldiers, 
and  war  became  impossible.  And  you  are  astonished  when  a  conduct  so  dissimilar  to  that 
prescribed  was  adopted  ;  you  are  astonished  that  the  enterprise  has  not  had  the  fortunate 
and  rapid  solution  that  it  ought  to  have,  and  you  throw  the  responsibility  of  it  on  those 
whose  contrary  prescriptions  had  regulated  all  with  prudence  and  wisdom  enough  to  bring 
things  to  a  speedy  and  happy  conclusion.  [Good,  good.] 

Such  is  the  true  state  of  the  case.  Tha  Emperor's  government,  as  soon  as  it  learned 
this  strange  magnanimity,  seeing  that  the  war  would  afterwards  become  impossible,  and 
that  there  would  result  a  prolonged  and  pernicious  sojourn  of  our  troops  in  the  country, 
pronounced,  in  the  Moniteur,  a  formal  sentence  of  disapprobation  on  that  unfortunate 
treaty,  and  by  new  despatches  reminded  those  to  whom  it  had  given  its  first  instructions 
that  they  had  not  gone  there  to  negotiate  uselessly  with  a  perjured  government,  but  to 
impose  on  it  promptly,  by  its  own  full  consent  or  by  force,  the  will  of  our  country.  [Good, 
good.] 

These  new  instructions  reminded  our  representatives  of  the  necessity  of  proceeding  en 
ergetically,  and  of  profiting  by  the  little  space  of  useful  time  yet  remaining.  And  it  was 
then  that  occurred  that  profoundly  unexpected  decision  of  Spain,  withdrawing  her  troops, 
with  the  approbation  and  at  the  suggestion  of  the  minister  of  England. 

I  have  not  to  discuss  that  determination  now.  At  Madrid,  eminent  men,  speaking  in 
view  of  the  interests  of  their  country,  such  as  Mon,  Bermudez  de  Castro,  Concha,  have  ex 
plained  it  clearly  and  completely.  As  for  us,  it  little  matters  now.  [Good,  good .]  Only 
remark  this  well  :  by  that  unexpected  determination  France  has  remained  alone,  passing 
suddenly  from  the  second  place  to  the  first.  She  has  remained,  with  a  handful  of  men,  in 
the  midst  of  a  country  in  which  they  had  allowed  time  to  tyranny  and  its  aids  to  jprepare 
themselves,  to  fortify  themselves,  to  frighten  some  and  arouse  others.  [Good.] 

She  has  remained  there,  in  the  face  of  the  unhealthy  season  which  was  advancing — in 
the  face  of  the  vomito  advancing  with  it.  She  has  remained  there  ;  and  I  ask  this  assembly 
if  she  could  recoil?  [No,  no.]  And  if  she  had  retired,  what  would  have  been  the  conse 
quences  ?  Disgrace,  in  the  first  place,  and  our  flag  lowered  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  But 
what  beside  ?  Whilst  we  pursued  this  energetic  and  courageous  policy,  what  advantages 
have  accrued  to  those  who  have  followed  the  opposite  policy?  [Good,  good.]  Last  year 
I  read  frona  this  desk  a  letter,  in  which  a  minister  of  Mexico,  M.  Doblado,  congratulating 
General  Prim  on  his  chivalrous  conduct,  wrote  to  him  :  "We  are  going  to  regulate  all 
these  great  affairs  in  half  an  hour ;  come,  and  in  a  few  minutes  we  will  have  the  glory  of 
reconciling  Spain  and  Mexico." 


156  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

General  Prim,  as  it  seems,  did  not  succeed  in  treating ;  but  he  sent  bis  secretary  to  tbe 
city  of  Mexico,  and  tbat  secretary,  in  a  letter  since  made  public,  stated  two  tbings— one,  the 
deep  feeling  of  anger  and  despair  of  the  Spaniards,  abandoned  in  the  capital  of  Mexico  ;  the 
other,  that  the  treaty  was  impossible,  Juarez  introducing,  as  the  first  condition,  that  Spain 
should  pay  the  expenses  of  the  war,  [laughter,]  whilst,  as  to  him,  he  did  not  recognize 
himself  as  at  war  with  that  power.  [Renewed  laughter  ]  Would  you  have  counselled  the 
government  of  your  country  to  accept  euch  conclusions?  I  Numerous  voices — No,  no.] 

His  excellency  the  MINISTER.  The  minister  of  England  strongly  approved  the  course  of 
the  Spanish  plenipotentiary  After  having  written  to  his  government  that  he  was  about  to 
leave  Mexico  and  proceed  to  the  Bermudas,  in  order  not  to  give  umbrage  to  France,  and 
not  to  give  occasion  to  think  that  he  opposed  her,  he  determined,  however,  to  repair  to 
the  city  of  Mexico.  [Laughter.] 

A  VOICE.    In  the  English  style. 

His  excellency  the  MIMSTKK.  He  has  obtained  a  treaty.  But  what  kind  of  treaty?  It 
was  easy  to  make  promises  ;  they  have  also  been  made  to  us,  many  of  them,  and  they  have 
always  been  violated.  The  difficulty  was  not  to  make  Juarez  promise  ;  the  difficulty  was 
to  make  him  keep  his  promise  What  was  to  be  done?  Sir  Charles  Wyke  accepted  as  a 
guarantee  the  money  which  should  be  furnished  by  the  United  States  ;  and  in  case  the 
United  States  should  not  furnish  any,  and  should  be  unwilling  to  ratify  the  treaty  by  which 
a  part  of  the  Mexican  territory  was  pledged  to  them,  he  obtained  the  substitution  of  Eng 
land  in  the  concessions  which  the  United  States  would  have  nothing  to  do  with,  [laughter.] 

I  doubt  whether  such  schemes  as  these  would  have  been  desirable  to  France  ;  neither  have 
they  met  with  the  sanction  of  the  British  government.  It  has  not  been  thought  proper,  by 
accepting  the  money  of  the  United  States,  thus  tacitly  to  sanction  this  consecutive  and  pro 
gressive  occupation  of  Mexico,  pursued  as  a  policy  by  the  United  States  for  twenty  years,  and 
which  the  government  of  Juarez  only  seeks  to  favor.  [Good.]  The  British  government 
refused  its  ratification. 

Between  the  three  courses  of  conduct  you  can  judge  which  has  been  the  most  profitable, 
which  has  been  most  honorable.  Spain  has  withdrawn  her  troops,  the  principal  nucleus  of 
the  force  which  was  to  combat  Juarez ;  the  army  of  Spain  has  been  re-embarked.  In  ac 
knowledgment,  they  have  -plainly  refused  to  reimburse  her  for  the  expenses  of  the  war. 
[Renewed  laughter.]  England,  with  that  firmness  which  she  knows  so  well  how  to  use  in 
order  to  make  herself  respected,  and  which  you  will  not  take  it  ill  that  others  should  also 
practice  as  she  does,  [good,  good,]  England  seems  to  have  obtained  a  little  more  ;  but  she 
has  refused  to  consent  to  those  schemes  of  policy  which  involved  her  against  her  views, 
and,  so  to  speak,  the  final  result  has  been  negative.  As  for  us,  it  is  true  we  have  remained 
alone,  small  in  number,  with  a  handful  of  brave  men  ;  thanks  to  the  time  lost,  we  have 
had  to  combat  storms,  fever,  arid  Mexican  bullets,  but  they  have  not  inspired  us  with  fear, 
and  we  have  remained  in  Mexico.  [Lively  marks  of  approbation.]  Under  the  influence 
of  these  unforeseen  events  we  have  been  necessitated  to  lose  the  first  military  season,  and 
endure  that  of  rains ;  but  the  second  military  season  is  come  at  last,  and  this  time  there 
is  neither  desertion  of  allies  nor  parliamentary  attacks  to  hinder  us  from  profiting  by  it  to 
insure  the  triumph  of  our  flag.  [Bravo,  bravo.] 

Behold,  then,  the  state  of  the  case  very  clearly.  We  might  have  imitated  those  who 
withdrew,  but  that  our  retreat,  sad  for  our  glory,  would  not  have  brought  us,  as  them,  any 
profit. 

Do  you  find,  then,  as  has  been  asserted,  that  this  conduct  is  rash,  adventurous,  foolish  ? 
Is  there,  then,  in  all  this,  as  was  said  the  other  day,  anything  dark?  This  is  clear  as  the 
light  of  day.  [Yes,  )es  ;  that  is  true.]  The  French  government  planned  everything  with 
wisdom  and  prudence.  An  unforeseen  divergence,  followed  by  a  re-embankment  yet  more 
unforeseen,  has  rendered  the  immediate  success  of  the  expedition  impossible  ;  but  that  which 
Avas  deferred  will  not  be  lost.  I  know  that  to  this  rupture  of  the  armistice  of  Orizaba  it 
has  been  sought  to  assign  motives  which  distort  its  character.  I, know  that,  instead  of 
recognizing  the  resolute,  politic  line  of  national  conduct,  tracfcd  out  by  all  our  despatches,  all 
our  instructions,  some  persons  have  preferred  to  suppose  other  motives,  and  to  endeavor 
to  create  scandal  [That's  so  ;  good.]  I  shall  not  examine  whether  this  manner  of  dis 
cussing  the  affairs  of  our  country,  when  our  soldiers  are  in  face  of  the  enemy,  is  very  op 
portune.  [Good,  good.]  I  shall  not  examine  whether  it  is  not  one  of  those  occasions  when* 
patriotism  ought  at  least  defer  the  critical  investigation  of  the  opposition.  [Renewed  marks 
of  approbation.]  They  have  thought  that,  in  spite  of  the  military  situation,  they  might 
endeavor  to  throw  over  the  motives  of  the  expedition  impressions  of  blame  and  disfavor. 
They  have  thought  that  they  might  endeavor  to  reduce  to  what  they  call  the  interest  of  a 
rotten  debt  the  cause  for  which  the  soldiers  of  France  are  at  this  moment  combatting.  I 
should  prefer  to  be  excused  from  discussing  this  question  at  the  present  time  ;  but  when 
honor  is  in  question  we  must  never  shrink,  whatever  may  happen.  [Goo- 1,  good.]  I  pro- 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  157 

ceed,  then,  to  examine  closely  whether  this  calumny  of  the  Jecker  debt  has  had  any  influence 
whatever  on  the  conduct  of  the  Mexican  expedition. 

Some  persons  wish  to  see  in  the  expedition  but  two  causes  :  a  throne,  which  was  but  a 
secondary  contingency,  and  the  Jecker  debt,  of  which  certainly  the  government  have 
scarcely  thought  when  the  expedition  was  decided  on.  But  let  us  specify  the  facts.  When, 
at  the  arrival  of  our  troops  in  Mexico,  it  was  requisite  to  establish  in  the  ultimatum  the 
amount  of  debts  due  us,  to  the  total  extent  of  our  claims,  as  examined  and  reported  by 
our  cousins,  the  minister  of  England  opposed  a  theory  which,  yesterday,  found  a  supporter 
quite  unexpected  to  me  within  this  assembly.  [Good.] 

Sir  Charles  Wyke  pretended  that  only  such  claims  should  be  admitted  into  the  ultima 
tum  as  were  already  liquidated  by  previous  treaties  What !  Our  last  treaty  is  of  the  begin 
ning  of  1861  Since  that,  ill-treatment  of  every  kind,  all  sorts  of  outrages,  robberies, 
onerous  and  vexatious  impositions,  have  weighed  down  our  fellow-citizens,  and  we,  armed 
to  avenge  them,  armed  to  make  their  rights  respected,  and  indemnify  them  for  their  losses, 
we  should  not  comprise  in  our  demands  all  the  sums  and  all  the  reparations  due  to  us.  To 
what  purpose,  then,  is  the  expedition  ?  Our  right  was  not  only  to  compel  respect  for  treaties 
and  payment  for  the  debts  regulated  by  them,  but  at  the  same  time  to  effect  reparation  of 
all  the  injuries  caused  since  to  our  fellow-countrymen.  Therefore,  through  our  minister  to 
Mexico,  through  our  consuls  at  Vera  Cruz,  Tampico,  and  other  places,  we  have  caused  to 
be  made  out  a  schedule  of  the  sums  due  to  our  fellow-citizens. 

The  honorable  speaker  to  whom  I  reply  is  astonished  at  these  numbers  :  twelve  millions 
of  piastres,  sixty  millions  of  francs!  He  finds  this  amount  excessive  He  estimates,  as  it 
seems,  at  a  very  low  value  the  blood  of  our  fellow-citizens,  and  the  vexations  of  which 
they  have  been  the  victims.  [Lively  marks  of  assent  from  the  Chamber  ]  The  kindliness 
which  he  seems  to  entertain  towards  the  government  of  Juarez  ought  not,  however,  make 
him  forget  that  there  is  a  government  which  concerns  us  more  nearly,  -\nd  that  this  gov 
ernment  is  that'  of  France.  [JElenewed  approbation  ]  He  contests  the  amount  of  these 
debts.  Has  he,  then,  had  in  his  hand  all  the  data  requisite  to  estimate  them  properly  ?  He 
produced  many  of  them,  but  of  the  kind  which  the  Mexican  government  might  have,  and 
I  doubt  whether  the  Mexican  minister  of  finance  possesses  more  than  he.  [Laughter.]  He 
has  made  up  in  the  greatest  detail  ihe  account  of  the  various  payments  made  into  the 
Mexican  treasury.  It  would  not  have  been  bad  likewise  to  mak-;  out  the  account  of  the 
outrages  suffered  by  our  fellow-citizens,  and  of  the  sums  examined  and  settled  by  our  consuls. 
[Good  ] 

He  has  told  you  that  we  regulated  them  with  a  good  deal  of  stupidity.  The  expression 
is  harsh.  Just  before,  he  accused  us  of  having  deceived  the  Chamber,  or,  of  having  been 
kept  in  premeditated  ignorance  ;  now  he  accuses  the  government  of  stupidity  !  We  are 
not,  I  confess,  accustomed  to  such  language,  [good,]  and  if  this  language  goes  to  the  ex 
treme  limit  of  the  rights  of  the  opposition,  we  may  be  allowed,  and  it  will  be  easy  for  us, 
at  least,  to  reply  to  it 

Who  could  best  appreciate  the  injuries  done  to  our  fellow-citizens  on  the  soil  of  Mexico, 
if  not  those  who  witnessed  them,  and  who  were  charged  by  their  country  to  attend  to  them 
and  state  them?  When  a  French  citizen  abroad  is  oppressed  by  any  person  whatever,  to 
whom  does  he  address  himself  ?  To  his  consul  or  to  his  minister.  When  he  has  to  make 
proof  of  the  injuries  which  he  has  received,  who  makes  the  official  statement  of  them, 
his  consul  or  his  minister?  When  he  has  a  claim  against  a  foreign  government  that  has 
violated  his  rights,  who  is  his  intermediary  agent,  his  consul  or  his  minister?  Who,  then, 
could  know  better  than  they  the  facts,  the  grievances,  the  character  of  the  parsons,  the 
value  of  the  injuries  done,  and  fix  the  amount  of  them  legitimately  and  fairly  ?  Do  you  know 
the  amount  of  documents  accumulated  in  the  archives  of  the  legation  at  Mexico,  and 
in  the  archives  of  our  consuls  at  Vera  Cruz,  Tampico,  and  elsewhere?  They  were  counted 
almost  by  thousands,  so  fruitful  and  active  in  their  misdeeds  are  the  brigands  of  Mexico. 
And  there  was  there  such  a  mass  of  claims  that,  to  make  out  the  official  report  of  them  in 
bureaucratic  style,  all  the  consular  personnel  could  not  suffice.  For  all  these  grievances  the 
sum  of  twelve  millions  of  piastres  was  fairly  and  conscientiously  fixed  It  was  done  by  men 
best  acquainted  with  the  matter.  And  what  would  you  wish  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs 
to  do  here  ?  Would  you  wish  him  to  have  all  the  documents,  all  the  complaints,  sent  from 
Mexico,  Vera  Cruz,  Tampico?  And  how  would  he  have  estimated  them?  Had  he  the  wit 
nesses  at  hand  ;  those  who  had  seen  the  robbery,  the  assassination,  the  burning  ;  those  who 
could  attest  the  facts  and  determine  the  valuation?  Were  there  not  natural  commissioners 
on  the  spot  in  the  persons  of  the  functionaries  themselves  who  represented  France  ?  Moreover, 
recall  to  mind,  since  you  are  so  anxious  for  the  interests  of  our  enemies,  that  it  was  proposed 
co  submit  to  a  complete  and  definite  liquidation  all  the  main  points  in  demand  comprised  in 
the  ultimatum.  Is  not  this  always  the  way  in  which  these  things  are  done  ?  Each  time 
that  an  indemnity  is  imposed  on  a  country  by  force,  is  it  not  settled  in  gross,  then  distrib 
uted  by  a  commission,  which  examines  the  titles  of  each  one,  and  allows  to  each  according 


158  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

to  his  rights  ?  [Good,  good.]  This  is  what  we  have  always  offered — always  understood. 
And,  really,  Mexico  had  no  risk  to  run  herein.  It  was  impossible  to  impose  on  her  pay 
ments  in  ready  money.  It  was  necessary  to  grant  her  numerous  years  of  delay,  and 
accept  long  and  successive  payments  on  her  custom-house  and  other  revenues,  and  the  com 
missions  would  have  plenty  of  time  to  verify  anew  and  to  liquidate  all  these  debts  ;  and  if 
a  reduction  should  be  made  on  the  amount,  to  give  Mexico  the  benefit  of  it  without  doing 
any  injustice.  And,  in  truth,  how  is  it  possible  to  present  France  as  seeking  to  speculate 
on  claims  made  against  an  insolvent  people  ?  How  does  it  happen  that  people  have  such 
feeble  confidence  in  tbe  representatives  of  the  government  of  their  country,  in  their 
sagacity,  in  their  honor,  that,  without  proof,  without  examination,  without  documents, 
they  should  proceed  to  accuse  them  of  having  overcharged  the  amount  of  reparations  due  ? 
And  for  whose  interest  is  this  pretended  overcharging?  The  whole  was  demanded  exclu 
sively  for  our  countrymen,  and  for  no  one  else  than  those  who  could  justify  and  establish 
their  right. 

There  was,  I  know,  a  protest  made  by  Sir  Charles  Wyke  against  the  amount  of  our  claims. 
We  have  not  thought  proper  in  this  respect  to  be  reciprocal.  In  the  arrangements  made 
by  England  with  Mexico,  as  in  all  tho^e  made  with  other  nations,  for  the  reparation  of  in 
juries  done  to  her  subjects,  .she  does  not  seem  to  be  accustomed  to  fall  below  what  was  legiti 
mately  due  to  her.  [Approbative  laughter.]  There  are  before  the  world  numerous  ex 
amples  on  this  point — the  Pritchards,  the  Pacificos,  and  many  others.  I  cannot  blame  the 
British  government  for  making  the  balance,  if  needs  be,  incline  on  the  side  of  its  country 
men.  It  is  well,  thinks  it  to  itself,  that  the  world  should  be  intimately  persuaded  that  an 
English  citizen  is  not  to  be  touched  with  impunity. 

Well,  gentlemen,  that  which  England  puts  in  practice  I  consider  wise,  worthy,  patriotic, 
politic  for  us  to  practice  also.  [Good,  good.] 

To  sum  up  in  brief,  with  regard  to  the  amount  of  claims,  the  honorable  gentleman  to 
whom  I  reply  was  not  informed,  and  we  are.  Moreover,  aio  injustice  was  possible,  for 
liquidation  was  offered,  legitimate,  conscientious,  and  fair  liquidation.  But  ia  addition, 
gentlemen,  remark  that  the  British  government  itself  has  repudiated  the  pretensions  of  her 
representative,  and  acknowledged,  on  our  calling  attention  to  the  subject,  that  none  of  the 
plenipotentiaries  had  any  control  over  the  amount  of  the  claims  of  his  colleagues,  and 
this  is  the  doctrine  always  put  in  force  by  England.  When  we  accompanied  her  to  China, 
when  our  flags  floated  there  together  and  were  even  planted  on  the  walls  of  Pekin,  there 
were  likewise  indemnities  to  provide  for  and  exact ;  England  preserved  her  freedom  of 
action,  as  we  did  ours.  The  facts,  therefore,  are  in  conformity  with  principles,  and  no 
novelty  is  practiced  in  this  respect.  [Approbation  in  the  Chamber.]  But  I  am  aware  that 
out  of  the  mass  of  these  legitimate  claims  some  have  wished  particularly  to  bring  forward 
one  on  which  they  hoped  skilfully  to  rivet  the  attention  of  France  and  of  the  Chamber,  and 
thereby  cause  all  the  rest  to  be  forgotten.  By  means  of  the  Jecker  debt,  they  have  striven 
to  agitate  the  minds  and  excite  the  indignation  of  the  public  and  make  them  suppose  I 
know  not  what  shameful  imputations.  These  imputations,  also,  it  is  necessary  to  refute. 

[Good,  good.     Numerous  voices:  Rest  awhile,  rest  awhile.] 

(The  Chamber  takes  a  recess  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  On  assembling  again  the  president 
announces  that  the  minister  without  portfolio  is  entitled  to  the  floor  for  the  continuation 
of  his  speech.) 

M.  BILLAULT,  minister  without  portfolio.  It  will  be  easy  for  me,  gentlemen,  to  show 
that  the  Jecker  debt  has  had  no  influence  whatever  either  in  the  declaration  of  war  or  in 
the  rupture  of  the  armistice  of  La  Soledad.  But  that  would  not  suffice  for  me  ;  and  it  is 
necessary  that,  although  it  has  had  absolutely  no  influence  on  the  course  of  events,  this 
debt  should  itself  be  well  known. 

There  is  one  thing  which  strikes  me  and  makes  me  grieve  for  my  country,  [movement  of 
attention ;]  it  is  the  levity  with  which  the  most  unseemly  calumny  alleged  i.s  willingly 
accepted  as  true.  [Good,  good  ]  It  seems  that  the  enunciation  or  imputation  of  any 
lamentable  fact,  made  especially  against  persons  in  elevated  station,  is  one  of  those  strokes 
of  good  luck  which  make  the  joy  and  the  satisfaction  of  every  one.  [Good,  good.]  And 
yet,  in  the  end,  when  we  look  each  other  face  to  face,  we  know  well  what  sentiment  of 
honor  animates  us.  We  know  well  that  we  should  respect  each  other  reciprocally,  and 
and  that  it  is  for  no  one's  interest  to  bespatter  his  neighbor  to-day  with  mire  which  will 
fall  back  on  himself  to-morrow.  [Good.]  Yet  the  people  of  France,  so  wonderful  in  their 
intellectual  vivacity,  are  so  constituted  that  the  slightest  insinuation  of  this  kind  goes  on, 
grows  big,  and  makes  its  way  ;  and  then,  when  the  truth  comes,  it  finds  the  minds  of 
men  either  prejudiced  or  indifferent,  and  of  that  which  they  have  accepted  to-day  they 
will  not  deign  to  hear  the  refutation  to-morrow,  or  to  think  at  all  some  days  from  hence. 
Governments  are  spared  still  less  than  individuals  ;  but  on  them  more  than  on  any  one  it 
is  incumbent  to  wage  inexorable  war  with  calumny.  Honor  is  the  life  of  the  individual, 
but  it  is  still  more  so  the  life  of  governments.  [Good.]  And  in  France  a  government 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  159 

that  would  not  be  jealous  to  excess  of  its  honor  would  not  long  govern  its  country. 
[Enthusiastic  and  repeated  applause  ]     So,  then,  let  us  enter  on  the  facts  plainly. 

It  has  been  said,  or  at  least  we  can  conclude  from  what  has  been  said,  that  in  the  Jecker 
affair  there  were  some,  I  know  not  what,  financial  schemes  of  which  the  secret  allurements 
might  have  influenced  the  determination  of  the  government.  What  interest  could  the 
government  have  in  this  affair?  How  has  it  been  produced?  What  advantages  could 
flow  from  it  ?  M.  Jecker  was  a  rich  banker  of  the  city  of  Mexico  ;  born  in  France,  at 
Porentruy,  when  Porentruy  was  part  of  a  French  department,  he  was  classed  at  the  French 
legation  as  French  himself.  He  was  connected  with  all  works  of  French  beneficence  in  the 
city  of  Mexico.  [Interruption  from  the  bench  of  M.  Julius  Favre.]  I  understand  your 
interruption,  and  I  doubt  not  but  that  the  investigations  and  informations  transmitted  to 
you  from  Mexico  by  the  friends  of  M.  Juarez  are  hostile  to  M.  Jecker  ;  the  men  who 
despoil  another,  who  throw  him  into  prison,  who  drag  him  more  than  a  hundred  leagues 
under  the  deadly  climate  of  Mexico  in  order  to  immure  him  in  a  murderous  locality, 
whilst  awaiting  his  expulsion,  these  men  do  not  regard  one  calumny  more  or  less.  [Good, 
good.]  We  have  been  for  some  months  inundated  with  Mexican  calumnies  ;  we  have  seen 
in  circulation  anonymous  writings,  anonymous  papers,  odious  imputations  of  all  kinds, 
furtively  making  their  wray  by  means  of  an  indefatigable  propaganda  ;  it  is  the  friends  of 
our  enemies  in  Mexico  who  thus  send  into  France  their  correspondence  and  their  poison. 
I  Renewed  and  ardent  approbation.]  I  understand  that,  when  a  person  has  the  misfortune 
of  having  more  faith  in  the  assertions  of  Juarez  and  his  friends  than  in  those  of  the 
government  of  one's  own  country  and  in  those  of  one's  own  fellow-citizens  whom  long 
years  of  honor  have  invested  with  public  consideration,  he  accepts  all  imputations  ;  but 
permit  me  to  adopt  a  contrary  course  ;  permit  me  to  believe  rather  in  men  of  honor  whom 
I  know  than  in  men  whom  I  know  not,  or  rather  whom  I  know  too  well  for  their  misdeeds. 
[Good.]  M.  Jecker,  then,  was  the  confidential  depositary  of  nearly  all  the  funds  of  the 
French  colony,  the  depositary  of  all  the  funds  of  the  French  benevolent  institutions,  and 
he  was  not  himself  unconcerned  in  these  benevolent  associations.  His  brother,  who  had 
left  him  a  part  of  his  fortune,  had  bequeathed  100,000  francs  to  the  hospitals  of  Paris  and 
200,000  francs  to  the  Academy  of  Sciences.  I  do  not  mention  this  to  throw  any  interest  on 
M.  Jecker;  that  is  of  little  consequence  to  me  ;  but  what  is  of  consequence  to  me  is  that 
it  should  be  known  that  he  was  no  less  worthy  of  interest  than  others,  and  that  if  his 
character  of  Frenchman  was  disputable,  the  French  engaged  in  consequence  of  their  con 
tract  with  the  Mexican  government,  and  who  had  their  interests  involved,  had  no  less 
right  to  the  protection  of  their  country. 

And  what  was  the  contract?  Let  us  see.  The  regular  government  of  Mexico  under 
Miramon — and  I  say  the  regular  government  because  it  was  at  Mexico  recognized  by  all 
the  European  powers,  and  they  had  their  representatives  near  it— the  government  of 
Mexico,  in  1859,  fifteen  months  before  the  assistance  of  the  United  States  rendered  the 
overthrow  of  Miramon  possible  to  Juarez,  that  government  made  a  loan  ;  this  loan  was 
negotiated  at  the  nominal  figure  of  fifteen  millions  of  dollars  with  the  Jecker  house. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  the  Jecker  house,  in  its  negotiation  of  this  loan,  imposed  most 
onerous  and  usurious  conditions.  It  is  not  my  duty,  in  any  way  whatever,  to  justify  the 
means  of  credit  employed  by  successive  governments  at  Mexico,  and  when  the  minister  of 
England  calculates  at  12  per  cent,  the  interest  on  the  debts  due  to  his  countrymen,  I 
acknowledge  that  high  rates  of  interest  are  familiar  to  that  country  ;  I  acknowledge,  like 
wise,  that  a  banker  who  has  the  boldness  to  lend  to  the  government  in  a  country  in  which 
fifty  governments  have  succeeded  each  other  in  the  space  of  forty  years,  such  a  banker  is 
naturally  induced  to  impose  high  terms. 

I  admit,  then,  that  Miramon,  on  the  one  side,  and  Jecker,  on  the  other,  made  a  loan  of 
vv-hich  the  conditions  were  very  onerous  to  the  Mexican  nation,  but  that  is  not  the  question. 
In  order  to  attract  the  public  into  the  scheme,  the  fifteen  millions  of  Jecker  bills  were,  by 
decree  of  the  President  of  the  Mexican  republic,  declared  admissible,  as  a  fifth  part,  in  the 
payment  of  custom-house  duties  on  all  merchandise  imported  into  Mexico.  Now,  as  in 
consequence  of  the  enormous  depreciation  of  all  Mexican  securities,  far  from  being  nego 
tiated  at  par,  the  Jecker  bills  were  negotiated  at  a  discount  of  from  70  to  75  per  cent,  of 
their  nominal  value,  it  was  an  advantage  to  pay  100  francs  to  the  custom-house  of  the 
Mexican  government  in  a  paper  currency  bought  at  25  or  30  francs.  Consequently,  all 
French  and  other  merchants,  who  had  to  import  into  Mexico  goods  subject  to  duty, 
hastened  to  buy  these  bills  in  order  to  enjoy  that  advantage,  and  to  pay  25  francs  instead 
of  100  francs  on  the  exorbitant  duties  imposed  on  foreign  articles  of  commerce.  Every 
Frenchman  or  other  foreigner  who,  having  goods  to  import,  had  tfought  these  notes  to  pay 
the  duties,  was  interested  in  having  them  continue  to  be  received  conformably  with  the 
engagement  made ;  those  same  Frenchmen  or  foreigners  who  had  further  importations  to 
make  were  also  interested  in  the  maintenance  of  that  arrangement,  since  it  was  for  them 
quite  an  important  reduction  of  duties. 


160  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

You  see  plainly,  then,  French  or  foreigner,  commerce  was  seriously  interested  to  have 
the  Mexican  government,  which  had  treated  with  Jecker,  carry  into  effect  iu  regard  to 
third  persons,  holders  of  these  bills,  the  agreements  to  which  it  had  subscribed. 

This  obligation  was  by  so  much  the  more  binding  on  the  Mexican  government,  as  it  had 
officially  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  all  the  foreign  legations  the  stipulations  of  the 
contract  which  it  had  made  with  Jecker,  and  it  showed  that  this  was  a  diminution  of 
duties  to  which  it  thus  consented,  and  the  sixth  article  of  its  decree  of  January  30,  1860, 
was  to  this  effect :  "  As  a  guarantee  of  the  execution  of  the  preceding  decree  and  of  the 
decree  of  the  29th  of  October  last,  the  supreme  government  will  transmit  copies  of  them 
to  friendly  legations,  in  order  that  they  may  inform  in  the  ordinary  way  the  subjects  of 
their  respective  governments  of  the  favor  accorded  to  them  by  the  government  of  the 
republic,  and  thereby  give  them  the  assurance  that  the  present  decree  will  be  strictly 
executed." 

It  was  on  the  faith  of  these  promises  made  to  the  diplomatic  body  itself  that  these  notes 
attained  circulation  and  that  foreigners  received  them.  Had  we  any  interest  in  compelling 
respect,  as  far  as  regarded  the  French  holders  of  those  notes,  to  the  promise  made  to  the 
public?  [Yes,  yes;  that's  evident.  Good]  Had  we  any  interest  also  in  the  main 
tenance  of  that  agreement  during  the  five  years  assigned  for  its  duration,  inasmuch  as  it 
caused  a  diminution  of  payment  in  the  duties  which  our  traders  paid?  (Yes,  yes.  Very 
good.)  Had  we  any  interest  in  causing  to  be  respected,  as  to  the  present,  and  in  main 
taining,  as  to  the  future,  a  state  of  affairs  which  mitigated  the  custom-house  duties  on  our 
merchandise?  [Good,  good.]  This  is  the  first  point. 

There  is  a  second  one  M.  Jecker,  having  suffered,  in  the  agitations  of  the  country,  a 
stroke  which  compromised  his  solvency,  assigned  some  of  these  notes  in  guarantee  of  sums 
which  he  had  received  in  deposit  from  various  establishments  of  French  benevolence. 
Had  we  any  interest  to  have  those  notes  respected,  which  were  the  guarantee  of  a  French 
institution  /  [Yes,  yes.]  In  fine,  M.  Jecker,  the  banker  of  nearly  all  the  French  resi 
dents  in  Mexico,  (his  house  was  considered  as  French,)  had  among  our  countrymen  nume 
rous  creditors  ;  the  active  principal  of  that  house  likewise  depended  on  those  notes.  Had 
we  any  interest  in  preventing  this  active  principal  from  being  reduced  to  nothing  by  an 
act  of  the  dictatorial  will  of  Juarez?  [Yes,  yes  ;  that's  plain  ]  French  interests,  then, 
in  this  affair,  were  very  plain  and  very  evident. 

As  to  M.  Jecker,  he  made  an  arrangement  with  the  Mexican  government  which  the 
honorable  gentleman  who  last  spoke  finds  onerous,  and  against  which  lie  defends  the 
government  of  Juarez.  Be  it  so;  Juarez  will  thank  him  for  this  favor.  [Laughter.] 

But  what  wrong  has  the  French  government  done  on  this  point  ?  Accusations  are 
brought  against  it,  and  there  are  some  expressions  which  cannot  be  let  pass. 

Some  persons  have  spoken  of  speculators  concealing  themselves  behind  diplomacy. 
Indeed,  people  are  as  fruitful  in  grave  accusations  M  they  are  powerless  to  prove  them. 
Awhile  ago,  tlae  government  had  deceived  the  Chamber  ;  it  had  conducted  matters  with 
the  most  deplorable  stupidity  ;  and  now,  behold,  we  have  cloudy  glimpses  of  speculators 
hiding  behind  diplomacy.  Let  us  speak  plainly ;  that  means,  in  good  French,  that 
diplomacy  has  been  willing  to  serve  the  illegal  interests  of  anonymous  speculators. 
[That's  so.]  Well,  I  give  to  this  assertion  the  most  solemn  and  the  most  categoric  lie. 
[Good,  good  ] 

That  there  be  about  the  government,  that  there  be  about  Juarez,  people  dabbling  in 
the  base  depths  of  their  private  interests,  I  know  nothing  of  the  thing,  and  would  not 
be  astonished  at  it.  Do  we  not  see,  even  in  this  country  of  honor  and  loyalty  named 
France,  in  presence  of  a  government  that  keeps  no  measures  with  improbity,  do  we  not 
see  too  often  in  some  miserable  stock-jobbing  operations  men  boast  of  efficacious  intrigues 
and  potent  influences,  in  order  to  obtain  results  from  others  which  in  reality  they  will 
never  obtain.  [Good,  good.] 

As  for  me,  when  I  had  the  honor  of  being  minister  cf  the  interior,  I  receive.!  vague  de 
nunciations  of  this  kind  quite  frequently ;  and  of  those  who  made  them  I  demanded,  in 
the  name  of  Heaven  and  of  my  country's  honor,  to  give  me  the  least  indication,  the 
least  trace,  by  which  I  might  be  able  to  verify  the  facts  which  they  denounced  to  me  and 
render  full  and  entire  redress.  [Good,  good.]  My  adjurations  were  fruitless,  and  I  saw 
the  accusations,  when  confronted  with  a  perspicuous  and  energetic  interrogatory,  fade 
away  and  vanish  as  a  miserable  vapor.  It  will  be  the  same  here,  gentlemen.  [Good.] 

Much  haa  been  said  about  the  seventy-five  millions  of  the  Jecker  affair.  Seventy-five 
millions !  What  a  magnificent  pasturage !  What  an  attractive  spoil  for  the  speculators 
that  are  supposed  to  lurk  behind  diplomacy!  Here  is,  indeed,  a  mirage  to  seduce  the 
vulgar  ;  but  this  spoil  which  you  invent  docs  riot  exist. 

The  seventy-five  millions  spoken  of  were  in  Jecker  bills,  negotiable  at  Mexico — negotiable 
a,t  the  depressed  rate  usual  with  the  currencies  of  that  government ;  that  is,  at  a  discount  of 
about  75  per  cent,  on  their  nominal  value,  and  acceptable  only  in  payment  of  custom  house 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  161 

duties,  without  ever  being  otherwise  redeemable  by  the  Mexican  treasury.  A  part  of  them  has 
thus  returned — I  know  not  how  much,  and  I  would  gladly  ask  the  honorable  gentleman,  who 
knows  the  figures  so  well ;  as  to  the  rest,  they  are  either  partly  in  the  hands  of  the  mer 
chants  who  procured  them  for  the  payment  of  duties,  or  held  in  trust  by  the  creditors  of 
Jecker,  or  thrust  into  his  own  hands  as  he  was  seized,  arrested,  transported,  imprisoned  on 
the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  dying,  perhaps,  at  this  moment  from  the  effects  of  the  brutal  ex 
pulsion  and  the  forced  journey  which  he  has  been  compelled  to  undergo,  but  yet  required 
to  account,  under  the  decree  for  the  sequestration  of  his  effects,  solvent  or  insolvent.  What 
possible  speculations  could  there  be  in  France  on  such  notes  under  such  circumstances? 
What  is  the  possible  magnificent  affair  capable  of  corrupting  our  diplomacy  and  our  govern 
ment  ?  Mention  it,  and  be  specific  in  your  accusations.  [Good,  good.] 

Now,  gentlemen,  that  you  know  the  facts,  one  word  on  the  action  of  the  government  in 
regard  to  that  debt. 

On  the  31st  of  December,  1860,  at  the  moment  when  Juarez  obtained  possession  of  the 
city  of  Mexico  and  overthrew  Miramon,  the  rumor  was  circulated  that  the  Jecker  contract 
would  no  longer  be  carried  out,  and  a  considerable  number  of  French  merchants  addressed 
a  petition  to  the  minister  of  France,  in  which  they,  with  good  reason,  observed  that  the 
Jecker  notes  had  been  issued  under  the  faith  of  engagements  entered  into  by  the  state,  and 
of  assurances  given  to  the  legations,  and  that  the  advantages  thus  assured  in  commerce 
ought  to  be  respected. 

Whilst  at  Mexico  the  French,  who  were  interested  in  the  matter,  drew  up  this  remon 
strance  ;  at  Paris  other  French  merchants,  equally  numerous  and  honorable,  themselves 
engaged  in  commerce  with  Mexico,  and  aware  that  the  destruction  of  these  bills  of  credit 
would  entail  severe  losses  on  their  own  affairs,  addressed  themselves  to  the  minister  of  foreign 
affairs  of  France  in  order  to  make  the  same  observations  to  him.  Under  these  circumstances 
what  ought  our  government  to  do  ?  Frenchmen  in  France,  Frenchmen  abroad,  on  the  faith 
of  a  government  recognized  by  France,  had  accepted  notes  of  that  state  as  payable  at  the 
custom-house.  Was  it  not  a  strict  duty  to  make  representations  to  the  new  master  of 
Mexico  and  to  remind  him  that  the  engagements  of  the  preceding  government  ought  to  be 
kept?  The  French  minister  wrote,  in  consequence,  on  the  6th  of  March,  1861,  to  our  rep 
resentative  in  Mexico  ;  we  were  yet  at  that  period  on  terms  of  friendship  with  M.  Juarez ; 
we  were  willing  to  hope  still  that  his  government  would  procure  a  little  more  security  and 
order  for  foreigners  living  in  the  country. 

So,  what  happened?  The  minister  of  President  Juarez,  M.  Zarco,  having  entered  into 
negotiations  on  this  point  with  our  minister  at  Mexico,  objected  the  poverty  of  the  republic, 
and  the  fact  that  the  engagement  had  been  made  by  their  enemy  to  sustain  the  civil  war. 
But  we  answered  him,  "  The  engagement  was  made  by  a  government  de  facto  existing,  rec 
ognized,  having  our  minister  accredited  near  it.  Governments  that  succeed  each  other  are 
responsible  for  the  pecuniary  engagements  of  their  predecessors."  [Approbation.]  That 
is  a  fundamental  principle  which  we  cannot  permit  to  be  ignored ;  it  is  the  principle  on 
which  public  credit  and  public  faith  repose  in  the  engagements  of  nations.  And  M.  Zarco, 
in  the  despatches  which  I  have  already  had  occasion  to  cite  last  year,  recognized  the  prin 
ciple,  rscognized  the  obligation  of  his  government.  Permit  me  to  read  to  you  on  this 
subject  one  only  of  his  letters. 

He  wrote  on  the  4th  of  May,  1861,  to  M.  de  Saligny  :  "My  dear  sir :  I  am  obliged  to 
you  f  -r  the  confidential  explanations  which,  by  your  letter  of  the  day  before  yesterday,  you 
hav'  been  pleased  to  add  to  your  note  relative  to  the  Jecker  question,  and  also  because  you 
haT  e  taken  into  consideration  the  difficulties  and  the  embarrassments  by  which  my  govern- 
HJ'jnt  is  surrounded,  and  all  that  is  most  painful  to  it  in  the  responsibility  far  the  fatal  heritage 
of  the  faction  commanded  by  Miramon. 

"  I  am,  likewise,  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  efforts  that  you  have  made  to  induce  M. 
Jecker  to  make  some  concessions.  In  reply  to  your  letter,  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  yon 
that,  as  soon  as  the  question  of  principle  involved  shall  be  satisfactorily  decided,  the  de 
tails  of  execution  will  be  easily  arranged,  according  to  the  means  of  the  government  and  its 
powers  on  certain  points,  and  taking,  moreover,  into  consideration  the  propositions  of  M. 
Jecker,  contained  in  your  letter." 

Here,  then,  behold  the  negotiation  entered  on,  the  basis  accepted,  serious  hopes  held  out 
by  the  government  of  Juarez,  and  the  duty  of  the  French  government  fulfilled.  This  had 
no  connexion  with  the  Mexican  war,  which  broke  out  only  at  a  later  period.  Well,  such 
being  the  state  of  affairs,  when  the  war  did  break  out,  when  the  French  were,  in  every  way, 
more  and  more  violently  treated,  when  they  were  plundered,  imprisoned,  expelled,  should 
the  French  government,  in  making  out  the  long  inventory  of  the  ignored  rights  of  its  cit 
izens,  not  mention  in  its  ultimatum  that  agreement  of  which  the  enemy's  government  itself 
had  recognized  the  principle  ? 

And  what,  after  all,  was  demanded  of  the  Mexican  government?  Was  it  seventy-five  mil 
lions  in  ready  money?  By  no  means;  indeed,  it  was  asked  only  to  continue  to  execute 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 11 


162  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

fairly  the  engagements  entered  into  by  its  predecessor — that  is,  to  receive  at  the  custom 
houses,  in  payment  of  a  fifth  part  of  the  duties,  the  not--s  that  had  been  issued  under  that 
condition  by  the  preceding  government. 

Once  again:  there  is  no  trace  here  of  any  pretended  speculation.  Recall  to  mind,  more 
over,  what  a  spirit  of  benevolent  equity  presided  over  the  establishment  of  all  these  claims  ; 
permit  me  to  remind  you  in  what  terms  M  de  Saligny  himself  expressed  himself  at  the  time 
of  estimating  the  various  debts.  He  had,  with  advice,  made  out  a  report  of  them  as  con 
scientiously  as  possible ;  he  gave  their  details,  then  he  added,  in  his  despatch  of  January 
20,  1862: 

1 '  If  your  excellency  thinks  proper  to  adopt  my  views  on  this  subject,  (the  liquidation  of  the 
debts,)  I  would  propose  to  refer  all  questions  relative  to  our  claims  to  a  commission,  com 
posed  of  his  Majesty's  consul  at  Vera  Cruz,  the  secretary  of  the  imperial  legation,  and  a 
merchant.  This  scheme  would,  among  other  advantages,  in  my  eyes,  have  that  of  re 
lieving  the  responsibility  of  the  Emperor's  minister — a  responsibility  more  weighty  and 
more  dangerous  in  Mexico  than  any  where  else,  and  to  place  his  person  above  the  recrim 
inations  and  attacks  of  calumny.' ' 

And  yet,  on  the  question  of  the  Jecker  contract,  it  was  not,  I  repeat,  in  the  case  at  all 
to  ask  a  dollar  of  the  government  of  Juarez,  it  was  not  in  the  case  that  it  should  pay  out 
the  smallest  sum  ;  there  was  question  merely  that  it  should  maintain  the  decree  admitting 
the  notes  created  by  its  predecessor  in  payment  of  custom-house  duties  ;  and  yet  the  ques 
tion  being  thus  placed,  the  Emperor's  government  does  not  the  less  accept  the  propositions 
of  M.  de  Saligny,  and  in  several  despatches  it  expresses  the  desire  that  all  the  debts  due  to 
France  should  be  liquidated  by  a  commission,  that  nothing  should  be  paid  out  of  the  Mex 
ican  funds  but  what  might  be  legally  due  from  it,  what  might  be  regularly  verified. 

Such  are  the  facts  ;  and  yet  you  were  told  yesterday,  "  Behold  what  examples  of  fairness 
France  is  going  to  give  the  New  World."  I  confess  that  such  words  pronounced  in  this 
assembly  have  deeply  grieved  me.  What !  People  in  Mexico,  on  the  authority  of  what  is 
said  here,  may  make  a  like  imputation  on  the  honor  of  our  nation  !  They  can  say,  "  It  is 
not  we  who  accuse  it  of  injustice  and  disregard  of  right ;  it  is  its  own  citizens  ;  it  is  among 
its  own  citizens — men  eminent  for  their  talents,  and  elevated  by  the  public  vote  to  the 
representation  of  the  country." 

Indeed,  when  the  facts  are  reduced  to  what  you  know  now,  those  words,  in  my  opinion, 
were  very  unjust  and  much  to  be  regretted.  [Approbation.] 

I  forgot  one  detail  which  I  must  not  pass  over.     [Louder,  louder.] 

They  spoke  yesterday  of  some  correspondence  or  other  intercepted  and  published  at 
Mexico,  then  numerous  copies  sent  to  Paris.  The  government  of  Mexico  has  sent  many 
papers  to  Paris,  many  prints,  many  accusations  of  every  kind.  I  thought  that  the  calum 
nies  against  the  government  of  France  had  their  principal  laboratories  in  certain  neighboring 
countries.  I  see  now  that  another  laboratory,  a  powerful  and  active  focus,  is  established 
beyond  the  seas.  Hatred  against  the  Emperor's  government  inspires  certain  ultia  demo 
crats  with  a  fertility  of  accusations  and  calumnies  inexhaustible.  I  shall  not  deign  io  make 
any  further  allusion  to  this  pretended  document  seized  by  a  hostile  government,  intercepted 
by  it,  printed  by  it,  sent  by  its  care  through  the  world,  without  anything  to  testify  its'  value 
or  its  authenticity. 

I  shall  confine  myself  to  reminding  you  that  it  is  testified  by  our  diplomatic  docu:  icnts 
that  the  party  of  Juarez  has  used  all  its  efforts  to  sweep  the  whole  French  colony  into  this 
torrent  of  calumny,  and  that  the  great  majority  of  this  colony,  in  their  indignation,  h  ve 
energetically  protested. 

You  have  in  the  documents  distributed  among  you  the  legal  protests  our  countrymen 
declare,  in  spite  of  the  menaces  of  Juarez  that  they  wish  to  absolve  the  French  colony  from 
the  responsibility  of  these  odious  mano3uvres.  [Good.] 

Let  us  then  put  aside  all  these  calumnies,  and  let  us  return  to  the  Mexican  expedition, 
for  the  Jecker  affair  wos  but  an  odious  veil  that  was  endeavored  to  be  thrown  over  it. 
That  affair,  you  see,  henceforth  is  of  no  account  in  the  expedition.  It  is  of  no  greater  ac 
count  in  the  rupture  of  the  preliminaries  of  La  Soledad.  That  rupture  dates  from  the  month 
of  April,  and,  as  early  as  the  month  of  January,  the  difficulty  arising  from  the  valuation  of 
the  debts  had  been  deferred  by  the  plenipotentiaries  by  common  consent  until  the  solution 
was  given  by  their  respective  governments  Moreover,  in  the  very  first  stages  of  the  diffi 
culties,  our  minister  had  formally  obtained  leave  to  discard  this  debt  for  the  time  being, 
which  General  Prim  approved,  and  which  the  English  plenipotentiary,  after  having  seemed 
to  agree  to  it,  finished  by  rejecting. 

Yet  M.  de  Saligny  ceased  not  to  repeat,  "  Well,  let  us  defer  the  Jecker  debt ;  let  us  not 
nsert  it  in  the  ultimatum  ;  let  us  not  speak  of  it ;  we  will  afterwards  sec  what  is  to  be  done 
with  it." 

Let  it  not  be  Raid,  then,  that  the  Jecker  debt,  comprised  in  the  French  ultimatum  in  the 
month  of  January,  has  had  any  kind  of  influence  on  the  conduct  of  the  plenipotentiaries  in 
the  month  of  April.  It  had  none  for  two  reasons  :  the  first,  because  M.  de  Saligny  himself 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  163 

offered  to  defer  it;  the  second,  because  the  difficulty  of  that  ultimatum,  being  referred  to 
the  examination  of  the  governments,  in  no  way  hindered  collective  diplomatic  action  during 
the  two  months  that  followed. 

Here,  then,  gentlemen,  are  the  two  things  for  which  it  w<i?  s>ughtto  complicate,  darken, 
distort,  calumniate  the  expedition  to  Mexico  :  the  enthroning,  as  tlve  sole,  or  at  least  prin 
cipal  end  of  an  Austrian  prince  on  the  one  side,  and  a  pretended,  shameful  speculation  on 
the  Jecker  notes,  on  the  other.  Behold  them  reduced  to  their  just  value.  [Approbation.] 

I  forgot  one  final  word.  Yesterday  they  indicated  as  a  special  favor  of  the  French  gov 
ernment  the  precipitate  insertion  in  the  Bulletin  des  Lois  of  the  naturalization  of  M.  Jecker. 

This  precipitation,  gentlemen,  is  presented  in  these  terms  :  the  decree  of  naturalization 
is  of  the  26th  of  March,  and  the  excessive  favor  obtained  by  the  petitioner  is  that  the  de 
cree  of  the  26th  of  March  was  inserted  in  the  Bulletin  des  Lois  of  the  31st  of  August,  after 
five  months ! 

I  shall  delay  no  longer  on  this  point.  I  shall  not  examine  what  advantage  Jecker  could 
have  in  causing  himself  to  be  naturalized  a  Frenchman — he  who  was  born  in  France  in 
1812  ;  nor  how  his  naturalization  could  cover,  to  a  certain  extent,  his  own  interests  at  the 
same  time  as  those  of  other  Frenchmen.  Let  him  be  naturalized  to-day,  to-morrow,  or  six 
months  hence  ;  that  makes  no  change  whatever  in  the  affair  or  in  the  injustice  of  the  im 
putations.  [Marks  of  assent  ] 

Now — and  remark  well  what  I  say — it  is  not  only  the  Mexican  expedition  that  is  attacked 
in  the  amendment  submitted  to  you  ;  it  is  the  whole  policy  of  France;  it  is  the  general 
policy  which  you  have  approved,  which  you  have  received  with  acclamation,  in  which  you 
have  been  intimately  associated.  It  is  in  the  name  of  a  programme  opposed  and  violently 
opposed  to  yours  that  the  authors  of  the  amendment  present  themselves. 

Yesterday  you  heard  strange  words  ;  you  were  asked,  "  Who  are  you,  and  what  are  your 
names?" 

The  government  to  which  these  words  were  addressed  is  that  which  eight  millions  of 
votes  have  founded.  [Good,  good.]  It  is  that  which  a  legislative  body,  nominated  by  the 
same  number  of  votes,  has  supported  for  ten  years,  with  its  devotedness  and  its  vote. 
[Good,  good  ]  This  government,  of  which  you  ask  what  it  is  and  what  is  its  name,  is  all 
France.  [Good,  good.]  She  it  is  who,  by  means  of  her  sovereign  aod  her»deputies,  defends 
her  honor  in  that  New  World  and  upholds  her  interests  there  [Good,  goal.] 

Oh,  I  know  well  that  the  authors  of  the  amendment  cannnot  be  of  the  opinion  of  this 
Chamber  on  the  great  things  done  by  the  Emperor  with  its  concurrence  ;  I  know  well  that 
there  is  not  one  glorious  expedition  to  which  they  have  not  refused  their  support.  [That's 
so  ;  that's  true  ]  I  know  well  that  for  five  years  there  is  not  an  appropriation  against  which 
they  have  not  voted.  But  that  is  no  reason  why  the  policy  of  the  Emperor  and  of  this 
Chamber  should  be  thus  treated.  They  qualify  it  as  hazardous,  rash.  Let  ns  say  one  word, 
in  passing,  with  regard  to  the  general  scope  of  this  policy  ;  it  is  not  only  in  reference  to  the 
vote  on  the  amendment  that  this  appears  to  me  desirable  :  beyond  this  discussion,  beyond 
the  limits  of  this  session,  there  will  be  rendered  a  solemn  judgment  on  the  policy  of  the 
country — a  judgment  not  on  your  persons  but  on  your  votes — a  judgment  which  will  include 
the  great  acts  in  which  you  have  shared.  Now,  it  is  not  well  for  France,  it  is  not  well  for 
Europe,  it  is  not  well  for  any  one  to  let  this  greit  epoch  be  calumniated.  [Good.] 

The  policy  which  France  has  pursued,  which  they  dare  to  call  rash  and  adventurous  ex 
peditions,  is  not  one  of  those  fanciful  policies  that  a  sovereign  can  follow  one  day  and 
abandon  the  next,  according  to  his  caprices,  and  to  the  detriment  of  his  country.  There 
are,  in  a  great  nation  reckoning  fourteen  centuries  of  existence,  there  are  traditions,  there 
are  positions  taken,  there  are  necessities  imposed,  and  it  does  not  depend  upon  a  govern 
ment  nor  on  its  caprice  to  neglect  the  permanent  interests  of  its  country  ;  these  national  and 
traditionary  interests  the  government  can  neither  ignore  nor  forget.  [Very  good.]  And 
the  greatness  of  its  ability,  its  renown,  and  its  glory — that  of  those  wli  >  associate  them 
selves  with  its  course  and  sustain  it  with  their  vote,  are  proportionate  to  the  degree  in 
which  it  knows  how  to  uphold  them  and  render  them  triumphant.  Let  us  see,  then, 
whether  they  are  found  in  these  expeditions  styled  rash  and  adventurous. 

There  are  throughout,  and  especially  in  the  east,  considerable  rivalries,  difficult  situations, 
easily  inflammable,  on  which  Europe  has  her  eyes  j  erpetually  fixed.  There  are  there  some 
of  those  political  combinations  of  which  the  hopes  of  settlement  are  often  deferred,  but 
never  abandoned.  It  is  there  in  order  to  restrain  the  different  influences  and  resume  our 
own  that  we  made  our  great  Crimean  expedition  ;  we  have  conquered  there  the  prestige  of 
our  ascendency  ;  we  have  re-established  in  the  world  that  position  which,  heretofore,  for  a 
moment  depressed,  has  been,  to  the.great  joy,  to  the  just  pride  of  France,  raised  again  with 
renewed  splendor.  [Ardent  manifestations  of  assent  from  the  Chamber.] 

When,  after  this  grand  result  obtained,  our  victorious  fleet  aad  army  traversed  the  Black 
sea,  we  could,  with  legitimate  satisfaction,  compare  this  triumph  to  our  isolation  in  1810. 
[Very  good.]  Compare  this  glory  to  that  check  ;  compare  this  predominance  to  that  in 
feriority.  [Good,  good.] 


164  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

We  had  nearer  home,  in  Italy,  time-honored  interests:  a  neighboring  power  had,  little 
by  little,  by  force,  and  by  the  skill  of  her  policy,  made  her  influence  predominant  over  the 
whole  Italian  peninsula.  A  small  corner  alone  yet  remained  ;  but  soon  her  standard  threat 
ened  to  be  planted  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps.  There  was  there  a  traditional  rivalry,  and  so 
the  necessity  for  our  country  to  withdraw  Italy  from  an  influence  singularly  favored  against 
us  by  the  treaties  of  1815.  At  a  given  day  we  crossed  the  Alps,  and  in  two  months  the 
influence  which  centuries  of  open  or  hidden  struggle  had  not  succeeded  in  shaking  disap 
peared  from  the  soil  of  Italy.  [Good,  good.]  Compare  this  glorious  result  with  the  occu 
pation,  but  also  with  the  evacuation,  of  Ancona. 

Thousands  of  leagues  from  France,  in  the  extreme  east,  there  is  a  country  where  formerly 
great  possessions  belonged  to  us,  where  the  French  name  was  once  powerful  and  glorious  ; 
but  all  this  splendor  had  been  effaced  ;  some  feeble  reminiscences  survived,  nourishing  some 
regrets  for  the  past,  but  no  hope  in  the  future.  Well,  in  accord  with  the  power  which  so 
long  had  been  our  rival,  we  have  penetrated  into  the  heart  of  China  to  plant  at  the  same 
time  the  symbol  of  the  faith  which  we  protect,  and  to  open  a  world  to  our  commerce  :  we 
have  caused  to  be  recognized  there  anew  the  glorious  banner  of  France  and  the  power  of 
her  arm.  The  east  has  resumed  its  ancient  deference  towards  us ;  we  have  seen  within  our 
walls  the  ambassadors  of  Siam  and  Japan  ;  between  Singapore  and  China  an  immense  and 
magnificent  possession  takes,  under  our  flag,  a  rapid  march  towards  a  brilliant  future  ;  our 
packets  proceed,  henceforth,  to  furrow  those  seas ;  in  face  of  Aden,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Red  sea,  they  will  find,  likewise,  under  the  flag  of  France  a  point  of  repose  and  for  taking 
in  supplies ;  Russia,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  orient,  gives  to  her  influence  and  her  pos 
sessions  a  series  of  magnificent  developments ;  England,  in  the  centre  of  Asia,  has  one  of 
the  most  splendid  seats  of  her  power  ;  we  can,  by  the  side  of  these  two  rival  and  armed 
powers,  contemplate,  without  much  regret,  the  results  obtained  by  us  and  fearlessly  com 
pare  them  with  the  negative  results  formerly  obtained  by  the  diplomatic  promenade  of  M. 
de  Lagrene'e.  [Approbative  laughter.] 

Here  are  some  of  the  great  features  of  this  policy  of  France  which  has  been  so  fiercely 
attacked  ;  here  are  the  luminous  beacons  by  which  the  patriotism  of  our  fellow-citizens  will 
recognize  the  deputies  who  have  voted  for  that  policy  [Enthusiastic  approbation.] 

By  the  side  of  these  great  interests  we  had  others  also  in  Mexico ;  and  it  was  not  merely 
the  obligation  of  enforcing  respect  for  our  countrymen  and  our  rights ;  there,  also,  great 
politic  d  vistas  are  open  to  clear-sighted  eyes ;  diverse  interests  come  in  contact,  and  it  is 
not  opportune  to  neglect  them.  [Very  good.]1  But  to  avenge  our  rights  ignored  by  a  ty 
rannical  government  and  to  raise  the  Mexican  nation,  if  possible,  were,  also,  works  of  sound 
policy. 

And  it  is  at  the  moment  when  our  arms  seek  to  realize  this  policy  that  some  dare, within 
this  assembly  to  characterize  the  enterprize  confided  to  the  courage  of  our  soldiers  as  rash, 
adventurous,  and  inspired  by  detestable  motives. 

Under  the  circumstances  I  consider  these  words  deplorable  :  happily,  in  opposition  to  the 
five  isolated  names  which  are  subscribed  to  them,  all  France  will  arise — [Yes,  yes] — jealous 
of  her  glory,  jealous  of  the  honor  of  her  flag,  careful  of  the  protection  which  she  owes  to 
her  children. 

You,  gentlemen,  you  are,  by  the  millions  of  suffrages  that  you  represent,  the  real  organs 
here  of  the  sentiments  of  the  country.  It  is  your  part  to  decide  solemnly  on  what  has  been 
said.  The  words,  the  sad  words  which  you  have  heard,  are  going  to  pass  the  Atlantic 
rapidly  ;  and,  I  say  it  with  grief,  they  will  gladden,  on  the  soil  of  America,  all  the  enemies 
of  the  renown  of  France.  [Good,  good.]  Well,  gentlemen,  let  the  same  vessel  that  carries 
them,  carry,  likewise,  the  protest  of  an  entire  nation.  [Bravo,  bravo.] 

Proclaim,  let  us  all  proclaim  together,  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor  and  of  the  people  in- 
dissolubly  united  in  a  patriotic  solidarity,  let  us  proclaim  that  the  war  wliich  we  wage  with 
Mexico  is  just  and  fair.  [Yes,  yes  ;  very  good,  very  good.] 

Our  soldiers  go  there  to  sustain  our  honor,  to  punish  perjury,  to  avenge' the  blood  of  our 
fellow-citizens,  to  avenge  the  extortions  of  which  they  have  been  the  victims.  They  go,  as 
the  Emperor  has  well  said,  to  prove  once  more  that  there  is  in  this  world  no  country  so 
distant  that  an  attempt  on  the  honor  of  France  may  remain  unpunished  there.  [Repeated 
and  more  animated  marks  of  assent  ]  May  they,  incidentally,  if  they  can,  scatter  some 
seeds  of  order  and  liberty  in  that  unhappy  country,  crushed  down  by  fifty  years  of  tyranny 
and  brigandage. 

But  when,  after  having  fulfilled  their  duty  loyally,  bravely,  to  the  glory  of  their  country, 
when  they  return  to  their  country  I  can  assert,  and  you  with  me,  that  they  will  be  followed 
by  the  benedictions  of  those  thousands  of  Frenchmen  scattered  over  the  surface  of  the  New 
World,  and  to  whom  they  shall  have  restored  security  ;  and  on  the  shores  of  their  native 
land  they  will  be  received  by  the  unanimous  acclamations  of  a  whole  people  sincerely 
grateful  for  the  fatigues  which  they  shall  have  braved,  for  the  blood  which  they  shall  have 
spilled  for  the  honor  of  France  and  the  maintenance  of  her  good  rights.  [Bravo,  bravo. 
General  acclamations.  Three  cheers  follow  the  speech  of  his  excellency  the  minister.] 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  165 

M.  JULES  FAVKE.  I  claim  the  floor. 

NUMEROUS  VOICES.     No,  no.     Enough,  enough.  .    Let  us  vote. 

A  MEMBER.  That's  not  fair  ;  let  him  reply  to  the  minister. 

The  PRESIDENT.  No  written  regulation  gives  to  a  member  of  the  opposition  the  right  to 
reply  to  a  minister,  but  it  is  a  traditional  right.  At  present,  whatever  be  the  impatience 
of  the  Chamber,  the  government  and  the  men  who  surround  it  have  been  so  shamefully 
calumniated  in  this  affair,  that,  in  my  opinion,  what  is  most  proper  is  to  permit  a  reply. 
[General  marks  of  assent ;  good,  good.] 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  Gentlemen,  the  expressions  by  which  our  honorable  president  has  ac 
corded  me  the  floor  present  a  double  aspect.  He  has  invoked  a  traditional  usage  which 
is  not  reproduced  by  any  written  text,  and  he  has  added  that  the  men  of  the  government 
had  been  calumniated,  and  that  it  was  fair  to  permit  a  rejoinder.  This  last  impeachment 
cannot  reach  those  who  fulfil  their  duty  here.  [Exclamations  ] 

A  VOICE.  Why  not?     We  fulfil  ours  also. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  And  as  to  me,  if  there  was,  in  what  Mr.  President  has  said,  anything 
whatever  personal  to  myself,  I  would  protest  most  earnestly  against  an  insinuation  of  that 
nature.  I  have  invoked  facts,  I  have  submitted  them,  to  the  judgment  of  the  Chamber. 
The  minister  has  made  a  reply  ;  I  ask  permission  of  the  Chamber  to  make  a  few  brief  ob 
servations. 

These  observations,  gentlemen,  are  necessary  in  order  to  specify  the  real  state  oft  he  case, 
and  to  allow  you,  after  becoming  acquainted  with  each  of  the  elements  of  this  great  de 
bate,  to  resolve  it  with  entire  intelligence.  And,  as  you  may  understand,  I  have  no  in 
tention  of  replying  to  that  part  of  the  discourse  of  the  minister  without  portfolio,  in  which, 
in  accordance  with  an  ancient  and  well  known  system  of  action,  employed  by  the  supporters 
of  the  government  against  the  members  of  the  opposition,  he  told  you  that  those  who 
criticised  the  acts  of  the  administration  were  factious.  [Animated  reclamations.] 

SEVERAL  VOICES.  That  was  not  said. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  And  that  it  behooved  us.  above  all,  to  believe  in  the  loyalty  of  its  in 
tentions,  in  the  sincerity  of  its  declarations,  and  in  the  justness  of  its  views.  I  have  said, 
gentlemen,  similar  proceedings  are  familiar  to  him  who  now  has  recourse  to  them,  but 
they  can  have  no  sort  of  influence  on  your  minds.  [Murmurs  of  disapprobation.]  It  is 
of  the  truth  of  facts  that  there  is  question.  These  facts  I  endeavored,  in  yesterday's  ses 
sion,  to  point  out  precisely,  with  the  assistance  of  the  diplomatic  documents  laid  before  us, 
and  it  is  especially  relying  on  these  documents  that  I  characterized,  as  I  deemed  it  my  duty 
to  do,  the  Mexican  expedition  in  its  purpose  and  in  its  consequences. 

I  said,  as  regards  its  purpose,  that  it  had  been  concealed  from  the  Chamber.  I  said  that 
when  last  year  the  cabinet  explained  the  intentions  of  the  government  in  regard  to  this 
expedition,  not  only  it  exclusively  intrenched  itself  behind  this  great  and  national  reason 
of  the  reparation  of  the  grievances  of  our,  countrymen,  but  also  it  energetically  denied  all 
kind  of  participation  in  any  design  involving  a  foreign  prince.  I  do  not  wish  to  quote  in 
this  regard  the  texts  that  may  at  this  moment  be  before  your  eyes  ;^you  know  them,  and 
you  know  that,  when  I  interrogated  the  cabinet  on  this  point,  the  cabinet  replied  in  the 
most  positive  manner  that  those  who  had  really  believed  such  reports  had  been  convinced 
that  they  were  calumnious,  that  they  had  no  foundation  in  reality.  And  at  the  very  mo 
ment  when  the  minister  spoke,  he  might  have  had  in  his  hands  the  despatch  of  the  min 
ister  of  foreign  affairs,  avowing  that  oveitures  had  been  made  to  the  Archduke  Maximilian, 
and  that  these  overtures  were  accepted.  [Interruption  ] 

Allow  me,  gentlemen.  There  is,  then,  in  this  regard  nothing  whatever,  I  will  not  say 
refuted,  but  shaken,  in  the  assertions  which  I  made  in  the  session  of  yesterday  and  in  the 
judgment  which  I  passed. 

Now,  when  the  minister,  striving  to  distort  and  misplace  the  question,  [animated  recla 
mations,]  repeats  to  you  that  the  expedition  has  been  exclusively  undertaken  in  order  to 
avenge  tbe  honor  and  security  of  our  countrymen,  when  the  minister  imputes  to  the  gov 
ernment,  of  which  they  have  gone  to  demand  this  satisfaction,  the  responsibility  of  all 
the  previous  acts,  I  take  the  liberty  to  remind  him  of  two  things  :  the  first,  that  Juarez 
did  not  enter  the  city  of  Mexico  until  the  end  of  December,  1860,  and  that  most  of  the 
acts  on  account  of  which  our  reclamations  have  been  addressed  are  anterior  to  that  date  ; 
and  the  second,  which  is  no  less  important,  that  the  same  men  who  may  have  been  guilty 
of  those  acts  of  violence,  of  those  murders,  of  those  assassinations,  of  those  pillagings,. 
are  precisely  those  whom  we  now  shelter  under  our  flag,  who  march  beside  our  soldiers. 
[Denials.] 

You  deny  it,  gentlemen.  [Yes,  yes.]  Listen  on  this  point  to  the  despatch  just  awhile 
ago  placed  before  your  eyes  by  the^  minister,  though  only  in  part:  I  refer  to  that  which 
bears  the  date  of  October  28,  1861,  and  which  was  sent  by  Sir  Charles  Wyke  to  his  govern 
ment.  The  minister  read  to  you  that  part  of  the  despatch  in  which  it  is  said  that  the  ex 
perience  of  every  day  tends  to  show  the  impossibility  of  establishing  a  regular  and  stable 
government  in  Mexico,  but  he  did  not  read  the  following  : 


166  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

"  Marqucz  is  at  some  leagues  from  the  capital  with  3,000  or  4,000  men  ;  he  has  pillaged 
lately  about  $50,000  from  the  mine  of  Heal  del  Monte,  a  mine  in  which  English  capitalists 
are  largely  interested." 

And  it  is  precisely  Marqucz,  Marquez  covered  with  European  blood,  Marquez  who  has 
been  at  times  noted  for  his  ferocity  in  his  military  executions,  it  is  he  who  has  come  to  the 
French  camp,  and  who  has  been  received  by  our  generals.  It  is  he  who,  at  this  very  hour, 
with  Almonte,  with  all  the  persons  of  the  reactionary  government,  figures  among  those 
considered  as  our  allies. 

I  have,  then,  the  right  to  say  that  not  only  the  purpose  of  the  Mexican  war  was  not  that 
indicated  by  the  minister,  [reclamations,]  but  also  that  when  they  impute  to  Juarez  all  the 
acts  inducing  this  war,  all  the  acts  of  pillage  which  are  but  the  consequences  of  the  disor 
ders.  [Increasing  noise  and  tumult.]  You  do  not  wish  to  let  me  speak. 

SOME  VOICES.  Yes,  yes. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE  I  have  to  reply,  and  I  ask  the  Chimber  permission  to  do  so  in  a  few 
words,  to  what  the  minister  has  said  concerning  the  ultimatum  which  I  have  described  as 
having  been  one  of  the  causes  of  the  rupture  of  the  negotiations. 

I  have  reproached  our  diplomatic  agents  with  having  acted  without  precise  instructions, 
and  with  having  sent  to  the  Mexican  government  a  note  containing  demands  of  an  in 
tolerable  nature.  On  this  point,  has  the  minister's  reply  been  able  to  satisfy  your  con 
sciences  ? 

NUMEROUS  VOICES.  Yes,   yes. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE  It  it  is  so,  it  is,  I  believe,  because  you  do  not  know  the  whole  truth. 
[So!  so!] 

I  said,  in  effect,  that  when  the  ultimatum  was  diawn  up,  the  claims  for  money  to  be 
made  by  the  French  government  on  the  Mexican  government  had  been  inflated  in  a  man 
ner  extremely  grievous  [Murmurs.] 

A  VOICE    Let  him  speak. 

M.  Junes  FAVRE.  I  added  that  the  French  minister  had  acted  in  the  matter  without  hav 
ing  previously  the  approbation  of  the  head  of  his  government.  I  supported  this  argument 
by  reading  the  diplomatic  despatches,  with  which  you  are  acquainted. 

The  minister  replies  to  me  that  there  never  has  been  an  ultimatum  for  12,000,000  of 
piastres— that  is,  60,000,000  of  francs— and  that  the  possibility  was  always  reserved  of  hav 
ing  the  claims  examined  by  a  commission  of  merchants.  The  minister  is  mistaken,  gen 
tlemen,  and  he  is  mistaken  for  these  two  reasons,  which  are  equally  explicit : 

First.  Because  in  diplomatic  language  the  word  ultimatum  signifies  a  demand  in  which 
there  is  nothing  to  be  retrenched  ;  it  is  necessary  to  accept  it  or  to  prepare  for  battle  ;  and 
when  12,000,000  of  piastres  were  demanded  as  an  ultimatum,  it  was  12,000,000  of  piastres 
to  be  paid  down. 

The  second  reason,  gentlemen,  and  which  is  not  less  explicit,  but  which  has,  I  cannot 
explain  why,  escaped  the  sagacity  of  the  minister,  is,  that  in  the  very  article  in  which 
there  is  question  of  those  12,000,000  piastres,  certain  debts  are  reserved  to  be  taken  into 
consideration  by  commissions.  See,  in  effect,  how  this  reserve  is  conceived.  After  setting 
down  as  an  ultimatum  the  payment  of  12,000,000  of  piastres,  it  continues  :  "Saving  the 
exceptions  stipulated  in  articles  2  and  4,  below.  As  far  as  concerns  matters  that  have  hap 
pened  since  the  31st  of  July  last,  and  for  which  an  express  reservation  is  made,  the  amount 
of  the  claims  against  Mexico  to  which  they  may  give  rise  will  be  afterwards  settled  by  the 
plenipotentiaries  of  France."  [Increasing  tumult  and  murmurs.] 

So  the  12,000,000  of  piastres  are  an  ultimatum;  it  is  a  debt  which  must  be  immediately 
paid,  under  penalty  of  a  declaration  of  war  ;  and  as  for  other  debts,  they  will  be  the  ob 
ject  of  a  future  liquidation. 

I  had  the  right,  then,  gentlemen,  to  reproach  the  government  with  having  thus  made  a 
means  of  war.  [Oh!  oh!  renewed  interruption.] 

As  far  as  concerns  the  Jecker  bills,  the  minister  has  offered  explanations  very  ingenious, 
undoubtedly,  yet  containing  extremely  important  concessions,  which  must  necessarily 
alarm  your  consciences. 

The  minister  reproaches  me  with  having  made  use  of  documents  sent  by  the  government 
of  Mexico. 

There  was,  it  eeems  to  me,  a  very  simple  means  of  preventing  such  an  inconvenience  ; 
it  was  to  furnish  the  committee  on  the  address  with  all  the  documents  at  the  disposal  of  the 
minister ;  for  when  the  minister  asserts  his  ignorance  of  the  details  of  this  Jecker  debt,  he 
asserts  a  fact  which,  for  my  part,  I  have  considerable  difficulty  in  believing.  [Murmurs  of 
disapprobation.] 

It  is  impossible  that  the  minister  should  not  have  in   his  hands  all  the  data  relative  to 
this  affair.     He  has  said  himself,  and  he  was  right,  that  it  was  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
throw  a  disagreeable  obscurity  over  our  negotiations. 
SEVERAL  VOICES.  He  did  not  say  that. 
M.  JULES  FAVRE.  Why  did  he  not  furnish  all  the  information  in  regard  to  it  ?     [lucreas- 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  167 

ing  disorder.]  The  examination  of  that  affair  might  have  had  an  opposite  result ;  he  has 
made  none,  and  thereby  he  gives  us  the  right — what  do  I  say  ?  he  makes  it  a  duty  for  us  to 
institute  all  possible  investigations.  From  the  investigations  which  we  have  caused  to  be 
made,  it  appears — and  this  is  atrocious — that  the  usurious  rate  at  which  the  loan  of  1859 
was  effected  has  been  kept  concealed.  The  minister  has  been  compelled  to  acknowledge 

[To  the  vote;    to  the  vote.      Long  interruption.]     You  are  not  willing  that  people 

should  speak  to  you  about  these  things  ;  France  will  judge,  and  I  will  remain  silent. 

(M.  Jules  Favre  sits  down.) 

SEVERAL  VOICES.  Speak ;  speak. 

SOME  MEMBERS.  No  ;  enough,  enough  ;  to  the  vote. 

The  PRESIDENT.  I  cannot  hinder  the  Chamber  from  testifying  impatience.  I  ask  M.  Jules 
Favre  whether  he  desires  to  continue  or  whether  he  yields  the  floor. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE,  rising.  It  is  impossible  for  one  as  fatigued  as  I  am,  after  the  session  of 
yesterday,  to  be  able  to  struggle  against  systematic  interruptions  [no,  no,]  which  have  no 
other  intention  than  to  disturb  me  in  the  expression  of  my  ideas.  [Numerous  reclamations.] 

SEVERAL  VOICES    Speak  ;  speak. 

The  PRESIDENT.  Allow  me.  I  desire  merely  to  protest  against  the  accusation  which  you 
make  against  the  Chamber.  Yesterday  the  Chamber  listened  to  you  with  such  attention 
that  you  cannot  accuse  it  of  designedly  interrupting  you  to-day.  It  is  only  very  natural 
that  a  question  which  has  engaged  its  attention  for  two  days  should  weary  it  to  a  certain 
extent.  [Yes,  yes.]  I  cannot,  on  this  point,  direct  the  sentiments  of  an  Assembly.  I 
ask  you  again  whether  you  wish  to  continue  your  speech  or  whether  you  yield  the  floor. 
[Speak ;  speak.] 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  I  understand  very  well  the  fatigue  of  the  Assembly,  and  I  ask  a  thou 
sand  pardons  for  prolonging  it  ;  I  ask  it  to  believe  that  mine  is  still  greater  ;  but  this  is  a 
question  of  business,  not  a  question  of  feelings.  [Denials,  confusion  and  disorder.]  You 
see  that  I  cannot  speak,  since  at  the  least  word  you  interrupt  me.  [No,  no  ;  speak.  Si 
lence  is  restored.] 

I  was  saying,  gentlemen,  when  I  was  interrupted  in  my  explanations,  that  the  minister 
was  unable  to  conceal  the  disastrous  terms  on  which  the  Jecker  loan  was  negotiated  ;  only, 
by  explanations  deeply  skilful,  he  has  presented  this  affair  before  you  as  possibly  having 
in  some  way  a  direct  influence  on  the  whole  commerce  of  Mexico ;  and  in  this?  way  only, 
he  tells  you,  France  ought  to  sustain  it. 

If  it  were  so,  gentlemen,  if  negotiations  had  been  commenced  under  such  conditions,  we 
would  never  have,  in  this  regard,  the  slightest  observation  to  make  to  the  government. 
But  the  facts  as  well  as  the  documents  completely  resist  the  minister's  interpretation. 

Documents,  gentlemen  ;  what  is  the  question  ?  A  contract  entered  into  between  the  Jecker 
house  aod  the  Mexican  government,  a  contract  which  makes  the  Mexican  government  liable 
for  a  sum  of  15,000,000  of  piastres,  if  Jecker  proves  that  the  notes  have  passed  out  of  his 
hands  or  that  he  has  furnished  them  in  currency.  I  thought  I  showed  in  yesterday's  ses 
sion  that  he  had  furnished  all  the  receipts  expected  of  him  by  the  Mexican  government. 
I  presented  figures  on  this  point  which,  it  seems  to  me,  deserved  the  trouble  of  refutation. 
Nothing  has  been  said  in  this  regard  ;  and  if  my  reasoning  stands,  what  is  the  consequence  ? 
It  is  that  all  the  holders  of  the  notes  of  Jecker,  on  closing  accounts,  have  a  right  to  obtain 
of  the  Mexican  government  the  nominal  value  of  these  bills  [No,  no.] 

You  say  no,  and  I  say  yes  And  do  you  know  the  means  which  I  would  propose  to  clear 
up  this  affair  completely  ?  It  would  be  that,  from  now  to  the  discussion  of  the  Budget, 
the  minister  would  please  to  communicate  to  the  committee  on  the  budget  the  Jecker  docu 
ments  as  well  as  the  others,  in  order  that  there  may  not  be  either  surprise  or  doubt  possi 
ble — in  order  that  every  one  may  see  clearly  into  this  affair,  and  know  what  has  been,  in 
reality,  the  part  of  each  one  concerned  in  the  transaction. 

As  far  as  concerns  our  agents,  whom  we  are  accused  of  calumniating,  permit  me  to  make 
this  observation,  which  has  certainly  struck  you  :  the  conduct  of  the  government  towards 
them  has  been  very  singular.  I  do  not  reproach  it  with  having,  in  the  beginning,  blindly 
relied  upon  their  communications  ;  but,  as  soon  as  they  were  invested  with  its  full  powers, 
what  did  they  do  ?  They  made  a  use  cf  them  which  has  been  here  declared  contrary  to 
the  interests  of  the  country  ;  for  the  signatures  of  these  agents  are  found  subscribed  to  the 
treaty  of  La  Soledad,  which  has  been  disavowed.  Well,  whatever  praise  the  government 
may  decree  to  itself,  and  whatever  the  complacency  with  which  it  speaks  of  its  own  acts,  I 
ask  the  Chamber  if  it  is  reasonable,  if  it  is  just,  if  it  is  prudent,  to  keep  agents  at  such  a 
distance  who  have  thus  compromised  the  interests  of  France.  They  have  been  invested 
with  sovereign  powers ;  what  use  have  they  made  of  them  ?  I  have  proved  that  in  the 
ultimatum,  so  far  as  concerns  the  question  of  the  twelve  millions  and  the  Jecker  bills,  they 
have  acted  with  a  want  of  reflection,  blamed  not  only  by  the  opposition  but  by 
the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  ;  for  the  article  3,  which  has  become  the  subject  of  discussion 
between  the  minister  and  myself,  does  not  at  all  admit,  as  the  minister  just  asserted,  of 
any  liquidation  whatever  of  the  Jecker  debt.  It  is  perfectly  clear,  and  it  contains  the 


168  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

armed  threat  against  the  Mexican  government  of  compelling  it  to  pay  the  sum  of  seventy- 
five  millions. 

"  Mexico  shall  be  bound  to  execute  fully,  fairly,  and  immediately  the  contract  concluded 
in  the  month  of  February,  1859,  between  the  Mexican  government  and  Mr.  Jecker."  [In 
terruption.] 

'  Now,  theminister  has  told  you  that  the  execution  of  this  contract  could  only  apply  to 
custom-house  duties.  [Disorder.]  Permit  me,  gentlemen,  to  tell  you  that  nothing  is  more 
frivolous,  nothing  more  inadmissible  [Reclamations.]  There  is  no  question,  assuredly, 
in  regard  to  the  Jecker  house,  of  the  payment  more  or  less  enfeebled  of  custom-house  du 
ties,  of  concessions  which  the  Mexican  government  might  have  made  to  the  holders  of  the 
notes.  When  there  is  question  of  the  execution  of  a  contract,  we  should  regard  the  end, 
we  must  see  this  end  ;  now,  there  is  question  of  seventy-five  millions  claimed  of  the  Mexi 
can  government. 

Behold,  gentlemen,  this  affair  such  as  it  is.  And  it  is  this  affair  which  I  have  had  the 
right  to  qualify  as  shameful,  because  it  conceals  under  the  appearance  of  a  debt  due,  a  real 
usury.  I  have  demonstrated  with  positive  figures,  not  disproved,  that  Jecker  furnished 
but  an  insignificant  sum  compared  to  that  which  he  claims  ;  I  have  demonstrated  that  he 
wished  to  extortf  rom  the  Mexican  government,  and  that  those  who  have  associated  them 
selves  to  his  course  merit  a  solemn  rebuke  ;  they  have  led  the  French  government  into  a 
veritable  snare.  And  it  is  not  by  recourse  to  subterfuges,  but  by  positive  explanations, 
that  I  have  demonstrated  that  it  has  been  sought  to  make  the  Mexican  government  pay 
seventy-five  millions  ;  and  as  to  what  has  been  told  us  awhile  ago  by  the  minister,  that 
the  bills  were  for  the  most  part  in  the  hands  of  Jecker — that  Jecker  having  failed,  his  notes 
were  sequestrated,  nothing  is  more  inexact  :  the  minister  was  ill  informed  ;  we  know  it,  not 
from  the  Mexicans,  but  from  the  French  residents  who  have  been  included  in  the  liabilities 
of  the  Jecker  house.  Jecker  having  been  declared  a  bankrupt  in  the  month  of  May,  1860, 
obtained,  some  time  in  July,  a  judgment  replacing  him  at  the  head  of  his  affairs,  whilst 
according  him  speranzas — that  is,  hopes  for  the  creditors  who  will  run  after  their  dividends, 
but  will  never  realize  them. 

It  is  in  this  situation  that  Jecker  negotiated  with  the  Fiench  resident  minister,  in  order 
to  have  his  contract  become  an  object  of  express  stipulation  in  the  ultimatum.  He  was, 
the  holder  of  almost  all  these  notes  ;  there  were  not  600,009  piastres  in  the  hands  of  the 
merchants  ;  the  greater  part  of  these  notes,  or  14,000,000  of  piastres,  are  in  the  hands  of 
Jecker.  Jecker  may  have  been  able  to  assign  them  at  any  price  to  traffic  in  them  ;  and  it 
is  precisely  because  there  was  under  this  affair  a  speculation,  which  was  divined  by  the 
English  minister,  that  it  was  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  and 
the  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  either  in  his  instructions  or  in  his  replies,  explained  that 
when  there  would  be  question  of  liquidating  this  affair,  they  would  confine  themselves  to 
French  interests  entirely.  And  it  is  here  we  come  upon  that  momentous  fact  over  which 
the  minister  seems  to  me  to  have  glided  with  great  rapidity. 

It  has  been  declared  that  the  Jecker  debt  caused  a  kind  of  uneasiness  in  the  consciences 
of  the  merchants.     Explanations  were  asked  ;  the  minister  was  alarmed  himself  ;  he  wrote 
to  M.  Dubois  de  Saligny  that  it  was  impossible  to  execute  anything  else  than  what  con 
cerned  the  French  ;  and  then  as  the  principal  party  interested  in  that  contract  was  a  stran 
ger,  a  Swiss,  in  the  midst  of  those  negotiations,  considered  suspicious  by  the  English  and  t 
Spanish  chanceries,  haste  was  made  to  grant  this  man  letters  of  naturalization,  in  order  ' 
that  he  might  be  enabled  to  figure  as  a  Frenchman,  in  order  that  he  might  be  enabled  to 
accomplish  his  work,  and  make  the  Mexican  government  the  victim  of  his  usury.     Behold 
the  truth  with  regard  to  the  Jecker  affair. 

Had  I  not,  then,  the  right  to  say  that  our  diplomacy  has  gone  astray  here,  that  this  ulti 
matum  was  without  precedent  in  our  history,  and  that,  in  consequence,  the  Chamber,  which 
should  take  some  position  with  regard  to  this  expedition,  was  interested,  in  point  of  honor 
as  well  as  in  point  of  policy,  to  separate  itself  from  that  part  of  the  negotiation  ? 

As  for  the  rest,  I  stop  here.  The  minister  has  discoursed  to  you  in  magnificent  language. 
He  has  said  that  French  interests  were  to  be  upheld  in  all  quarters  of  the  world  ;  that  wher 
ever  one  of  our  countrymen  met  a  serious  obstacle  in  his  way,  wherever  his  security  or  his 
fortune  was  compromised,  the  French  flag  should  go  to  protect  him  Never,  gentlemen, 
have  we  combatted  such  maxims  ;  we  share  in  them  with  all  our  hearts  ;  but  what  we  de 
sire,  also,  is,  that  the  money  and  the  blood  of  France  should  not  be  lavished  on  an  ill-defined 
expedition  which  may  conceal  an  intrigue  ;  and  this,  gentlemen,  is  rny  last  word  [To  the 
vote  ;  to  the  vote.] 

M.  HOSIER  DE  LA  SIZERANNE  rises  to  speak 

FBOJI  ALL  SIDES.  To  the  vote  ;  to  the  vote. 

SOME  VOICES.  Speak. 

M.  MONIER  DE  LA  SizERANNE.  I  ask  permission  to  say  a  few  words. 

NUMEROUS  VOICES.  No,  no  ;  the  previous  question. 

The  PRESIDENT.  The  previous  question  is  demanded  by  the  great  majority  of  the  Cham- 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  169 

ber.  The  amendment  is  now  to  be  put  to  the  vote.  Ten  members  having  demanded 
a  ballot  on  the  amendment,  it  is  now  to  be  proceeded  with.  The  names  of  the  deputies 
who  have  signed  the  demand  for  a  ballot,  are  :  Messrs.  Roques-Salvaza,  Guillaumin,  Char 
lemagne,  Count  Segur-Lauioignon,  Carayon-Latour,  the  Marquis  de  Chaumont-Quitry,  Da- 
beaux,  Count  de  Nesle,  Ledier,  Corneille. 

SOME  MEMBERS.  Explain  to  us  the  vote,  Mr.  President. 

The  PRESIDENT.  The  Chamber  is  going  to  vote  on  the  amendment ;  it  is  plain,  then,  that 
those  opposed  to  it  will  deposit  a  blue  ballot,  and  those  in  favor  of  it  a  white  ballot. 

(They  proceed  to  ballot ;  then  the  votes  are  counted.) 

The  PRESIDENT.  The  result  of  the  count  of  the  ballots  is:  Number  of  voters,  250  ;  abso 
lute  majority,  126  ;  for  the  adoption  of  the  amendment,  5  ;  against  it,  245  Therefore 
the  legislative  body  has  not  adopted  it. 

The  PRESIDENT.  I  proceed  now  to  put  to  the  vote  successively  paragraphs  3  and  4  rela 
tive  to  Mexico  : 

"Paragraph  3.  Your  Majesty  had  concerted  the  Mexican  expedition  with  two  great 
powers  whose  co-operation  would,  undoubtedly,  have  had  the  effect  of  diminishing  the- 
efforts  of  France.  Left  alone  to  pursue  a  necessary  satisfaction,  you  were  justified  in  think 
ing  and  saying  that  the  legislative  body  would  not  hesitate  to  second  you."  Adopted. 

"  Paragraph  4.  We  hope  for  the  happy  and  speedy  termination  of  this  war  in  which  our 
army  and  our  navy  give  new  proofs  of  their  constancy  and  their  courage,  and  we  desire 
that  there  may  freely  issue  from  it  a  stable  government,  which  would  respect  laws  and 
treaties,  and  remain  the  ally  of  France."  Adopted. 

The  PRESIDENT.  I  think  that  at  this  late  hour  it  would  be  suitable  to  adjourn  the  contin 
uation  of  the  discussion  till  Monday.  [Yes !  yes  !] 

The  Chamber  adjourned  at  5£  o'clock. 


Mr.  F.  W.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  November  6,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  this  date 
enclosing  an  English  translation  of  the  debates  in  the  corps  legislatif  of  France, 
on  the  6th  and  7th  of  February  ultimo,  in  relation  to  the  Mexican  question. 

Presenting  you  my  thanks  for  the  interesting  and  valuable  communication,  I 
avail  my  self  of  the  opportunity  to  renew  to  you  the  assurances  of  my  most  dis 
tinguished  consideration. 

F.  W.  SEWARD, 

Acting  Secretary. 
Senor  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  January  26,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  I  have  the  honor  to  remit  to  you,  translated  into  English,  the 
documents  relating  to  the  affairs  of  Mexico,  presented  by  the  government  of  France 
to  the  legislative  bodies  of  the  empire  on  opening  the  sessions  of  1863  and  1864. 

At  first  sight  it  will  appear  strange  that  I  transmit  to  the  government  of  the 
United  States  documents  emanating  from  a  government  which  is  making  war 
on  my  country,  and  which  it  publishes  for  the  purpose  of  justifying  this  very 
war ;  but  as  from  these  are  deduced,  in  many  respects,  precisely  the  contrary  of 
that  which  the  French  government  desired  to  justify,  I  do  not  believe  it  pos 
sible  to  adduce  proofs  more  conclusive  in  defence  of  the  cause  of  my  country 
than  those  which  emanate  from  the  French  government,  and  have  been  pro 
duced  by  it  in  support  of  its  policy. 

It  appears  that  the  imperial  government,  ordinarily  quite  sparing  enough  in 
the  publication  of  diplomatic  documents,  knew  that  those  published  in  1863 
would  result  against  those  setting  them  forth,  and  desiring  to  avoid  the  repeti- 


170  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS 

tion  of  the  same  consequence,  only  gave  to  light  in  1864  three  official  papers  in 
relation  to  a  matter  in  which  France  and  the  whole  world  had  the  right  to  ex 
pect  explanations  less  superficial  on  the  part  of  the  aggressor. 

I  avail  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  most 
•distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Sfc.,  Sfc.,  $p. 


The  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  to  Count  Flahault,  Ambassador  of  France  in  London. 

PARIS,  October  11,  1861. 

Monsieur  le  COMTE  :  The  English  ambassador  has  called  on  me  to  converse  on  Mexican 
affairs,  and  on  the  means  of  combining  the  action  of  our  governments,  in  order  to  attain 
the  common  object  which  we  have  in  view.  Her  Majesty's  government,  says  LordCowley, 
is  ready  to  sign  a  convention,  together  with  France  and  Spain,  to  the  end  of  obtaining 
redress  for  the  offences  committed  against  the  subjects  of  the  three  nations,  and  of  enforcing 
the  execution  of  the  obligations  contracted  by  the  Mexican  government  towards  their  re 
spective  governments,  provided  it  should  be  declared  in  said  convention  that  the  forces  of 
the  three  powers  are  not  to  be  employed  in  any  ulterior  object,  whatever  it  may  be,  and, 
above  all,  that  they  are  not  to  interfere  with  the  interior  government  of  Mexico.  The 
cabinet  of  London  proposes^to  invite  the  United  States  to  adhere  to  this  convention,  yet, 
without  awaiting  their  answer,  to  commence  active  operations. 

I  have  answered  the  ambassador  from  England,  that  I  was  perfectly  agreed  with  his 
government  upon  one  point :  that  I  agreed  with  Lord  Russell  about  the  legitimacy  of  our 
coercive  action  towards  Mexico,  as  it  only  originated  from  our  grievances  against  that  gov 
ernment,  and  that  said  giievances,  together  with  the  means  of  redressing  them,  and  of  pre 
venting  them  in  future,  constituted  alone  the  object  of  an  ostensible  convention.  I  admitted 
also,  without  any  difficulty,  that  the  contracting  parties  might  bind  themselves  not  to  derive 
any  political  or  commercial  advantage,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  others  or  of  any  other  power, 
but  that  it  seemed  to  me  of  no  use  to  go  beyond  this,  and  interdict,  in  advance,  the  eventual 
exercise  of  a  legitimate  participation  in  the  events  which  our  operations  might  originate. 
The  government  of  the  Emperor  no  more  than  that  of  her  Majesty  would  like  to  assume 
the  responsibility  of  a  direct  intervention  in  the  domestic  affairs  of  Mexico,  but  thinks  it 
prudent  for  the  two  cabinets  not  to  discourage  the  efforts  which  the  country  itself  might 
make  to  put  an  end  to  the  state  of  anarchy  in  which  it  has  been  plunged  for  so  long  a 
time — letting  it  know  that  no  circumstances  whatever  would  bring  about  any  support  or 
assistance  from  abroad.  It  is  evidently  the  interest  both  of  France  and  England  to  see 
there  established  such  state  of  things  as  will  secure  the  interest  existing  already,  and  favor 
the  development  of  our  exchanges  with  a  country  so  richly  endowed.  The  events  just 
taking  place  in  the  United  States  add  new  importance  and  urgency  to  these  considerations. 
In  fact,  we  are  led  to  suppose  that,  if  the  issue  of  the  American  crisis  were  to  accomplish 
the  definitive  separation  of  the  south  from  the  north,  both  confederations  would  soon  look 
after  compensations,  which  the  territory  of  Mexico,  going  to  a  social  dissolution,  would 
offer  to  their  competition.  Such  an  event  could  not  bs  indifferent  to  England  ;  and,  in  our 
-opinion,  the  only  obstacle  which  would  prevent  it  is  the  constitution  of  a  government  able 
to  redress  wrongs,  and  strong  enough  to  stop  interior  dissolution,  Whether  the  elements 
of  such  government  should  be  found  in  Mexico  we  cannot  assure  positively.  Our  interest 
in  the  regeneration  of  that  country  does  not  allow  us  to  neglect  any  symptom  which  would 
give  hope  of  the  success  of  such  an  attempt.  As  to  the  form  of  government,  provided  it 
would  afford  the  country  and  ourselves  sufficient  guarantees,  we  had  not,  and  I  suppose 
England  herself  had  not,  any  preference,  nor  had  chosen  any.  But  if  the  Mexicans  them 
selves,  being  tired  of  their  trials,  and  decided  to  react  against  the  disasters  of  the  past,  should 
draw  up  a  new  vitality  from  the  dangers  which  threaten  them  — if,  coming  back  and  con 
sulting  the  instincts  of  their  race,  for  instance,  they  should  find  in  the  establishment  of  a 
monarchy  the  repose  and  prosperity  which  in  vain  they  have  looked  for  in  republican  in 
stitutions,  I  did  not  think  we  ought  absolutely  to  refuse  to  aid  them,  if  there  was  a  chance, 
bearing,  nevertheless,  in  mind  that  they  were  perfectly  free  to  choose  whatever  means  they 
might  think  best  to  attain  their  object. 

In  developing  these  ideas  in  the  form  of  an  intimate  and  confidential  conversation,  I 
added,  that  in  case  my  prevision  were  to  be  realized,  the  government  of  the  Emperor,  free- 
gaged  from  all  preoccupation,  rejected,  in  advance,  the  candidature  for  any  prince  of  the 
imperial  house ;  and  that,  desirous  to  treat  gently  all  susceptibilities,  it  would  see  with 
pleasure  that  the  election  of  the  Mexicans  and  the  assent  of  the  powers  should  fall  upon 
•some  prince  of  the  house  of  Austria. 

Coming  back  to  the  point  of  departure  in  this  conversation,  and  in  order  to  resume,  I 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  171 


gaid  that  the  convention  in  project,  in  my  judgment,  should  indicate  the  eud  of  the  agree 
ment  between  the  contracting  parties — should  say,  in  one  word,  alt  that  which  we  were 
abou  t  doing  ;  but  that,  according  to  prudence  and  usage,  we  ought  to  abstain  from  saying  what 
we  would  not  do  in  case  of  uncertain  events,  which  ought  then  to  be  met  when  taking  place. 
Such  is,  Monsieur  le  Comte,  the  substance  of  the  eonversition  which  I  have  had  with 
Monsieur  the  ambassador  from  England,  and  of  which  he  is  to  give  an  account  to  his  gov 
ernment.  I  hope  the  cabinet  of  London  will  attentively  examine  these  considerations,  in 
spired  by  the  community  of  our  interests  in  Mexico,  and  which  the  frankness  of  our  relations 
made  a  duty  for  me  to  lay  before  it. 

THOU  YEN  EL. 


The  Minuter  for  Foreign  Affairs  to  Mr.  Barrot,  French  Ambassador  at  Madrid. 

PARIS,  October  15,  1861. 

SIR:  Since  the  last  time  I  addressed  you  I  have  had  a  conversation  with  the  ambassador 
of  her  Britannic  Majesty,  which  you  will  find  abridged  in  the  annexed  despatch  addressed 
to  Count  Flahault.  (See  the  foregoing  despatch  )  As  you  will  observe,  the  English 
government  demands  that,  in  the  convention  which  it  is  about  making  with  France  and 
Spain,  it  should  be  stipulated  that  the  three  powers  will  not  interfere  in  the  domestic 
government  of  Mexico.  In  the  mind  of  the  Emperor  such  a  declaration  would  be  too  abso 
lute,  and  it  would  at  least  be  of  no  use  to  have  it  figure  in  the  conversation.  You  will 
find  in  my  despatch  to  M.  de  Flahault  the  observation  which,  on  this  subject,  I  thought 
proper  to  present  to  Lord  Cowley,  and  in  which  I  have  stated  that  if  we  are  not  to  assume 
the  responsibility  of  a  direct  action  in  the  domestic  affairs  of  Mexico,  prudence  dictated 
that  we  should  not  discourage  in  advance  the  efforts  that  the  people  themselves  might 
make,  with  the  moral  support  which  the  presence  of  our  forces  would  afford  them,  to  estab 
lish  a  regular  and  permanent  government  ;  that  finally,  while  leaving  the  Mexicans  in 
perfect  liberty  to  make  their  own  choice  of  government,  the  three  powers  ought  not,  for 
the  sake  of  their  interests,  to  interdict 'themselves  absolutely  from  aiding  the  Mexicans  in 
the  work  of  their  regeneration.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  I  have  been  led  to  speak  to  Lord 
Cowley  about  the  eventuality  of  the  re-establishment  of  a  monarchy  in  Mexico,  as  you  will 
see  in  my  despatch  to  M.  de  Flahault. 

The  ambassador  of  her  Catholic  Majesty  having  yesterday  come  to  confer  with  me  on  the 
same  subject,  I  have  explained  myself  with  him  in  the  same  manner  as  I  did  with  Lord 
Cowley.  I  have  told  him,  particularly  in  that  which  refers  to  the  eventual  return  of  a 
monarchy  in  Mexico,  that  this  country  was,  before  all,  to  express  its  will  as  to  the  mon 
archical  form  and  choice  of  a  dynasty.  I  have  also  called  the  attention  of  M.  Mon  to  the 
fact  that  the  government  of  the  Emperor,  foreseeing  such  an  eventuality,  with  perfect  dis 
interestedness  resigned  beforehand  all  candidature  for  any  prince  of  the  imperial  family, 
and  that  he  did  not  doubt  that  the  other  two  governments  entertained  similar  dispositions. 
Finally,  that  in  regard  to  the  choice  of  a  dynasty  in  the  eventuality  indicated,  we  had  no 
candidate  to  prgpose,  but  that  should  the  fact  happen,  an  Austrian  prince  would  meet  with 
our  assent.  Such  a  choice,  in  fact,  would  have,  besides  many  reasons  which  exist  to  adhere 
to  the  advantage  of  taking  away  from  the  common  action  of  the  three  powers  all  motives 
for  collision  or  national  emulation,  leaving  at  the  same  time  all  its  authority  to  the  moral 
support  which  they  would  be  called  upon  to  lend  to  the  Mexican  nation.  In  one  word, 
the  three  powers  would  have  to  act  at  present  as  France,  England,  and  Russia  acted  to 
wards  Greece,  by  engaging  themselves  not  to  accept  for  any  of  their  princes  the  new  throne 
erected  through  their  common  exertions.  This  precedent,  in  my  judgment,  could  be  brought 
as  an  example,  the  natural  difference  of  the  situation  taken  into  consideration,  and  you 
may  make  use  it  of  in  your  conversation  with  the  minister  of  her  Catholic  Majesty. 

From  what  M.  Calderon  Collantes  told  you  in  regard  to  the  action  which,  in  his  opinion, 
the  three  powers  ought  to  take  upon  the  domestic  organization  of  Mexico,  it  seems  to  me 
that  we  are  very  nearly  agreed  on  that  point.  I  would  learn  with  pleasure  that  the  cabinet 
of  Madrid  entertained  the  same  opinion  as  the  government  of  the  Emperor  as  to  the  eventu 
ality  of  Mexico's  returning  to  monarchy.  At  all  events,  we  prefer  to  act  in  this  affair 
towards  the  government  of  her  Catholic  Majesty  with  full  confidence,  and  we  have  thought 
that  the  friendly  relation  which  now  exists  between  both  governments  constituted  for  us  a 
duty  to  deal  openly  upon  the  conduct  which  we  ought  to  follow  as  much  for  the  interest  of 
Mexico  as  for  that  of  the  three  powers. 

In  regard  to  the  participation  of  the  United  States  there  could  be  no  difficulty  between 
Spain,  England,  and  ourselves.  Lord  Cowley  told  me  that  his  government  was  of  opinion 
that  operations  could  be  commenced  without  awaiting  the  answer  of  the  American  govern 
ment,  and  I  see  by  your  correspondence  that  this  is  also  the  opinion  of  M  Calderon  Col 
lantes. 

THOUVENEL. 


172  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 


The  French  Ambassador  at  Madrid  to  the  Minister  for  Fortiyn  Affairs. 

MADRID,  October  21,  1861. 

Monsieur  le  MIXISTRE  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  from  your  excellency  the 
receipt  of  the  despatch  which  your  excellency  addressed  to  me  on  the  15th  of  October. 

I  have  recently  held  many  conferences  with  Marshal  O'Donnell  and  Mr.  Calderon  Col- 
lantes  upon  the  Mexican  question.  The  English  minister  in  Madrid  had  already  commu 
nicated  to  the  government  of  Queen  Isabella  the  project  of  a  convention  presented  by 
England  with  the  object  of  regulating  the  common  action  to  be  taken  by  the  three  powers 
in  regard  to  the  affairs  of  the  Mexican  republic.  The  Spanish  government  agrees  fully  with 
that  of  the  Emperor  about  the  objections  made  to  it,  and  regards  it  as  interdicting  before 
hand  the  very  measures  which  it  purposes  to  adopt. 

It  is  evident,  in  fact,  that  the  limitations  proposed  by  the  English  project  to  the  eventual 
action  of  the  three  powers  are  of  such  a  nature  as  to  destroy  all  its  effect.  M.  Calderon 
Collantes  has  perfectly  understood,  as  your  excellency  has,  that  it  would  be  illogical  and 
impolitic  to  discourage  in  advance,  through  a  premature  and  at  the  least  an  useless  declara 
tion,  the  efforts  of  the  order-loving  people  who  are  in  a  majority  in  Mexico,  and  to  whom 
the  presence  alone  of  the  united  forces  of  the  three  nations  would  give  that  moral  ascend 
ency  which  they  have  lacked  heretofore,  and  without  which  it  would  be  impossible  to 
dominate  the  bad  passions  of  the  minority. 

M.  Calderon  Collantes  sums  up  his  opinion  by  saying  that  it  would  be  better  to  abstain 
from  going  to  Mexico  than  to  go  under  the  conditions  proposed  by  the  English  project. 

BARROT. 


The  French  Ambassador  at  Madrid  to  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs. 

MADRID,  November  6,  1861. 

Monsieur  le  MINISTRE  :  As  1  have  had  the  honor  to  communicate  to  your  excellency  this 
morning  by  telegraph,  I  have  acquainted  Marshal  O'Donnell  and  M.  Calderon  Collantes 
with  the  wish  expressed  by  your  excellency,  that  instructions  may  be  given  to  the  com- 
manders-in-chief  of  the  Spanish  and  French  forces  in  Mexico,  so  that  they  may  march  on 
Mexico  if  the  circumstances  would  seem  to  them  favorable. 

The  Duke  of  Tetuan  unhesitatingly  adhered  to  the  opinion  of  the  government  of  the 
Emperor  He  declared  to  me  and  authorized  me  to  inform  you  that  very  elastic  instruc 
tions,  in  fact  almost  discretional,  will  be  given  to  the  Spanish  commander,  and  that  he, 
besides,  would  write  to  him  privately,  authoiizing  him  to  act  in  conformity  with  the 
measures  which  your  excellency's  despatch  would  indicate. 

In  consequence  of  a  conversation  which  I  have  had  on  the  same  subject  with  M.  Calderon 
Collantes,  the  first  secretary  of  state  has  authorized  me  to  inform  you  that  liis  own  opinion 
is  exactly  like  that  just  expressed  to  me  by  Marshal  O'Donnell,  and  to  confirm  in  his  name 
the  engagement  just  entered  into  with  me  by  the  president  of  the  council. 

BARBOT. 


Ultimatum  from  the  French  commissioners  in  Mexico. 

The  undersigned,  representatives  of  France,  have  the  honor,  as  stated  in  the  collective 
note  addressed  this  day  to  the  Mexican  government  by  the  plenipotentiaries  of  France, 
England,  and  Spain,  to  draw  up,  as  follows,  the  ultimatum  of  which  they  have  received 
orders  in  the  name  of  the  government  of  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  to  demand  the  pure  and 
simple  acceptance  by  Mexico  : 

ARTICLE  1.  Mexico  engages  to  pay  France  a  sum  of  $12,000,000,  at  which  amount  are 
calculated  the  total  French  demands,  consequent  upon  events  which  have  occurred  up  to 
July  last,  with  the  exceptions  stipulated  in  articles  2  and  4,  below. 

As  regards  those  events  which  have  taken  place  since  the  31st  of  July  last,  and  of  which 
a  special  reservation  is  here  made,  the  amount  of  the  claims  against  Mexico  to  which  they 
may  give  rise  will  be  fixed  hereafter  by  the  plenipotentiaries  of  France. 

ART.  2.  The  sums  still  due  under  the  convention  of  1853,  which  are  not  included  in 
•article  1,  above,  shall  be  paid  to  the  rightful  claimants  in  the  form,  and  allowing  the 
terms  of  payment  stipulated  in  the  said  convention  of  1853. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  173 

ART.  3.  Mexico  shall  be  held  to  the  full,  loyal,  and  immediate  execution  of  the  contract 
concluded  in  the  month  of  February,  1859,  between  the  Mexican  government  and  the  firm 
of  Jecker. 

ART.  4.  Mexico  is  pledged  to  the  immediate  payment  of  the  $11,000  forming  the  balance 
of  the  indemnity  which  was  stipulated  for  in  favor'of  the  widow  and  children  of  M  Ricke, 
vice-consul  of  France  at  Tepic,  assassinated  in  October,  1859. 

The  Mexican  government  shall  further,  and  according  to  the  obligation  already  contracted 
by  them,  deprive  of  his  rank  and  appointments,  and  punish  in  an  exemplary  manner, 
Colonel  Rojas,  one  of  the  assassins  of  M.  Ricke,  with  the  express  condition  that  Rojas  shall 
not  again  be  invested  with  any  employment,  command,  or  public  functions  whatsoever. 

ART.  5.  The  Mexican  government  also  engages  to  search  out  and  to  punish  the  authors 
of  the  numerous  murders  committed  upon  Frenchmen,  and  especially  the  murderers  of 
M.  Davesne. 

ART.  6.  The  authors  of  the  attacks  committed  on  the  14th  of  August  last  against  the 
minister  of  the  Emperor,  and  of  the  outrages  to  which  the  representative  of  France  has 
been  exposed  in  the  first  part  of  the  month  of  November,  1861,  shall  be  subjected  to 
exemplary  punishment ;  and  the  Mexican  government  shall  be  bound  to  afford  to  France 
and  to  her  representative  the  reparation  and  satisfaction  due  by  reason  of  these  deplorable 
excesses. 

ART.  7.  In  order  to  insure  the  execution  of  the  above  articles  5  and  6,  and  the  punish 
ment  for  all  the  outrages  which  have  been,  or  which  may  be,  committed  against  the 
persons  of  Frenchmen  residing  in  the  republic,  the  minister  of  France  shall  always  have 
the  right  of  being  present,  whatever  the  case  at  issue,  and  by  such  representative  as  he 
may  designate  for  that  purpose,  at  all  proceedings  instituted  by  the  criminal  courts  of  the 
country. 

The  minister  shall  possess  the  same  right  with  regard  to  all  ciiminal  prosecutions 
instituted  against  his  countrymen. 

ART.  8.  The  indemnities  stipulated  in  the  present  ultimatum  shall  bear  a  legal  annual 
rate  of  interest  of  6  per  cent.,  to  date  from  the  17th  July  last,  and  until  their  complete 
payment. 

ART.  9.  As  a  guarantee  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  financial  and  other  conditions 
laid  down  in  the  present  ultimatum,  France  shall  have  the  right  of  occupying  the  ports  of 
Vera  Cruz,  of  Tampico,  and  such  other  ports  of  the  republic  as  she  shall  think  fit ;  and  of 
there  establishing  commissioners  designated  by  the  imperial  government,  whose  duty  it 
shall  be  to  take  care  that  those  powers  which  have  a  legal  claim  shall  receive  such  funds 
as  are  to  be  levied  for  their  benefit  on  the  produce  of  the  maritime  custom-houses  of 
Mexico,  in  fulfilment  of  the  foreign  conventions,  and  that  French  agents  shall  receive 
those  sums  which  are  due  to  France. 

The  commissioners  in  question  shall,  besides,  be  invested  with  the  power  of  reducing, 
either  by  one-half  or  in  a  smalker  proportion,  according  as  they  may  judge  advisable,  the 
duties  at  present  levied  in  the  ports  of  the  republic. 

It  is  expressly  understood  that  merchandise  which  has  already  paid  import  duty  shall  in 
no  case,  and  on  no  pretext  whatsoever,  be  subjected  by  the  supreme  government,  or  by  the 
State  authorities,  to  any  additional  customs  duty,  inland  or  otherwise,  exceeding  the  pro 
portion  of  fifteen  per  cent,  on  the  duties  paid  on  importation. 

ART  10.  All  measures  which  shall  be  judged  necessary  for  regulating  the  apportionment 
among  the  parties  interested  of  the  sums  levied  upon  the  produce  of  the  customs,  as  well 
as  the  manner  and  the  periods  of  the  payment  of  the  indemnities  above  stipulated,  as  also 
for  guaranteeing  the  execution  of  the  conditions  of  the  present  ultimatum,  shall  be  framed 
in  concert  with  the  plenipotentiaries  of  France,  England,  and  Spain. 

VERA  CRUZ. 


The  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  to  M.  Dubois  de  Saligny,  Minister  of  France  at  Mexico. 

PARIS,  February  28,  1862. 

SIR:  The  dispositions  which  Sir  Charles  Wyke  has  shown  on  the  subject  of  our  last 
•claims,  and  which  have  been  supported  by  General  Prim,  have  put  an  obstacle  to  your 
presenting  the  ultimatum  which  you  had  formed  with  the  view  of  settling  the  question  in 
that  which  concerns  us.  I  will  take  under  consideration  that  ultimatum  by  and  by  ;  first, 
I  intend  to  examine  only  the  conduct  which  you  followed.  Now,  in  determining  from 
the  beginning  the  whole  of  the  conditions  in  what  concerns  us,  to  which  the  Mexican  gov 
ernment  was  to  be  required  to  assent,  you  proceed  very  reasonably,  and  in  conformity  with 
•our  intentions. 


174  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

It  is  to  be  ivgretted  that  your  colleagues  did  not  think  it  possible  to  adopt  a  similar  de 
termination  simultaneously.  The  disagreement  between  you,  I  should  think,  has  been 
brought  about  by  a  forced  interpretation  of  the  convention  of  London.  It  was  wrong  that 
Sir  Charles  Wyke  and  General  Prim  should  have  attempted,  if  I  do  not  mistake,  to  see 
in  those  articles  the  right  for  each  one  of  the  representatives  of  the  three  powers  to  exer 
cise  a  binding  control  upon  the  claims  presented  by  their  colleagues  in  the  name  of  their 
respective  governments.  It  had  never  been  understood,  indeed,  that  we  were  to  submit 
to  a  reciprocal  appreciation  of  our  grievances,  and  that  the  reparations  demanded  by  the 
dignity  or  the  injured  interests  of  one  of  the  poweis  ought  to  be  limited  to  only  those 
which  the  other  two  would  think  themselves  authoiized  to  admit.  It  was  natural,  un 
doubtedly,  that  having  to  form  our  ultimatum  in  common,  the  different  commissioners 
should  acquaint  themselves,  mutually,  with  the  grievances  for  which  they  were  to  ask 
satisfaction,  but  this  preliminary  communication  taking  place  only  as  a  kind  of  informa 
tion  for  the  better  uuderstxnding  of  the  representatives  by  no  means  carried  with  it  the 
right  for  any  of  them  to  discuss  these  grievances.  The  convention  of  the  31st  of  October 
empowers  the  commissioners  to  determine  about  the  claims,  but  as  the  text  itself  says,  on 
the  questions  only  which  might  arise  from  the  employment  and  distribution  of  the  sums  of  money  ivhirh 
were  recovered  from  Mexico,  taking  into  consider  at  ion  the  respective  rights  of  the  contracting  parties. 
It  is  to  each  power  that  belongs  the  right  to  determine  what  it  had  cause  to  demand. 
Otherwise,  if  we  had  to  reciprocally  examine  the  demands  drawn  up  on  both  sides,  as  your 
colleagues  thought  it  would  have  to  be,  to  expose  ourselves  to  see  several  months  pass, 
as  it  has  been  acknowledged,  before  having  done  with  this  task — wishing,  besides,  to  pro 
ceed  in  this  way,  one  could*hot  (and  this  has  been  the  case)  arrive  at  an  ultimatum  that 
would  authorize  all  the  discussions  for  want  of  preciseness,  and  therefore  it  would  not  be 
very  serious. 

What  I  understand  is,  that,  in  the  ulterior  and  effective  regulation,  it  seems  necessary  or 
equitable  to  establish  a  classification  of  liquidation  among  the  credits,  to  cause  the  pay 
ment  of  some  of  them  ta  be  made  before  others,  to  examine  their  quality  and  importance  ; 
but,  what  is  necessary  from  the  very  beginning,  is  to  affirm  plainly  and  categorically  what 
each  power  intends  to  obtain.  1  pretend,  by  no  means,  to  say  that  there  is  an  absolute 
obligation  for  the  three  governments  ta  consider  every  demand  presented  by  one  of  them 
as  carrying  with  itself  a  right  to  be  supported  by  the  other  two.  If,  in  that  which  concerns 
us,  our  condition  surpassed  the  measure  of  those  which  the  representatives  of  Great  Britain 
and  Spain  decided  as  satisfactoiy  for  them,  it  would  be  necessary  for  us  to  reflect  on  the 
attitude  which  was  more  convenient  to  our  interests,  examining  whether  they  would  not 
suffer  much  by  the  concessions  made  to  maintain  a  common  action  of  the  three  courts,  or 
whether  by  remaining  scrupulously  faithful  to  the  spirit  of  the  convention  of  London,  that 
is  to  say,  not  seeking  in  Mexico  any  particular  advantage  or  territorial  acquisition,  we 
ought  to  separately  exact  the  satisfaction  due  to  France.  * 

I  come  now  to  the  obst-rvution  which  the  reading  of  the  ultimatum  you  prepared  sug 
gested  to  me.  I  am  not  willing  to  make  it  the  text  of  formal  instructions  I  limit  my 
self  to  leave  them  to  your  own  reflections,  so  that  you  may  pay  attention  to  them  as  far  as 
right  will  allow  it  and  circumstances  may  demand.  The  amount  which  the  department 
had  endeavored  to  value  our  claims  did  not  reach  that  which  your  article  first  fixed,  but,  in 
the  absence  of  sufficient  details  to  arrive  at  them,  a  great  latitude  was  left  to  you  on  this- 
subject.  And,  although  I  would  not  invite  you  expressly  to  diminish  any  amount  which 
Sir  Charles  Wyke  and  General  Prim  should  think  to  be  exorbitant,  you  could  be  less  rig 
orous  on  this  subject  if  that  was  to  be  an  evident  cause  of  dissideuce  between  the  represen 
tatives  of  the  three  courts.  The  amounts  to  be  charged  to  Mexico,  besides  the  twelve 
millions  of  dollars  of  principal  indemnity  contained  in  the  clauses  of  articles  2  and  4, 
seem  to  be  of  such  a  nature  as  to  be  considered  as  the  most  rigorously  to  be  exacted  I 
would  ba  inclined  to  think  that  if  we  fix  a  considerable  amount  of  indemnity  we  could 
dispense  with  reparations  of  other  kinds,  although  fully  justified  in  principle  that  you 
should  demand  whether  it  be  in  relation  to  the  death  of  our  agent  at  Topic,  or  to  the 
criminal  attempts  committeJ  against  your  person  last  August,  express  and  additional  clauses. 
I  ask  myself,  also,  whether  the  precautions  which  you  have  thought  proper  to  take  under 
articles  5,  6,  and  7,  with  the  object  of  securing  the  judicial  pursuit  and  the  punishment 
of  the  different  outrages  to  wh'c'i  our  countrymen  have  fallen  victims,  would  attain,  in 
reality,  the  object  which  they  aim  at,  and  if  it  would  not  be  more  advantageous  to  consider 
at  once  the  indemnity  stipulated  as  a  satisfaction  comprising  all  our  grievances. 

In  what  concerns,  specially,  article  3,  in  relation  to  the  Jecker  affair,  there  is  evidently 
a  distinction  to  be  made  between  th»it  which  affects  our  own  interests  and  that  which  is  for 
eign.  When  General  Miramou  published  the  decree  which  brought  about  his  contract 
with  the  house  of  Jecker,  the  information  from  the  It-gation  having  stated  that  the  foreign 
commerce  derived  a  great  relief  from  the  financial  measure  brought  about  by  this  house 
to  the  Mexican  government,  it  was  natural  to  see  a  great  profit  in  preventing  as  much  as, 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  175 

possible  that  they  would  go  back  on  this  measure  and  the  operations  which  facilitated  it. 
It  is  in  this  sense  that  instructions  from  the  department  have  invited  you,  as  you  had 
already  taken  the  initiative,  to  support  the  claims  provoked  on  this  point  by  the  conduct 
of  the  Juarez  government  Now,  the  care  would  be,  they  say,  on  account  of  the  opposi 
tion  made  by  Sir  Charles  Wyke  to  that  which  you  had  proposed  on  this  matter,  that  the- 
foreign  commerce  would  not  derive  any  advantage  from  such  a  contract,  but  that  the  house 
of  Jecker  would  be  the  only  one  to  profit  by  its  fulfilment.  I  do  not  know  how  the  case 
stands,  but  I  call  your  attention  to  the  importance  of  separating  in  this  affair  that  which  I 
would  really  compromise,  the  interests  which  it  is  our  duty  to  protect  from  that  which 
would  only  affect  interests  of  a  different  character.  The  actual  government  would  not 
consent  to  deprive  our  countrymen  of  advantages  accruing  from  a  regular  measure  taken 
by  General  Miramon's  administration  on  the  only  ground  that  it  emanated  from  an  enemy, 
but  on  our  side  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  be  willing  to  impose  on  the  actual  government 
obligations  which  would  not  essentially  emanate  fiom  its  responsibility  as  a  government. 

THOUVENEL. 


The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  the  Ambassador  of  France  at  London. 

PARIS,  March  7,  1862. 

Monsieur  le  COMTE  :  Lord  Cowley  has  called  to  communicate  to  me  the  observations- 
which  the  ultimatum,  prepared  in  our  name  by  M.  de  Saligny,  and  which  the  disposition 
shown  by  Sir  Charles  Wyke  prevented  him  from  presenting,  had  suggested  to  Lord  Russell. 
I  send  you  a  copy  of  said  ultimatum,  and  I  think  proper  to  inform  you  of  my  answer  to 
the  ambassador  from  England,  so  that  you  may  be  enabled  to  understand  it  in  the  same  sense. 

I  reminded,  first,  Lord  Cowly  of  my  declaration  to  him  from  the  very  beginning,  that 
the  government  of  the  Emperor  could  not  determine  in  advance  the  amount  of  indemnity 
required  for  its  demands  in  the  absence  of  proper  date  to  arrive  at.  Our  legation  at. 
Mexico  being  in  possession  of  all  the  documents  of  the  numerous  claims  presented  by  our 
countrymen  up  to  a  recent  period,  it  could  alone  fix  the  amount  which  would  constitute  an 
equitable  and  real  reparation  for  so  many  grievances  and  damages  which  we  have  been 
compelled  to  ask  from  Mexico.  1  had,  therefore,  announced  to  Lord  Cowley  that  we  would 
leave  this  question  to  be  settled  by  our  representative.  As  soon  as  I  learned  the  terms  in 
which  the  ultimatum  was  conceived,  having  received  only  the  text  without  any  explana 
tion  in  its  support,  I  did  not  conceal  to  our  plenipotentiaries,  it  is  true,  that  their  vigor 
had  somewhat  surpassed  our  previsions.  But  on  reading  afterwards  the  explanations  sent 
by  M.  Dubois  de  Saligny,  which  I  expected,  I  must  acknowledge  that,  in  forming  this  pro 
ject  of  ultimatum,  he  had  done  so  after  mature  reflection  and  formally  proving  the  claims 
recommended  to  our  case. 

Our  representative,  in  basing  his  conduct  in  this  case  upon  the  instructions  which  I  had 
sent  him.  has  tried,  notwithstanding,  not  to  exaggerate  their  application,  and  has,  besides,, 
been  frank  and  open  in  his  manner  of  proceeding  towards  his  colleagues.  The  objection 
made  by  Sir  Charles  Wyke  against  our  ultimatum,  pretending  that  only  claims  already 
admitted  by  Mexico  in  virtue  of  treaties  or  conventions  ought  to  be  comprehended,  must 
have  surprised  M.  de  Saligny  no  less  than  it  does  ourselves.  If  this  were  the  case,  we 
could  never  have  attained  the  object  of  an  expedition,  caused  by  the  recent  acts  of  the 
government  of  Mexico.  That  which  evidently  led  the  three  powers  to  unite  their  forces 
against  Mexico  has  been  the  impossibility  of  permitting  that  the  rules  of  right  and  justice 
should  be  violated  with  impunity  towards  their  subjects,  and  the  firm  determination  of 
obtaining  the  proper  satisfaction  for  past  injuries  and  security  for  the  future,  that  such 
abuses  should  not  be  repeated.  Was  it  then  properly  time  to  pretend  that  France,  Great 
Britain,  and  Spain,  by  sending  their  fleets  and  soldiers  to  Mexico  to  secure,  as  the  conven 
tion  says,  by  means  of  a  joint  action,  the  efficacious  protection  of  their  respective  subjects,, 
did  not  intend  to  require  from  the  Mexican  government  aught  else  than  the  fulfilment  of 
conventions  which,  having  reference  only  to  former  grievances,  would  leave  without  satis 
faction  our  last  and  more  serious  causes  of  complaint? 

Neither  M.  Dubois  de  Saligny  nor  ourselves  so  viewed  it.  Our  resolution  and  that  of  the 
cabinets  of  London  sand  Madrid  was,  we  are  perfectly  convinced,  at  the  moment  that 
the  treaty  of  the  3 1st  of  October  was  signed,  to  exact  from  Mexico  the  full  reparations, 
without  leaving  room  to  evade  it,  for  all  the  wrong  of  which  it  was  responsible  before  the 
three  powers  up  to  the  day  when  they  had  set  foot  on  its  soil. 

It  does  not  become  us  to  criticise  the  abandonment  which  England  and  Spain  would  be 
willing  to  make  in  this  case  of  a  part  of  their  reclamations.  Each  of  the  allied  powers  is 
the  judge  in  this  respect  of  its  own  conduct;  and  because  we  always  thought  so,  we  never 


176  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

admitted,  even  for  an  instant,  that  the  demands  presented  by  one  of  the  representatives  were 
to  have  in  advance  the  assent  of  the  other  two. 

Thus  the  opinion  enunciated  by  Sir  Charles  Wyke  on  this  subject,  though  supported  by 
General  Prim,  has  been  most  properly  opposed  by  M.  Dubois  de  Siligny.  It  results  from 
a  forced  interpretation  of  the  convention  of  London,  for  it  cannot  be  concluded,  in  the  first 
place,  from  its  clauses  that  each  one  of  the  representatives  of  the  three  powers  has  the 
right  to  exercise  a  binding  control  on  the  claims  presented  by  his  colleagues  in  the  name 
of  their  respective  governments.  It  has  not  been  understood  by  any  means  that  one  has 
to  submit  to  a  reciprocal  appreciation  of  its  claims,  and  that  the  reparations  required  by 
the  dignity  or  injured  interests  of  one  of  the  governments  should  be  limited  to  tho.se 
which  the  other  two  would  deem  satisfactory.  It  was  natural  that  the  different  commis 
sioners,  having  to  form  simultaneously  the  conditions  for  an  ultimatum,  should  consult 
each  other  upon  the  grievances  for  which  satisfaction  was  to  be  demanded  ;  but  this  pre 
liminary  communication,  made  only  as  a  simple  understanding,  and  with  the  object  of 
best  showing  the  accord  between  the  different  representatives,  could  in  no  manner  convey 
the  right  to  one  of  them  of  discussing  the  origin  and  extension  of  the  grievances  them 
selves. 

The  convention  of  the  31st  of  October  has  conferred  on  the  commissioners  the  power  of 
giving  their  opinion  on  the  subject  of  claims,  but,  as  the  convention  properly  says,  on  the 
questions  ivhich  might  arise  from  the  employment  and  distribution  of  the  sums  of  money  ivhich  will  be 
recovered  from  Mexico,  paying  attention  to  the  respective  rights  of  the  contracting  parties.  It  is  in 
principle  the  right  of  each  power  to  determine  itself  what  it  has  to  claim. ,  Otherwise,  if 
we  were  to  examine  reciprocally  the  demands  made  by  either  party,  that  would  have  been 
to  expose  ourselves  to  see  several  months  elapse  before  the  task  could  have  been  accom 
plished.  What  it  is  easy  to  understand  is,  that  in  the  final  and  effective  arrangement 
might  have  been  necessary  or  just  to  establish  a  rank  of  liquidation  among  the  credits  in 
view  of  their  character  and  importance  ;  but  what  is  always  necessary  at  the  beginning  is 
to  determine  frankly  and  categorically  what  it  is  the  purpose  of  each  power  to  obtain,  other 
wise  their  ultimatum  gives  rise  to  discussions,  and  consequently  is  not  of  a  serious  charac 
ter.  I  do  not  pretend  to  say,  nevertheless,  that  the  three  governments  were  bound  to 
consider  that  all  demands  presented  by  each  of  them  were  to  have  the  support  of  the  other 
two  as  i*  right.  If,  in  what  concerns  us,  our  conditions  surpassed  the  men  sure  of  those 
with  which  the  representatives  of  Great  Britain  and  Spain  were  to  decide  or  content  them- 
elves,  we  were  to  look  for  the  attitude  which  would  best  suit  our  interests,  and  to  examine 
whether  they  would  not  have  to  suffer  too  much  from  concessions  made  to  the  support  of  a 
joint  action,  or  whether  we  were  to  prosecute  separately  the  reparations  due  to  France  by 
remaining  scrupulously  faithful  to  the  spirit  of  the  convention  of  London — that  is  to  say. 
without  looking  for  any  particular  advantage  or  territorial  acquisition.  One  of  the  clauses 
of  our  ultimatum,  which  seemed  more  than  any  other  to  have  met  with  the  opposition  of 
Sir  Charles  Wyke,  is  that  which  relates  to  the  contract  made  by  the  Mexican  government 
with  the  house  of  Jecker.  Our  legation  in  making  the  claim  originating  from  this  con 
tract  has  borne  in  mind,  above  all,  the  general  interests  of  foreign  commerce  and  the  advan 
tages  accruing  from  it — as  it  bound  the  responsibility  of  the  Mexican  government,  whatever 
it  may  be — no  less  than  the  enormous  injury  to  the  resident  and  foreign  merchants  which 
would  follow  its  non-compliance. 

Wiiting  to  M.  Dubois  de  Saligny  in  the  sense  of  the  exposition  which  precedes,  I  have 
left  him  free  yet  to  use  the  latitude  which  was  accorded  him  by  my  former  instructions  to 
modify  his  demands.  Although  I  have  not  invited  him,  expressly,  to  reduce  the  amount 
of  our  indemnification,  he  can  be  less  rigorous  on  this  point  if  this  is  to  be  an  evident 
cause  of  dissidence  between  the  representatives  of  the  three  courts. 

As  for  the  other  conditions  which  appear  in  our  ultimatum,  I  have  authorized  him  to 
give  way  so  far  as  new  considerations  may  advise  it.  In  what  concerns  particularly  the 
affair  of  the  Jecker  debt,  he  will  have  again  to  examine,  if  there  is  not  a  destination  to 
be  made  between  the  interest  attached  to  it,  and  whether  all  of  them  have  equally  a  right 
to  our  protection. 

What  eeems  to  me  to  be  essential  above  all  is,  that  no  room  be  left  to  the  Mexican  gov 
ernment  to  discuss  hereafter  the  obligations  which  will  be  imposed  upon  it.  This  would 
not  be  the  case  if  our  exactions  should  not  be  made  in  a  distinct  manner  ;  if  the  amount 
of  indemnity  charged  to  the  account  should  not  be  fixed  at  once,  the  power  to  raise  objec 
tions  against  what  she  would  owe  us  should  be  left  to  her  soon  after  our  forces  had  evacu 
ated  her  territory.  What  we  have  experienced  by  recurring  several  times  to  this  expedi 
ency  of  a  liquidation,  admitted  in  principle,  but  which  was  to  be  subsequently  discussed 
and  settled,  proves  how  illusory  such  sort  of  arrangements  with  the  Mexican  government 
are,  to  expose  ourselves  to  fall  again  in  the  situation  which  has  followed  the  regulations 
of  the  kind  to  which,  not  long  ago,  Admiral  Penana,  and  more  recently  M.  Dubois  de 
Saligny,  had  thought  advisable  to  submit  through  a  feeling  of  confidence  in  the  good  faith 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  177 

of  the  Mexican  government — a  good  faith  which  has  not  been  confirmed.  Therefore  I  do 
not  admit  that  an  opening  be  left  to  that  government  to  evade  the  obligations  which  it 
might  seem  to  have  accepted,  unless  I  consent  to  have  as  a  net  loss  the  heavy  expenses 
which  the  actual  expedition  has  caused  ;  I  do  not  object,  on  the  other  hand,  since  the 
amount  of  our  indemnity  seems  to  be  exorbitant  to  the  English  government,  and  since  we 
do  not  pretend  to  establish  it  ourselves  upon  positive  date  at  this  time — I  say  I  do  not  ob 
ject  to  having  a  special  commission  to  determine  at  a  later  period  exactly  what  the  amount, 
distinctively,  of  our  indemnity  must  be  which  will  satisfy  our  reclamations.  M.  Dubois 
de  Saligny  himself  first  suggested  the  idea,  and  I  am  perfectly  disposed  to  adopt  it.  We 
would,  in  such  case,  do  what  we  have  done  in  similar  cases  ;  for  instance,  in  the  indemnity 
of  Djeddah.  We  would  not  hesitate  in  freeing  the  Mexican  government  from  the  portion 
of  the  amount  primitively  fixed,  which  would  be  over  and  above  what  we  have  a  legitimate 
right  to  demand  after  an  examination  of  all  our  injuries.  It  is  well  to  remark,  besides, 
that  the  importance  of  the  demanded  indemnities  could  not  be  considered  as  proper  to 
render  the  recovery  impossible  after  sufficient  delay  for  payments  should  be  granted  to  the 
Mexican  government. 

There  is  another  objection  to  our  ultimatum,  made  by  Lord  Cowley,  and  which  it  is  easy 
to  remove.  Article  ninth  seemed  to  him  to  state  that  the  occupation  of  the  ports  of  Vera 
Cruz,  Tampico,  or  others,  ought  to  take  place  for  the  exclusive  benefit  of  France,  she  only 
having  to  establish  there  commissioners  with  the  indicated  object.  Such  is  not,  if  well 
understood,  the  sense  of  this  disposition.  The  measures  which  this  article  refers  to  as 
having  to  be  adopted  to  guarantee  the  fulfilment  of  the  obligations  imposed  on  Mexico 
must,  without  the  least  doubt,  be  common  to  the  three  powers.  If  their  ultimatums 
were  not  to  contain  an  identical  clause  on  this  head,  certainly  it  would  not  be  acting  any 
longer  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  convention  of  London. 

THOUVENEL. 


The  French  Ambassador  at  London  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

LONDON,  March  11,  1862. 

M.  le  MINISTRE:  I  waited  yesterday  upon  the  principal  secretary  of  state,  and  my  inter 
view  with  him  was  almost  exclusively  devoted  to  the  state  of  affairs  superinduced  by  the 
grave  dissensions  among  the  commissioners  of  the  allied  powers  in  Mexico.  It  is  too  im 
portant  to  the  success  of  our  expedition  that  a  good  understanding  should  be  restored  as 
soon  as  possible  to  have  authorized  me  to  do  aught  else  than  immediately  direct  my  efforts 
to  exhaust  the  question  of  the  difference  between  M,  Dubois  de  Saligny  and  Sir*  Charles 
Wyke,  in  regard  to  the  ultimatum  drawn  up  by  the  former.  I  therefore  immediately  in 
formed  the  principal  secretary  of  state  of  the  approbation  accorded  by  the  Emperor's  gov 
ernment  to  the  conduct  of  its  commissioners.  Following  the  spirit  of  your  excellency's 
despatch  of  March  7,  of  which  I  thought  myself  authorized  to  read  several  passages,  I 
brought  Lord  Eussell  to  acknowledge  that  her  Britannic  Majesty's  commissioner  had  mis 
taken  the  spirit  of  the  treaty  signed  at  London  when  he  refused  his  assent  to  the  ultima 
tum  project  of  France.  Like  ourselves,  Lord  Russell  does  not  admit,  indeed,  that  the 
demands  drawn  up  by  any  one  of  the  representatives  of  the  allied  powers  should  pielimi- 
narily  have  the  assent  of  the  other  two ;  he  thinks,  however,  that  in  virtue  of  the  solidity 
which  binds  their  governments  in  a  community  of  action,  and  the  reciprocal  •  guarantees 
which  they  give  each  other,  each  of  the  commissioners  has  a  right  to  make  observations, 
and  to  give  his  opinion  on  the  ultimatum  of  his  colleagues.  The  principal  secretary  of 
state,  as  far  as  he  is  concerned,  agrees  with  what  Sir  Charles  Wyke  has  expressed  in  regard 
to  the  clauses  of  the  ultimatum  presented  by  M.  Dubois  de  Saligny.  Our  demand  of  twelve 
millions  of  piastres  seems  to  him  too  high.  The  clause  which  exacts  the  execution  of  the 
contract  with  the  Jecker  house  also  appears  to  him  open  to  most  serious  objections.  He 
said  to  me  that,  in  his  opinion,  that  was  not  one  of  those  engagements  which  deserved  such 
a  protection  as  that  it  should  be  necessary  to  lay  down  the  execution  of  it  as  one  of  the 
conditions  of  an  ultimatum. 

I  was  not  sufficiently  acquainted,  M.  le  Ministre,  with  the  contract  in  question  to  be  able 
to  enter  upon  a  profound  discussion  on  this  point.  I  restricted  myself  to  replying  that  your 
excellency  had  left  M.  Dubois  de  Saligny  free  to  modify  his  demands,  and  that  the  latter 
would  have  consented  to  leave  the  Jecker  affair  among  the  reserved  questions,  if  Sir  Charles 
Wyke  had  been  willing  to  give  his  assent  to  the  other  conditions  contained  in  the  French 
ultimatum,  and  especially  to  the  first  condition.  As  to  the  pretended  excessiveness  of  the 
sum  of  which  we  had  fixed  the  amount,  I  maintained  the  right  which  the  French  plenipo 
tentiary  had  of  comprising  in  his  demand  not  only  such  debts  as  had  previously  constituted 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 12 


178  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

the  subject  of  treaties  with  the  Mexican  government,  but  also  those  which  had  not  yet  been 
recognized  by  that  government,  and  which  had  not  been  liquidated  ;  and  in  this  connexion 
I  let  it  be  understood  that  if  the  pretension  continued  to  be  held  forth  that  we  ought  to 
confine  the  claims  which  we  believed  ourselves  justified  in  making  upon  Mexico  within  the 
limits  of  those  with  which  the  representatives  of  Great  Britain  and  Spain  had  resolved  to 
rest  contented,  it  would  perhaps  be  the  occasion  for  leading  u.s  to  examine  whether  our 
interests  should  not  suffer  too  much  from  concessions  made  for  the  maintenance  of  common 
action,  and  whether  it  would  not  be  preferable  for  us  to  proceed  separately  to  the  enforce 
ment  of  the  satisfaction  due  to  us  I  added  that  it  appeared  essential,  above  all,  to  the 
Emperor's  government  that  the  Mexican  government  should  not  hereafter  find  itself  in  a 
position  to  discuss  the  obligations  which  might  have  been  imposed  upon  it,  and  that  it  was 
chiefly  with  this  view  that  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  draw  up  the  demands  so  as  to  settle 
now  the  amount  of  indemnity  required  from  Mexico.  "  This  amount, "  said  I,  "may  be 
either  insisted  on  or  modified  by  our  commissioner  ;  but  once  accepted  by  the  Mexican  gov 
ernment,  we  will  not  refuse  to  have  a  special  commission  appointed  to  determine  hereafter 
more  exactly  what  ought  to  be  finally  paid  as  the  sum  total  of  our  indemnities,  in  order 
to  strictly  satisfy  our  claim."  And  then  I  indicated  what  facilities  in  regard  to  time  we 
were  disposed  to  accord  to  the  Mexican  government  in  order  to  discharge  its  obligations. 
Lord  Russell  accepted  this  idea  of  a  commission,  and  told  me  that  he  was  going  to  request 
Sir  Charles  Wyke  to  desist  from  his  opposition. 

FLAHAULT. 


The  Mini&ter  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  the  French  Ambassador  in  London 

PARIS,  March  12,  1862. 

Monsieur  le  COMTE:  I  have  just  received  the  despatch  which  you  have  done  me  the 
honor  of  writing  to  me  on  the  llth  of. March.  I  congratulate  myself  on  seeing  that  the 
cabinet  of  London  admits  no  more  than  we  do  the  primal  cause  of  the  opposition  mani 
fested  by  Sir  Charles  Wyke  against  the  ultimatum  prepared  by  M.  Dubois  de  Saligny,  and 
on  learning  that,  Lord  Russell  is  about  to  request  the  English  minister  to  desist  from  that 
opposition.  The  opinion  expressed  by  the  principal  secretary  of  state  in  regard  to  our 
claims  requires  of  me,  however,  to  transmit  to  you,  in  order  to  Jay  it  before  him,  an 
estimate  of  the  amount  of  the  justice  of  which  there  can  be  no  suspicion.  This  estimate 
is  found  in  the  article  annexed,  extracted  from  a  Mexican  journal,  the  Mexican  Extraor 
dinary,  which  is  the  accredited  organ  of  the  English  interests  in  that  country.  This 
journal,  which  is  far  from  having  ever  testified  any  very  lively  sympathy  for  our  interests, 
does  not  hesitate,  in  an  elaborate  examination  of  the  foreign  debt,  to  place  the  sum  total 
of  our  just  claims  at  fifteen  millions  of  piastres.  As  1  already  supposed,  for  other  reasons, 
the  amount  of  the  English  claims  is  still  higher  ;  since  the  article  annexed,  while  allowing 
a  reduction  of  twenty  per  centum,  then  fixes  our  claims  at  twelve  millions  of  piastres,  and 
the  amount  of  the  English  claims  at  16,800,000  piastres  We  do  not  propose  to  ourselves 
in  any  manner  to  examine  into  the  origin  and  legitimacy  of  these  debts,  but  we  must 
think  that  Lord  Russell  himself  was  not  perfectly  informed  heretofore  in  regard  to  the 
amount  sought  to  be  figured  out  in  the  reckoning  up  of  England's  interests  by  the  side  of 
ours. 

THOUVENEL. 

[Article  annexed.] 
Analysis  of  an  article  from  the  "  Mexican  Extraordinary." 

The  amount  of  the  debt  due  by  Mexico  to  France  may,  according  to  the  writer  of  this 
article,  be  estimated  at  fifteen  millions  of  piastres. 

"  We  have,"  says  he,  "  studied  the  question  with  great  care,  having  all  possible  sources 
of  information  at  our  disposal  for  this  investigation,  and  we  declare  that,  after  the  minutest 
examination  and  the  most  rigorous  research  into  the  proofs  demanded  under  such  circum 
stances,  the  sum  total  of  the  claims  of  the  foreign  powers  will  not  be  reduced  more  than 
twenty  per  centum  from  the  figure  previously  announced,  which  fixes  the  claims  to  be 
enforced  by  each  power  against  Mexico  as  follows  : 

"English  claims 16,800,000  piastres. 

"  French. ..do 12,000,000  piastres. 

"Spanish  ..do 8,000,000  piastres. 

"Other do 4,000,000  piastres. 


"Total 40,  800,  000  piastres. >! 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  179 


T/ie  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  the  French  Minutir  in  Mtxico. 

PARIS,  March  14,  1862. 

SIR  :  I  always  regiet,  as  I  wrote  to  you  by  the  last  courier,  that  the  presentation  of  the 
ultimatums  did  not  piecisely  indicate,  frcm  the  very  first  moment,  the  amount  of  satisfac 
tion  which  the  three  powers  intended,  above  everything  else,  to  obtain  from  Mexico,  and 
of  which  the  common  necessity  had  occasioned  the  combined  expedition  among  themselves. 

The  explanations  into  which  I  have  entered  in  this  regard  with  Lord  Cowley,  and  which 
I  have  requested  the  Count  cle  Flahault  to  repeat  to  Lord  Russell,  have  been  conformable 
to  all  that  I  said  to  you  in  my  last  despatch,  and  the  information  since  furnished  to  me 
by  your  correspondence  has  allowed  me  to  state  with  more  authority  the  perfectly  well 
considered  and  justifiable  character  of  our  ultimatum.  I  have  considered  it  more  particu 
larly  my  duty  to  establish  the  point  well  that  neither  the  letter  nor  the  spirit  of  the  treaty 
of  London  imposed  any  obligation  on  the  representatives  of  the  three  powers  to  submit,  as 
Sir  Charles  Wyke  understood  it,  to  a  reciprocal  investigation  of  the  claims  which  they 
should  draw  up  in  the  name  of  their  respective  governments.  As  you  will  see  by  a  de 
spatch  from  the  Count  de  Flahault,  Lord  Russell  has  actually  admitted,  in  unison  with  us, 
that  the  demands,  diawn  up  by  any  one  of  the  representatives  of  the  allied  powers,  were 
not  subject  to  be  approved  beforehand  by  the  other  two  ;  he  added  only  that  this  did  not 
exclude  for  that  reason  the  right  of  expressing  an  opinion  in  reference  to  the  ultimatum  of 
a  colleague.  This  is  what  I  myself  first  declared,  and  whilst  at  the  same  time  maintaining 
our  right  to  consult  our  own  interests  merely  on  this  point.  Had  the  other  two  powers 
been  willing,  as  far  as  they  were  concerned,  to  abandon  a  part  of  their  claims,  I  did  not 
wish  to  conceal  from  the  English  government  the  fact  that  we  would  not  refuse  to  examine, 
in  view  of  the  maintenance  of  the  common  understanding  between  the  powers,  whether 
it  was  possible  for  us  to  yield  up  certain  of  our  demands.  I  therefore  called  his  attention 
to  the  modifications  which  I  left  you  free  to  make  in  your  ultimatum.  I  shall  add,  in  this 
connexion,  to  what  I  said  to  you  in  regard  to  the  possibility  of  a  reduction  of  the  amount 
of  twelve  millions  of  piastres  due  a*  our  indemnity,  that  circumstances  will  indicate  to 
you,  better  than  I  could  do  at  so  great  a  distance,  whether  too  much  rigor  on  our  part 
might  not,  in  the  long  run,  be  productive  of  more  inconveniences  than  a  few  concessions, 
which  might  contribute  to  maintain  an  intimate  concert  of  action  between  the  representa 
tives  of  the  three  courts,  and  which  might  facilitate  a  final  arrangement.  The  institution 
of  a  French  commission,  which  should  be  charged  with  the  exact  determination  of  what 
ought  to  be  the  amount  of  our  indemnity,  in  order  strictly  to  satisfy  our  claims,  moreover 
appeared  to  the  principal  secretary  of  state  of  the  Queen  a  happy  idea,  and  I  believe  he 
would  be  disposed  to  adopt  it  also  as  far  as  the  English  claims  are  concerned.  Conse 
quently  I  request  you  to  take  this  circumstance  into  consideration.  In  fact,  I  see  no  reason, 
as  I  have  authorized  the  Count  de  Flahault  to  say,  why  we  should  hereafter  hesitate  to 
excuse  the  Mexican  government  from  the  payment  of  the  portion  of  the  indemnity  primi 
tively  fixed  upon,  which  might  exceed  what  we  would  be  legitimately  authorized  to  demand, 
all  our  prejudices  being  taken  into  consideration.  I  have  not  failed,  however,  to  remark 
to  the  English  government  that  the  importance  of  the  indemnities  demanded  could  not  be 
considered  such  as  to  render  the  recovery  of  them  impossible  when  sufficient  delay  was 
accorded  to  the  Mexican  government. 

As  far  as  concerns  the  Jecker  affair,  I  cannot  insist  too  much  on  the  distinction  which  I 
recommended  you  not  to  fail  to  make  between  whatever  in  this  affair  might  properly  claim 
our  protection  and  foreign  interests,  with  the  maintenance  of  which,  on  the  contrary,  we 
have  no  business. 

THOUVENEL. 


Preliminaries  of  La  Soledad, 

1.  As  the  constitutional  government  which  at  present  rules  in  the  Mexican  republic  has 
made  known  to  the  commissioners  of  the  allied  powers  that  it  is  not  in  want  of  the  help 
that  they  have  so  benevolently  offered  to  the  Mexican  people,  since  it  possesses  in  itself  the 
elements  of  strength  and  of  public  opinion  sufficient  to  preserve  itself  against  any  intestine 
revolt  whatever,  the  allies  from  this  time  enter  into  negotiations  ("  entran  en  el  terreno 
de  los  tratados")  in  order  to  adjust  ("  formalizar  ")  all  the  claims  that  they  have  to  make 
in  the  name  of  their  respective  nations. 

2.  Accordingly,  and  protesting,  as  do  protest  the  repiesentatives  of  the  allied  powers,  that 
they  will  attempt  nothing  against  the  independence,  sovereignty,  and  integrity  of  the  terri 
tory  of  the  republic,  the  negotiations  will  be  opened  in  Orizaba,  to  which  city  will  repair 


180  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

the  commissioners  and  two  of  the  ministers  of  the  government  of  the  republic,  except  in 
the  case  that  by  common  consent  it  should  be  arranged  to  name  representatives  delegated 
by  Loth  parties. 

3.  During  the  negotiations  the  forces  of  the  allied  powers  will  occupy  the  towns  of  Cor 
dova,  Orizaba,  and  Tehuacan,  with  their  natural  limits. 

4.  In  order  that  it  may  not,  in  the  most  remote  degree,  be  believed  that  the  allies  have 
signed  these  preliminaries  in  order  to  obtain  the  passage  of  the  fortified  positions  garri 
soned  by  the  Mexican  army,  it  is  stipulated  that,  in  the  unfortunate  event  of  the  negotia 
tions  being  broken  off,  the  forces  of  the  allies  will  retire  from  the  said  towns,  and  will 
place  themselves  in  the  line  that  is  beyond  the  said  fortifications,  on  the  Vera  Cruz  side  ; 
Paso  Ancho,  on  the  Cordova  road  and  Paso  de  Ovejas,  on  that  of  Jalapa,  being  the  prin 
cipal  extreme  points 

5.  Should  the  unfortunate  event  of  the  breaking  off  of  negotiations  take  place,  and  the 
allied  troops  retire  to  the  line  indicated  in  the  preceding  article,  the  hospitals  that  the 
allies  may  have  will  remain  under  the  protection  of  the  Mexican  nation. 

6    The  day  on  which  the  allied  troops  commence  their  march  to  occupy  the  places  marked 
out  in  the  3d  article,  the  Mexican  flag  shall  be  hoisted  in  the  city  of  Vera  Cruz  and  on  the 
castle  of  San  Juan  de  Ulloa. 
LA  SOLEDAD,  February  19,  1862. 

EL  CONDE  DE  REUS. 
MANUEL  DOBLADO. 

I  approve  these  preliminaries  by  virtue  of  the  full  powers  of  which  I  am  invested. 

BENITO  JUAREZ. 

JESUS  TERAN. 
MEXICO,  February  23,  1862. 

Approved : 

C.  LENNOX  WYKE. 
HUGH  DUNLOP. 

Approuve  les  preliminaries  ci-dessus  : 

E.  JURIES. 

D.  DE  SALIGNY. 


1  he  Minister  of  foreign  Affairs  to  the  French  Minister  in  Mexico. 

PARIS,  March  31,  1862. 

SIR  :  I  have  received  the  despatches  addressed  to  me  by  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere 
up  to  the  20th  of  February  ;  yours,  of  which  he  announced  to  me  the  consignment  for  trans 
mission  on  the  same  date,  have  not  yet  reached  me,  I  regret  being  deprived  by  this  delay 
of  the  information  transmitted  to  me  by  you  on  your  part  at  this  moment.  However,  toy 
last  despatches  will  have  sufficiently  apprised  you,  without  doubt,  of  the  impression  neces 
sarily  produced  on  the  Emperor's  government  by  the  regre table  preliminaries  of  La  Soledad, 
to  allow  me  to  dispense  myself  from  examining  one  by  one  all  the  clauses  of  that  agree 
ment.  It  is  sufficient  to  state  here,  once  more,  that  the  negotiations  entered  into  with  the 
Mexican  government  did  not  correspond  with  the  views  of  the  allied  powers.  The  annexed 
copy  of  the  most  recent  despatches  from  the  Count  de  Flahault  and  from  M.  Barrot  will 
let  you  see  that  the  cabinets  of  London  and  Madrid  have  not  formed  a  judgment  different 
from  that  of  the  Emperor's  government  in  regard  to  the  attitude  accepted  towards  Mexico 
by  the  representatives  of  the  three  courts.  What  we  demand  of  Mexico  is,  above  all,  I 
repeat  it  again,  the  redress  of  our  grievances,  and  a  government  which  will  give  us  guar 
antees  for  the  future.  As  to  the  form  and  personnel  of  this  government,  we  do  not  pretend 
to  impose  any.  What  it  ought  or  can  be  depends  absolutely  on  local  circumstances,  and 
on  the  appreciation  which  may  be  had  of  it  in  Mexico  by  wise  men  and  lovers  of  their 
country. 

THOUVENEL. 


[Annexed  document  No.  1.] 

The  French  Ambassador  at  London  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

LONDON,  March  28,  1862. 

M.  le  MINISTBE  :  Yesterday  I  communicated  to  the  principal  secretary  of  state  of  the 
Queen  the  contents  of  the  despatch  which  your  excellency  did  me  the  honor  of  addressing 
to  me,  together  with  the  report  of  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  181 

I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  inform  your  excellency  that  Lord  Eussell  shares  the  opinion 
expressed  by  you  in  regard  to  the  manner  in  which  affairs  have  been  conducted,  for  a  dif 
ference  of  opinion  between  the  governments  on  the  course  pursued  by  their  commissioners 
coiild  only  aggravate,  to  a  considerable  extent,  the  inconveniences  of  the  situation.  Lord 
Kussell  does  not  hesitate  to  condemn  the  language  used  towards  the  Mexican  government 
as  in  complete  opposition  to  the  facts  which  caused  the  necessity  of  the  treaty  of  London  ; 
he  thinks  that  the  commissioners,  after  having  taken  possession  of  the  ports,  should  have 
confined  themselves  to  making  the  grievances  of  their  respective  courts  known  to  the  Mex 
ican  government  and  demanding  redress  for  them,  allowing  a  reasonable  time  for  compli 
ance,  at  the  end  of  which  recourse  should  be  had  to  coercive  measures,  if  the  satisfaction 
demanded  should  not  be  obtained. 

The  Queen's  principal  secretary  of  state  does  not  approve,  any  more  than  we  do,  the 
clause  which  permits  the  Mexican  flag  to  float  beside  the  flags  of  the  three  powers,  and  the 
engagement"  entered  into  by  the  commissioners  to  evacuate  the  posts  occupied  by  our  forces, 
if  the  negotiations  should  happen  to  fail.  In  brief,  Monsieur  le  Ministre,  Lord  Russell 
agrees,  on  every  point,  with  your  excellency's  opinion  of  the  conduct  adopted  by  our  com 
missioners,  and  the  state  of  affairs  which  that  conduct  has  produced. 

FLAHAULT. 


[Annexed  document  No.  2.] 
The  French  Ambassador  at  Madrid  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

MADRID,  February  26,  1862. 

Monsieur  le  MINISTRE  :  M.  Calderon  Collantes  coincides  with  the  opinion  expressed  by 
your  excellency  in  regard  to  the  error  into  which  the  plenipotentiaries  of  the  three  powers 
have  fallen,  in  opening  negotiations  with  the  government  of  Juarez,  of  which  the  only 
result  possible  is  the  loss  of  precious  time,  and  the  facility  offered  to  the  Mexican  govern 
ment  to  organize  means  of  defence.  In  the  first  place,  said  the  first  secretary  of  state  to 
me,  the  plenipotentiaries  have  acted  contrary  to  the  spirit  and  the  tenor  of  the  treaty  of 
London  ;  it  had  been  decided,  in  fact,  that  each  of  the  powers  should  draw  up  the  claims 
which  it  had  to  make  against  the  Mexican  government,  and  that  the  other  two  had  only 
to  refrain  from  offering  any  opinion  either  on  the  amount  or  on  the  nature  of  such  claims. 
Now  the  contrary  has  happened  ;  the  claims'  of  the  French  plenipotentiary  have  been  re 
jected  by  the  English  plenipotentiary,  as  being  of  such  a  character  as  not  to  be  admissible 
by  the  Mexican  government  Thence  the  resolution  adopted  by  common  consent  not  to 
send  to  Mexico  the  details  of  the  claims,  but  merely  to  inform  the  Mexican  government  of 
what  it  already  knows  too  well,  that  the  powers  have  claims  to  make  against  it.  I  cannot 
understand  f  added  M.  Calderon  Collantes,  what  idea  has  inspired  this  resolution  into  the 
plenipotentiaries,  nor  what  purpose  they  proposed  to  themselves  in  adopting  it ;  it  is  sim 
ply  a  useless  step,  for  it  is  evident  that  Juarez  will  tell  the  agents  sent  to  him  that,  before 
replying  to  them,  his  government  should  know  what  the  claims  are  which  it  is  sought  to 
enforce  against  him,  and  it  will  then  be  necessary  to  draw  them  up,  a  thing  which  it  would 
be  more  simple  to  do  at  first.  The  Spanish  government,  therefore,  censures  General  Prim 
for  having  swerved  from  the  instructions  which  he  received  before  his  departure,  and  for 
having  participated  in  an  act  which  is  a  violation  of  one  of  the  principal  clauses  of  the 
treaty  of  London.  However,  this  censure  has  been  mitigated  for  the  reason  that  General 
Prim  acted  in  concert  with  his  colleagues,  with  whom  he  had  been  recommended  to  keep 
always  on  terms  of  accord. 

The  first  secretary  of  state  entertains  the  same  opinion  that  we  do  in  regard  to  the  de 
mand  made  on  the  Mexican  government  for  a  healthy  location  where  the  allied  troops 
might  await  the  end  of  the  negotiations.  Three  great  powers  have  not  combined  and  sent 
considerable  forces  to  the  shores  of  Mexico  merely  to  open  illusory  negotiations  with  a 
government  which  has  already  given  so  many  proofs  of  bad  faith.  The  purpose  of  that  dis 
play  of  military  force  was  to  compel  the  Mexican  government,  by  prompt  and  energetic 
action,  to  give  immediate  and  complete  satisfaction  for  the  grievances  of  which  it  has  ren 
dered  itself  guilty  towards  foreigners  resident  within  its  territory,  and  to  prevent  the  repe 
tition  of  them  in  future.  Now,  to  attain  this  result,  the  plenipotentiaries  were  authorized 
to  make  all  such  arrangements  as  appeared  suitable  to  them,  and  there  was  no  reason  to 
ask  a  government,  whic%  ought  to  be  treated,  and  was,  in  fact,  treated  as  an  enemy,  the 
very  useless  permission  to  establish  themselves  on  such  or  such  a  point  of  its  territory. 

Negotiations  being  once  opened  with  Juarez,  was  uot  the  latter  entitled  to  discuss  the 
demands  addressed  to  him  ?  Suppose,  said  the  first  secretary  of  state,  that  he  accepts  them, 
and  announces  himself  ready  to  give  the  powers  all  the  secarities  which  they  shall  be 


182  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

pleased  to  demand  for  the  future  ;  shall  the  three  powers  rest  contented  with  these  prom 
ises  already  so  often  made  and  so  often  violated  ?  Is  it  not  evident,  moreover, 
that  if  Juarez  acted  in  good  faith,  it  would  be  physically  impossible  for  him  to  keep  the 
engagements  which  he  might  make?  It  is  known,  in  fact,  that  he  wished  to  effect  a  loan 
of  six  millions  ot  dollars  from  the  government  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  satisfy  the 
claims  of  the  powers,  and  that,  as  a  guarantee  for  this  loan,  he  would  deliver  to  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  Union  the  province  of  Sonora  and  other  parts  of  the  Mexican  territory  ;  now 
these  six  millions  of  dollars  scarcely  cover  one-twelfth  of  the  claims  which  he  will  have  to 
satisfy.  Will  the  three  powers  accept  this  state  of  affairs  and  dissolve  their  alliance,  satis 
fied  with  having  obtained  what  probably  would  not  have  been  refused  to  them  on  an  ener 
getic  note  from  the  representative  of  any  one  of  them?  An  enterprise  such  as  this,  which 
has  taken  the  combined  forces  of  France,  Spain,  and  England  to  Mexico,  is  not  renewed 
twice.  We  must  act  in  such  a  manner  as  to  obtain  all  the  results  which  we  have  in  view. 
A  grave  fault  has  been  committed  ;  we  must  redouble  our  energy  and  activity  and  essay  to 
regain  lost  time.  To  this  effect  has  the  Spanish  government  already  written  to  the  Count 
of  Reus. 

In  the  same  conversation,  abandoning  the  positive  part  of  the  consequential  results  of 
the  treaty  of  London,  M.  Calderon  Collantes  expatiated  on  the  eventualities  of  the  future. 
He  spoke  to  me  of  the  necessity  in  which  the  powers  find  themselves  placed  of  substituting 
for  the  government  of  Juarez  a  stable  government  which  may  give  to  Mexico  that  pros 
perity  of  which  nature  has  lavished  all  the  elements  en  that  privileged  land,  and  which 
may  afford  security  for  the  lives  and  property  of  foreigners.  Will  this  be  effected  by  creat 
ing  with  the  government  of  Juarez  ?  Shall  we  also  submit  to  him  the  question  of  a  change 
of  government  ?  One  of  two  things  will  be  the  consequence,  (I  here  continue  to  be  the 
interpreter  of  the  words  of  the  first  secretary  of  state,)  either  Juarez  will  say  :  My  govern- 
erninent  is  solidly  established  ;  it  is  the  only  government  now  possible  in  Mexico  ;  the  only 
one  which  can  give  the  powers  the  guarantees  which  they  demand.  He  has  been  authorized 
to  hold  this  language,  and  we  would  be  inconsistent  with  ourselves  if,  after  having  solemnly 
opened  negotiations  with  his  government,  we  were  to  say  to  him  :  Your  government  is 
bad  ;  withdraw  ;  Mexico  will  choose  another,  and  we  will  assist  her  in  so  doing.  Or,  per 
haps,  Juarez— which  is  quite  improbable — will  accept  this  proposal ;  he  will  consent  osten 
sibly  to  lay  down  his  power  and  to  consult  the  country.  But  will  not  this  apparent  abne 
gation  give  him  a  moral  power  which  he  does  not  now  possess  ?  Evidently  we  would 
deprive  him  momentarily  of  power  only  to  see  that  power  fall  baek  into  his  hands  under 
circumstances  infinitely  more  favorable  to  him  than  now.  Some  may  reply  to  this,  that 
Juarez  ceasing  to  be  President  of  the  republic,  the  party  of  order,  that  is  to  say,  the  great 
majority  of  the  Mexican  people,  will  bestir  themselves  to  choose  either  another  form  of  gov 
ernment  or  another  man.  Do  not  believe  it.  That  might  have  happened  if,  on  landing 
on  the  coasts  of  Mexico,  the  powers  had  distinctly  declared  that  they  would  not  treat  with 
Juarez,  and  appealed  to  the  Mexican  nation  to  choose  immediately  a  government  with 
which  the  dignity  of  the  allied  powers  would  permit  them  to  negotiate  ;  but  from  the  mo 
ment  we  openly  recognized  the  government  of  Juarez  by  negotiating  with  it,  we  have  by 
that  alone  discouraged  the  sane  part  of  the  people  ;  we  have  repressed  their  aspirations  for 
a  better  rule  of  things,  and  it  is  to  be  feared  that  it  will  be  very  difficult  now  to  revive  the 
hopes  which  were  based  only  on  the  certainty  of  the  moral  and  material  co-operation  of  the 
three  powers  in  case  of  necessity. 

The  situation  of  affairs  has,  therefore,  become  more  difficult  than  it  was  at  the  moment 
that  the  allied  troops  appeared  on  the  coasts  of  Mexico.  We  must  not,  however,  despair 
of  the  result ;  we  must,  on  the  contrary,  profit  by  the  experience  we  have  acquired.  Cost 
what  it  may,  France,  Spain,  and  England  cannot  abandon  an  enterprise  for  which  they  have 
united  their  forces  ;  they  must  effect  in  Mexico  what  they  have  proposed  to  themselves  to 
effect.  Spain,  as  far  as  she  is  concerned,  is  quite  decided  on  this  point. 

BARROT. 


[Annexed  document  No.  3.] 
The  Lnncli  Ambassador  at  Madrid  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

MADRID,  March  23.  1862. 

Monsieur  le  MINISTRB  :  1  inform  }our  excellency,  by  a  telegraphic  despatch,  of  the 
result  of  the  interviews  which  I  had  yesterday  with  the  first  secretary  of  state,  and  this 
morning  with  Marshal  O'Donnell. 

The  Queen's  government  has  been  painfully  impressed  on  receiving  intelligence  of  the 
arrangement  concluded  at  La  Soledad  between  General  Prim  and  General  Doblado.  The 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  183 

marshal  desired  to  give  me  a  great  mark  of  confidence  by  reading  to  me,  from  beginning 
to  end,  the  despatch  addressed  by  the  Queen's  government  yesterday  evening  to  the  Count 
de  Reus  on  this  subject.  In  this  despatch,  the  polished  form  of  which  conceals  not  the 
very  pointed  censure  therein  contained,  the  Queen's  government  expresses  to  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  Spanish  forces  in  Mexico  its  disapproval  of  several  of  the  clauses  of 
the  arrangement  in  question. 

Thus  it  blames  the  plenipotentiaries  for  having  given  to  the  government  of  Juarez  a 
moral  force  which  it  wanted  before,  by  declaring  in  article  1  of  the  arrangement  that 
that  government  appeared  to  them  to  present  conditions  of  force  and  stability,  and  that 
they  were  ready  to  treat  with  it.  If  circumstances  demanded  it,  said  Marshal  O'Donnell, 
they  might  certainly  have  opened  negotiations  with  the  government  of  Juarez,  but  it  was 
not  at  all  necessary  to  give  it  in  any  way  a  certificate  of  vitality  ;  by  doing  so  they  had 
compromised  the  attitude  of  the  allied  powers  towards  the  other  parties  opposed  to  that  of 
Juarez. 

The  Queen's  government  is  not,  any  more  than  in  the  former  case,  satisfied  with  the 
clause  relative  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  allied  troops,  in  case  the  negotiations  which 
were  about  to  be  opened,  should  not  reach  an  amicable  solution.  However,  it  accepts,  to  a 
certain  extent,  the  explanations  given  in  this  respect  by  the  Count  de  Reus. 

Marshal  O'Donnell  likewise  censures  the  abandonment >  in  the  case  of  the  failure  to 
which  I  have  referred,  of  the  hospitals  which  might  be  established  by  the  allies  in  the  en 
campments  which  they  are  going  to  occupy,  in  spite  of  the  engagement  entered  into  by 
the  Mexican  government  to  respect  them,  and  the  certitude  which  that  government 
should  entertain  that  every  infraction  of  that  engagement  would  be  sternly  punished  by 
the  forces  of  the  allied  powers. 

Censure  most  distinct  and  unqualified  has  been  pronounced  by  the  Queen's  government 
on  the  clause  which  imposes  on  France,  Spain,  and  England  the  duty  of  flying  the  Mexi 
can  flag  beside  their  own  at  Vera  Cruz  and  San  Juan  de  Ulloa. 

In  brief,  Monsieur  le  Ministre,  I  repeat  it,  the  government  of  Queen  Isabella  censures 
the  arrangement  of  La  Soledad,  as  that  of  his  Majesty  does,  and  the  marshal  has  very  de 
cidedly  expressed  his  opinion  in  this  respect  by  saying  to  me  that,  if  he  had  been  in  the 
place  of  the  Count  de  Reus,  he  would  not  have  signed  it. 

The  Spanish  government,  moreover,  attributes  the  faults  which  have  been  committed  in 
the  later  stages  of  the  proceedings  to  the  misunderstanding  which  in  the  very  beginning 
arose  between  the  plenipotentiaries  of  France  and  England.  General  Prim  had  to  inter 
pose  between  them,  and,  being  unable  to  succeed  in  conciliating  them,  he  was  drawn  to 
give  his  sanction  to  the  delay  granted  in  the  despatching  of  an  ultimatum  to  the  govern 
ment  of  Juarez.  Thence  .came  the  negotiations  disapproved  by  the  Spanish  government, 
those  negotiations  entered  into  with  the  actual  government  of  Mexico,  and  which  resulted 
unfortunately  in  the  conclusion  of  the  arrangement  of  La  Soledad,  which  the  Queen's 
government  likewise  censures.  It  is  settled,  therefore,  for  this  last,  that  the  plenipoten 
tiaries  of  the  allied  powers  have  departed  from  the  instructions  which  they  received  from 
their  respective  governments,  and  that  they  have  acted  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  treaty 
of  the  31st  of  October.  But  now  that  the  evil  is  done,  said  Marshal  O'Donnell,  we  must 
plan  how  to  repair  it 

M.  Calderon  Collantes  has  sent  me,  as  the  expression  of  his  opinion  in  regard  to  the 
actual  state  of  our  affairs  in  Mexico,  the  memorandum  of  which  I  enclose  a  copy  to  your 
excellency. 

BARROT. 


[Annexed  document.] 

MADRID,  March  23,  1862. 

The  Queen's  government  thinks  that  the  complications  and  difficulties  which  have  arisen 
in  Mexico  spring  from  the  fact  that  the  claims  of  the  three  powers  were  not  drawn  up  in 
the  very  beginning,  of  which  circumstance  the  Spanish  plenipotentiary  has  not  been  the 
cause  ;  that  the  first  clause  of  the  preliminaries,  which  gives  the  government  of  Juarez  a 
moral  force  which  it  did  not  possess  before,  might  well  hav3  been  omitted  ;  that  the 
fourth  clause  is  explained  by  reasons  of  a  military  point  of  honor,  and  that  the  Mexicans, 
recognizing  the  extreme  generosity  with  which  they  have  been  treated,  should  have 
themselves  renounced  its  benefits. 

Among  the  conditions  laid  down  by  the  conferences  of  Orizaba,  the  last  among  them  is 
that  which  seems  least  justifiable.  However,  the  Queen's  government,  while  addressing 
to  General  Prim,  Count  de  Reus,  such  observations  as  are  proper  to  this  subject,  as  well 
as  in  reference  to  the  spirit  of  conciliation  with  which  all  the  plenipotentiaries  were  in- 


184  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

spired,  formally  directs  hitn  to  act  with  the  greatest  promptitude  and  energy,  and  to 
abandon  every  kind  of  temporizing  policy  if  the  result  of  the  conferences  has  not  been 
completely  satisfactory. 

The  next  courier  will  inform  us  of  that  result,  and  until  then  any  decisive  resolution 
would  be  premature  or  hazardous 


.!/.   Calderon  Collantcs,  First   Secretary  of  State,    to  the   Plenipotentiary   Commanding -in-Chief  the 
Spanish  Expeditionary  Corps  in  Mexico. 

[Extract.] 

MADRID,  March  22,  1862. 

O  O  O  O  C-  O  O  f.f  O  O  O 

The  Queen's  government  allows  their  just  value  to  the  considerations  set  forth  by  your 
excellency  to  demonstrate  the  necessity  of  all  that  was  done  previous  to  the  20th 
of  February  last,  and  of  the  preliminaries  agreed  upon  with  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs 
of  Juarez  ;  but  it  believes  that  some  of  them  will  give  occasion,  in  Mexico  itself,  to  inter 
pretations  of  such  a  nature  as  to  foment  a  more  obstinate  resistance  than  would  have 
been  offered  if  the  claims  had  been  presented  immediately. 

In  examining  the  preliminaries  attentively,  it  is  seen  that  in  virtue  of  the  first  clause 
the  government  of  Don  Benito  Juarez  acquires  a  moral  force  which  it  did  not  possess, 
provided  that,  in  giving  credit  to  its  declaration  that  it  possesses  all  the  elements  of  force 
and  of  opinion  necessary  to  maintain  itself,  we  enter  immediately  on  the  business  of 
treaties  and  negotiations.  -This  could  have  been  done  whilst  omitting  the  declaration, 
and  such  a  course  would  not  have  produced  the  inconveniences  presented  at  the  very  first 
sight.  o  «  o  Q 

The  fourth  clause  has  excited  the  most  lively  disapprobation  on  the  part  of  the  im 
perial  government,  and  her  Majesty's  government  would  not  approve  of  it  without  the 
reflections  which  your  excellency  offers  to  justify  it,  which  reflections  have  their  influence 
upon  the  government.  Really  that  cannot  be  kept  by  force  which  has  been  obtained  by 
treaty.  The  valor  and  justice  of  the  allied  forces,  and  the  honor  of  the  chiefs  who  com 
mand  them,  would  recoil  from  such  an  idea  ;  but  the  Mexican  government  should  have 
abandoned  to  their  generous  decision  the  adoption  of  the  proper  course,  in  case  the  nego 
tiations  should  eventuate  without  result,  or,  to  speak  more  properly,  in  case  the  claims  of 
the  three  friendly  governments  should  fail  to  be  accepted. 

Such  a  manifestation  of  good  will  would  not  have  been  very  great  when  we  consider  that 
the  Mexican  government  had  then  received  from  the  allies  so  many  proofs  of  moderation 
and  generosity.  Moreover,  it  would  be  very  much  to  be  regretted  that,  in  case  the  troops 
should  have  to  retire,  the  hospitals  should  remain  in  the  power  of  the  enemy,  even  though 
they  had  taken  a  solemn  engagement  to  respect  them,  and  even  though  they  possessed  the 
means  of  punishing  any  act  committed  against  them. 

The  last  clause  or  condition  of  the  preliminaries  is  that  of  which  the  application  is  most 
difficult.  The  city  of  Vera  Cruz  and  the  castle  of  San  Juan  de  Ulloa  have  been  occupied  by 
the  Spanish  troops  in  the  name  of  the  three  nations,  not  only  as  a  base  and  starting  point 
of  operations,  but  also  in  the  quality  of  a  pledge  and  guarantee  to  compel  the  Mexican 
government  to  satisfy  the  claims  which  we  have  drawn  up  against  it. 

Inasmuch  as  this  may  not  take  place — inasmuch  as  all  idea  or  all  danger  of  a  rupture  may 
not  have  disappeared,  Vera  Cruz  and  San  Juan  de  Ulloa,  abandoned  by  the  Mexican  troops, 
have  no  other  authority  or  power  to  rule  over  them  than  the  authority  and  power  of  the 
three  allied  nations.  o  «  o  °  °  o  *  °  «  °  ° 

The  Queen's  government,  being  assured  that  when  this  despatch  shall  reach  you  the  ne 
gotiations  opened  will  have  reached  a  termination,  and  wishing  to  avoid  giving  occasion  for 
the  slightest  want  of  concert  and  harmony  in  the  resolutions  of  the  three  governments,  has 
resolved  (notwithstanding  the  brevity  of  the  time  past  since  the  arrival  of  the  cornier  yes 
terday,  till  the  moment  of  the  departure  of  the  present)  that  I  should  instruct  your  excel 
lency  as  follows : 

Your  excellency,  "acquainting  yourself  well  with  the  spirit  of  the  instructions  which  I 
have  heretofore  communicated  to  you,  and  with  the  sense  of  the  present  royal  order,  should 
proceed  with  the  greatest  promptitude  and  energy,  and  in  accord  with  the  plenipotentiaries 
and  the  commanders  of  the  troops  of  the  other  two  nations,  in  case  the  conferences  of  Ori 
zaba  do  not  have  an  entirely  satisfactory  result. 

Your  excellency  justly  recognizes  that  all  imaginable  means  of  conciliation  having  been 
exhausted,  the  necessity  for  hostilities,  whatever  may  be  their  consequences,  will  be  demon 
strated  before  the  world  and  in  presence  even  of  the  Mexican  people,  who  will  not  be  able 
to  preserve  their  confidence  and  their  reliance,  supposing  that  these  qualities  be  actually 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  185 

banished  from  it  in  a  government  which  has  not  listened  to  the  voice  of  justice  after  having 
previously  eschewed  the  sentiments  which  direct  the  actions  of  all  civilized  governments. 
In  this  extreme  case  your  excellency  can,  doubtless,  count  on  the  active  co-operation  of 
all  honorable  men,  and  the  three  allied  nations  will  obtain  not  only  the  requisite  satisfac 
tion  for  their  numerous  grievances,  but  also  the  satisfaction  of  having  contributed,  by  the 
presence  of  their  troops  and  without  the  commission  of  any  outrage,  to  favor  the  inde 
pendence  of  the  Mexican  people,  and  to  give  them  a  government  which  may  put  an  end  to* 
their  continual  sufferings  by  protecting  equally  the  rights  of  native  Mexicans  and  the  in 
terests  of  foreigners.  «  ®  *>  '  «  «  o  °  »  «  °  « 


The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  the  French  Ambassador  at  Madrid. 

PARIS,  April  1,  1862. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  of  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  the  report  under  date  of  March 
23,  in  which  you  render  me  an  account  of  the  recent  interview  which  you  have  had  with 
M.  Calderon  Coilantes  and  with  Marshal  O'Donnell  in  regard  to  the  affairs  of  Mexico. 

If  we  could  possibly  have  still  retained  the  least  doubt  in  our  minds  as  to  the  conformity 
of  views  which  exists  between  the  Emperor's  government  and  that  of  her  Catholic  Majesty, 
it  would  be  completely  dissipated  by  the  declarations  and  assurances,  equally  clear  and 
formal,  which  you  have  received  from  the  first  secretary  of  state  and  the  president  of 
the  Council. 

The  government  of  her  Britannic  Majesty,  on  its  part,  has  likewise  come  over  to  our  way 
of  thinking  in  regard  to  the  course  of  conduct  pursued  by  our  plenipotentiaries  and  the  pre 
liminary  articles  signed  at  La  Soledad.  We  are,  therefore,  authorized  to  think  that  the 
respective  plenipotentiaries,  now  perfectly  enlightened  on  the  identical  views  and  intentions 
of  the  three  cabinets,  will  strive,  henceforward,  to  establish  among  themselves  a  unanimity 
of  action  conformable  to  the  intentions  of  their  governments,  and  thus  to  give  to  their  action, 
that  unity  which  will  be  for  them  the  surest  element  of  strength  and  success. 

At  the  distance  at  which  we  are  from  the  scene  of  events  we  could  not  pretend  to  trans 
mit  to  our  agents  directions  sufficiently  prompt  and  precise  to  modify  the  consequences  of 
the  first  acts  in  which  they  have  taken  part.  We  must  hope,  however,  that  they  vrill  have 
understood  of  themselves  that,  if  they  do  not  obtain  from  the  Mexican  government  such, 
engagements  and  guarantees  as  are  proper  to  give  entire  satisfaction  for  all  our  grievances, 
they  ought  immediately  to  have  recourse  to  the  military  measures  dictated  by  circumstances. 

THOUVENEL. 


Tfie  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  the  French  Minister  in  Mexico. 

PARIS,  April  12,  1862. 

SIR  :  I  wrote  to  you  by  the  last  courier  that  the  cabinets  of  Madrid  and  London  had  not 
judged  otherwise  than  the  Emperor's  government  of  the  attitude  assumed  towards  Mexico 
by  the  representatives  of  the  three  courts.  Marshal  O'Donnell,  in  a  new  conversation  which 
he  has  had  with  his  Majesty's  ambassador  at  Madrid,  has  taken  the  trouble  to  explain  the 
circumstances  which  should,  according  to  him,  have  influenced  the  conduct  of  General 
Prim ;  but  he  has  expressed  the  confidence  that  a  perfect  understanding  cannot  fail  to  be 
established  between  the  Marquis  de  Castillejos  and  General  de  Lorencez,  and  he  has  reiter 
ated  the  assurance  that  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Spanish  forces  had  orders  io  reject, 
forthwith,  all  dilatory  measures  and  to  march  without  hesitation  towards  the  end  which  the 
allied  powers  have  proposed  to  themselves.  The  cabinet  of  Madrid,  it  is  true,  posterior  to 
that  despatch,  has  caused  its  desire  to  be  expressed  to  me  that  the  plenipotentiaries  of  the 
three  courts  should  meet  in  order  to  agree  in  advance  on  the  subject  of  the  different  ques 
tions  which  might  arise  from  the  negotiations  opened  at  Orizaba.  I  have  replied  that  I  did 
not  think  that  there  was  any  practical  utility  in  reassembling  a  conference  which  could  only 
deliberate  from  afar  on  eventualities  more  or  less  hypothetical ;  that  I  believed,  therefore, 
that  it  was  better  to  await  the  development  of  the  situation  without  seeking  to  anticipate 
events.  Either  the  negotiations  will  be  broken  off  in  reality,  and  there  will  remain  no 
other  course  than  to  follow  up  the  expedition  energetically,  or  they  will  terminate  in  a 
treaty,  and  to  appreciate  it  we  must,  necessarily,  know  the  text  of  it.  For  the  rest,  I  have 
every  reason  to  believe  that  the  Spanish  government  has  already  understood  the  value  o£ 
these  observations,  and  that  it  is  not  disposed  to  insist  on  its  proposition. 


186  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

The  language  employed  to  the  Count  de  Flahault  by  Lord  Russell  authorized  me  to  say 
to  you  heretofore,  as  I  have  done,  that  the  English  government  at  that  time  shared  in  our 
opinion  in  regard  to  the  course  of  conduct  pursued  in  the  last  negotiations  with  the  Mexican 
government  But  it  appears  from  the  communication  to  me  by  Lord  Cowley  of  a  despatch 
from  the  British  principal  secretary  of  state,  that,  though  at  first  the  cabinet  judged  as 
severely,  indeed,  as  we  did  the  treaty  of  La  Soledad,  the  explanations  since  furnished  by 
Sir  Charles  Wyke  have  modified  that  first  impression.  Lord  Russell,  however,  docs  not 
approve  of  all  the  details  of  that  arrangement,  and  especially  of  that  one  which  provides 
for  the  appearance  of  the  Mexican  flag  at  Vera  Cruz ;  but  he  appears  satisfied  that  the 
grievances,  for  which  it  is  proposed  to  obtain  reparation,  should  become  the  object  of  ne 
gotiations,  and  he  expresses  the  hope  that,  having  entered  on  this  course,  we  will  attain  a 
result  such  as  to  satisfy  the  powers  that  signed  the  treaty  of  London.  I  have  confined 
myself  to  telling  Lord  Cowley,  in  reply  to  the  communication  which  I  received  from  him, 
that  we  could  not  regard  matters  from  the  same  point  of  view,  and  that  from  the  moment 
that  the  English  troops  should  no  longer  find  themselves  engaged  with  ours  in  the  interior 
of  Mexico,  the  Emperor's  government  remained  the  sole  judge  of  the  exigencies  that  be 
hooved,  under  actual  circumstances,  the  care  of  its  military  dignity. 

THOUVENEL. 


The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  the  French  Ambassador  at  Madrid. 

PARIS,  April  15,  1862. 

SIR:  After  the  views,  so  very  decisive,  expressed  to  you  by  the  ministers  of  her  Catholic 
Majesty  in  regard  to  the  preliminary  treaty  of  La  Soledad,  and  the  line  of  conduct  pursued 
t>y  the  respective  plenipotentiaries,  and  especially  by  General  Prim,  we  should  have 
thought  that  the  cabinet  of  Madrid  entirely  shared  our  views  on  this  point.  Our  surprise, 
therefore,  has  been  no  less  than  yours  in  finding  in  the  explanations  given  to  the  Cortes 
by  M.  Calderon  Collantes,  in  reference  to  the  affairs  of  Mexico,  an  unreserved  approval  of 
the  course  pursued  by  General  Prim  and  of  the  preliminaries  of  La  Soledad. 

However  it  be,  sir,  the  Emperor's  government  will  abstain  from  insisting  on  the  regret- 
able  phase  of  this  incident ;  it  prefers  to  hope  that  it  will  have  no  influence  on  the  farther 
conduct  of  the  affair,  and  that  the  request  lately  sent  to  the  commander-in-chief  of  the 
Spanish  forces,  to  act  with  vigor  in  conformity  with  his  instructions,  will  have  the  effect 
of  impressing,  henceforward,  on  the  efforts  of  the  respective  plenipotentiaries  and  of  the 
•commanders- in-chief  that  unity  of  direction  and  of  action  dictated  by  the  community  of 
those  interests  which  have  called  us  to  Mexico. 

THOUVENEL. 


The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  the,  French  Minister  in  Mexico. 

PARIS,  May  31,  18C2. 

SIR  :  We  know  now,  in  all  its  details,  the  rupture  which  has  definitely  taken  place  be 
tween  the  plenipotentiaries  of  the  three  powers. 

I  need  not  tell  you  that  the  Emperor's  government  very  much  regrets  that  this  has 
occurred  ;  but  I  think  we  may  hope  that,  beyond  the  divergence  of  views  which  it  unfor 
tunately  manifests  in  regard  to  the  affairs  of  Mexico,  it  will  not  produce  any  more  general 
political  complications. 

The  respective  governments  have  now  approved  of  the  conduct  of  their  representatives. 
It  behooves  us,  then,  to  let  things  take  their  course.  The  cabinet  of  London,  as  I  have 
already  told  you,  retains  all  confidence  in  our  intentions,  and  that  of  Madrid  declares  that 
it  heartily  wishes  our  success.  As  far  as  we  are  concerned,  I  have  to  approve  especially 
the  terms  of  the  proclamation  which,  in  concert  with  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere,  you 
addressed  to  the  Mexican  people  on  the  6th  of  August  It  is  this  stand  which  you  have 
taken  that  it  behooves  you  to  maintain.  Our  sentiments  in  regard  to  the  internal  condi 
tion  of  Mexico,  our  desire  to  see  the  country  reconstituted  under  new  conditions  of  order 
and  stability,  cannot  be  modified  or  enfeebled.  But  if  it  should  issue  transformed  from  the 
actual  crisis,  it  is  not  from  the  French  camp  that  the  movement  for  its  regeneration 
should  originate  ;  it  is  from  the  country  itself,  which,  thanks  to  our  presence,  should  re 
sume  confidence  in  itself  and  in  the  moral  support  which  it  should  certainly  have  to 
expect  from  all  governments,  on  the  day  When,  reorganizing  itself  more  honorably  and 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  187 

more  regularly,  it  would  offer  them  all  the  guarantees  which  the  combined  expedition  had 
for  its  object  to  demand.  You  will  give  your  attention,  I  have  no  doubt,  to  observe 
strictly  that  course  of  conduct  which  has  been  already  traced  out  for  you  by  my  previous 
instructions,  and  which  I  recall  here  only  because  we  have  now  a  much  better  opportunity 
from  this  circumstance  that  henceforward  we  pursue  alone  the  end  towards  which  we  had 
hoped  at  first  to  proceed  in  concert  with  England  and  Spain. 

THOUVENEL. 


The  Minis' er  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  the  French  Ambassador  at  Madrid. 

PARIS,  June  10,  1862. 

SIB:  In  shielding  the  responsibility  of  the  Count  De  Reus  by  the  official  approbation 
which  it  has  given  to  his  conduct,  the  cabinet  of  Madrid  obliges  us  to  enter  into  new  ex 
planations  with  it,  and  to  relieve  from  all  ambiguity  the  ideas  which  direct  our  policy  in 
the  affairs  of  Mexico.  Moreover,  I  cannot  leave  unanswered  the  despatch  of  the  first  sec 
retary  of  state  of  her  Catholic  Majesty,  of  the  date  of  the  21st  of  last  month,  of  which  the 
charge  d'affaires  of  Spain  has  permitted  me  a  copy.  In  that  despatch  M.  Calderon  Col- 
lantes  develops  the  motives  which  inspired  the  resolutions  of  General  Prim,  and  he  con 
siders  them  fully  justified  by  a  private  letter  from  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere  to  the 
Count  De  Reus,  in  which  the  latter  thought  he  saw  an  insult  to  the  dignity  of  his  country. 
I  regret  the  importance  given  to  this  document,  which,  in  its  confidential  and  intimate 
form,  did  not,  perhaps,  call  for  an  official  discussion,  by  an  interpretation  which  its  author 
would  certainly  have  hastened  to  disavow  if  he  could  have  foreseen  it.  Even  though,  in 
the  freedom  of  private  correspondence,  some  expressions  had  inexactly  rendered  the  ideas 
of  Admiral  Jurien,  his  well  known  sympathies  for  our  allies,  his  personal  relations  with 
the  Count  De  Reus  ought,  it  seems  to  me,  have  removed  from  him  all  suspicion  of  any 
intention  to  offend.  General  Prim  seemed,  for  the  rest,  to  have  thought  of  it  in  the  pame 
way  at  first,  and  his  reply,  full  of  cordiality  and  of  that  affectionate  brotherhood  that  hon 
ors  the  military  career,  scarcely  permits  the  supposition  that,  at  the  receipt  of  his  colleague's 
letter,  he  felt  himself  attacked  for  a  moment  in  his  dignity,  still  less  in  that  of  his  country. 
As  to  the  Emperor's  government,  I  have  not  assuredly  to  defend  it,  the  cabinet  of  Madrid 
knowing  too  well  the  sentiments  which  animate  it  in  regard  to  Spain,  and  of  which  you 
have  so  often  been  the  interpreter,  to  require  me  to  renew  the  assurance  of  them.  I  might 
refuse  even  to  admit  that  any  doubt  had  arisen  in  this  respect  in  the  minds  of  the  Queen's 
ministers,  if  it  were  .possible  to  discover  in  the  facts  anterior  to  the  correspondence  which 
now  occupies  us  the  determining  cause  of  the  actual  resolutions  of  the  Spanish  government. 
Having  sometimes  differed  in  our  opinions  on  secondary  points,  the  two  governments  have 
always  found  themselves  of  accord  on  essential  questions  arising  from  their  co-operation, 
in  the  course  to  be  pursued  as  well  as  in  the  end  to  be  attained.  So  we  should  suppose 
that  the  cabinet  of  Madrid  would  be  no  less  surprised  than  ourselves  to  learn  that  its  plen 
ipotentiary,  on  a  divergence  of  conduct  with  his  colleagues  of  France,  abandoned  the  en 
terprise  and,  on  his  own  responsibility,  took  a  determination  which  the  ministers  of  her 
Catholic  Majesty  have  assured  you  never  entered  into  their  provisions. 

I  shall  not  trouble  myself,  sir,  to  recall  the  origin  and  the  object  of  the  treaty  of  Lon 
don.  France  and  England  had  not  yet  decided  to  have  recourse  to  coercive  measures 
against  a  government  which  ignored  all  its  details,  from  which  Spain,  anticipating 
our  agreement,  had  already  prepared  to  claim,  with  arms  in  hand,  the  execution,  ever 
refused,  of  the  treaty  signed  by  M.  Mon  and  General  Almonte,  and  the  reparation  which 
was  due  to  her  for  the  insult  offered  to  her  representative,  M  Pacheco.  The  conformity 
of  interests  and  of  circumstances  quickly  produced  the  understanding  which  was  estab 
lished  at  London  between  the  three  courts.  Having  to  pursue  the  redress  of  their  similar 
grievances,  they  wished  to  obtain  their  satisfactions  and  their  guarantees  in  common. 
Resolved  at  the  very  beginning,  and  by  force,  if  necessary,  to  seize  a  material  pledge  to 
answer  them  for  the  reparation  of  the  damages  suffered  by  their  countrymen,  they  contem 
plated  as  an  eventual  result,  but  a  very  desirable  one,  of  their  operations,  the  establish 
ment  in  Mexico  of  a  regular  and  stable  political  regime,  which  should  offer  them  for  the 
future  such  moral  sureties  as  they  had  vainly  demanded  from  all  the  governments  which 
had  succeeded  each  other  in  that  republic.  The  threa  powers  did  not  hesitate,  then,  to  rec 
ognize  that  the  government  of  Juarez  offered  them  neither  at  present  nor  in  future  any 
of  those  guarantees  which  they  sought.  Tnus,  they  were  unanimous  in  disapproving  the 
first  steps  of  their  representatives  in  Mexico,  which  appeared  to  them  impressed  with  inde 
cision  and  petty  arrangements  which  the  situation  did  not  warrant.  The  cabinet  of  Mad 
rid  was  no  less  eiger  to  regret  an  attitude  which,  by  raising  up  the  authority  of  the  gov- 


188  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

ernment  of  Mexico,  could  not  but  encourage  its  resistance,  and  contrasted,  above  all,  with 
the  ardor  of  which  Spain  had  given  proof  in  preceding  her  allies  to  Mexico,  and  which 
seemed  to  indicate  on  her  part  the  will  to  do  herself  justice  rather  than  to  negotiate.  All 
the  incidents  that  have  occurred  since  have  given  occasion  to  explanations  between  us  and 
the  cabinet  of  Madrid  too  complete  to  authorize  me  to  return  to  the  subject,  unless  it  be 
to  state  once  more  the  conformity  of  the  judgments  which  we  formed  of  them.  From  the 
confidential  exchange  of  our  ideas,  from  tbe  assurances  which  you  have  received,  I  should 
have  concluded  the  identity  of  our  views  and  of  the  directions  transmitted  to  our  agents. 
Thus  it  is  that  we  have  been  able  to  believe  ourselves  authorized  to  suppose  that  if  our 
plenipotentiaries,  enlightened  by  the  facts  which  were  disclosed  before  their  eyes  and  re 
lieved  from  the  much-to-be-iegretted  engagements  of  La  Soledad  by  the  new  excesses  of 
the  Mexican  government,  would  impress  on  their  action  a  more  decisive  appearance,  the 
Spanish  government  would  think,  like  us,  that,  far  from  authorizing  the  abandonment  of 
the  policy  of  the  treaty  of,  London,  this  new  attitude  would,  on  the  contrary,  indicate  a 
desire  to  return  to  that  policy  in  order  to  effect  its  final  triumph.  We  would,  necessarily, 
havfe  been  confirmed  in  this  idea  and  in  our  opinion  with  regard  to  the  liberty  of  action 
restored  to  us  by  the  acts  of  the  Mexican  government,  in  reading  the  reply  of  General 
Prim  to  the  letter  of  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere.  The  Count  of  Reus  wrote  on  the 
21st  of  March  to  the  following  effect  :  "Can  we  permit,  while  we  remain  quiet  in  our 
camps,  that  the  government  should  continue  its  vexatious  proceedings  against  our  country 
men  throughout  the  entire  republic,  in  exacting  from  them  the  payment  of  the  contribu 
tion  of  2^  per  cent,  on  their  capitals,  as  is  done,  M.  Doblado  pretending  that  he  has  the 
right  to  do  so  ?  Can  we  permit  M.  Doblado  to  threaten  us  with  the  re-establishment  of 
the  decree  preventing  commercial  intercourse  between  the  custom-house  of  Vera  Crti/>  and 
the  interior  of  the  country,  in  case  that  custom-house  should  not  be  delivered  up  to  him  ? 
Can  we  permit  that  a  forced  loan  of  500,000  piastres  should  be  exacted  of  six  houses  in 
Mexico,  of  which  three  are  Spanish,  taxed  at  100,000  piastres  each  ?  These  are  the  reasons 
why  Sir  Charles  Wyke  and  myself  have  assumed  a  more  energetic  attitude  than  that 
which  we  held  when  we  separated.  Annexed. is  the  last  letter  of  M.  Doblado  ;  judge,  in 
your  generous  pride,  whether  such  a  cool,  curt  style  of  speech  suits  us.  You  will  find, 
then,  in  the  letter  of  M.  Doblado,  and  in  my  explanations,  the  real  cause  of  our  warlike 
humor  ;  you  need  seek  for  no  other,  for  no  other  exists." 

Our  plenipotentiaries  shared  the  impressions  of  General  Prim  and  of  Sir  Charles  Wyke. 
Freed  from  their  engagements  by  the  act  of  the  Mexican  government,  they  were  impatient 
to  emerge  from  a  situation  which  suited  them  no  more  than  it  did  the  Count  of  Reus.  But 
I  am  at  a  loss  to  understand  the  reproach  here  addressed  by  M.  Calderon  Collantes  to  Ad 
miral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere,  of  having  wished  to  render  the  direct  and  personal  interests 
which  had  led  the  allies  to  Mexico  subordinate  to  the  preliminary  establishment  of  a  mon 
archy  in  that  country.  The  views  of  the  Emperor's  government,  in  this  regaid,  have  been 
too  often  explained  to  the  cabinet  of  Madrid  to  presume  the  possibility  of  their  having  been 
mistaken  ;  and  as  to  our  plenipotentiaries,  it  suffices  to  read  the  proclamation  which  they 
addressed  to  the  Mexican  people,  when,  in  consequence  of  the  retirement  of  our  allies,  they 
had  no  longer  to  regard  anything  but  the  sentiment  of  their  government,  in  order  to  be 
convinced  that  they  strictly  conformed  their  words  and  their  acts  to  that  sentiment,  in 
disavowing  all  intention  of  imposing  by  force  a  form  of  government  rejected  by  the  voice 
of  the  nation. 

The  first  secretary  of  state  insists  very  much  on  some  phrases  in  which  Admiral  Jurien 
de  la  Graviere  might  seem  to  evince  a  regret  of  the  too  exclusively  Spanish  character  which 
the  expedition  might  have  had  in  the  beginning,  according  to  him,  when  he  intimated  that 
in  future  the  augmentation  of  our  effective  force  would  assure  the  independence t)f  our 
policy,  if  circumstances  imposed  that  necessity  upon  us.  It  is  evident  that,  as  long  as  the 
accord  remained  complete  between  the  allies,  the  expedition  should  have  a  collective  char 
acter  ;  and  our  plenipotentiary  merely  stated  a  fact  when  he  recalled  to  mind,  in  a  confi 
dential  communication  addressed  to  his  colleague,  that  the  arrival  of  the  Spanish  troops 
before  the  others,  their  numerical  superiority,  the  conspicuous  character  even  of  their 
chief,  had,  iu  that  phase  of  the  combined  operations,  assigned  a  preponderating  part  to 
Spain.  Admiral  Jurien  did  not  seek  by  any  means  to  complain  of  this.  In  estimating  the 
influence  exerted  in  the  common  work  up  to  that  time  by  the  particular  action  of  each  of 
the  combined  forces,  he  did  not  overstep,  it  seems  to  me,  the  limits  of  honest  discussion, 
and  the  opinion  which  he  expressed  on  this  point  was  not  calculated  to  surprise  the  Count 
of  Keus,  whilst  a  journal  printed  under  his  eyes  lost  no  opportunity  to  represent  him  as  the 
soul  and  complete  impersonation  of  the  expedition.  Did  he  not  himself  write,  on  the  27th 
of  February,  to  the  first  secretary  of  state  of  her  Catholic  Majesty,  that,  "  in  his  opinion,  the 
Spanish  element  ought  to  predominate,  as  well  on  account  of  the  particular  situation  of 
Spain,  in  regard  to  Mexico,  as  of  the  initiative  taken  by  his  government  iu  this  important 
euterpiise?"  Admiral  Jurien,  in  fine,  confined  himself  to  indicating  that,  in  certain  event- 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  189 

ualities,  Independent  action  would  become  the  right  of  each  one,  and  that,  if  the  time 
came  when  it  would  be  necessary  to  renounce  the  idea  of  obtaining  by  collective  efforts  the 
results  which  they  had  promised  themselves,  he  would  remain  free  to  pursue  his  task  as  he 
understood  it,  and  to  attend  alone  to  the  dignity  and  the  interests  of  his  country.  It  is 
under  this  anticipation,  unfortunately  realized,  that  our  plenipotentiary  undertook  to  say 
that  the  expedition  would  become  French 

As  to  the  particular  facts  which  have  occasioned  the  rupture,  I  wish  to  speak  cf  the  pro 
tection  granted  to  General  Almonte.  I  might,  if  needs  be,  find  the  justification  of  the 
conduct  of  our  agents  in  the  reflections,  so  full  of  wisdom  and  of  foresight,  which  the  ex 
pulsion  of  General  Miramon  inspired  into  the  first  secretary  of  state  of  her  Catholic  Majesty. 
After  having  recommended  to  the  Count  of  Ecus  to  use  all  his  influence  in  order  to  prevent 
the  repetition  of  an  act  of  that  nature,  M.  Calderon  Collantes  wrote  to  him,  on  the  7th  of 
March— 

"  It  might  be  feaied  that  the  good  understanding  now  existing  between  the  plenipo 
tentiaries  and  the  commanders  of  the  forces  of  the  three  allied  powers  would  be  disturbed, 
if  any  one  of  these  powers  regarded  itself  as  authorized  to  dictate  against  any  Mexican  such 
measures  as  that  resorted  to  in  regard  to  Ex-President  Miramon.  It  would  be  equivalent 
to  exercising  a  species  of  sovereignty,  which,  by  placing  itself  in  opposition  to  that  of  the 
others,  might  give  occasion  to  dangerous  debates,  and,  perhaps,  even  to  acts  of  violence 
difficult  to  be  justified.  The  representative  of  her  Catholic  Majesty  has  the  important 
mission  of  protecting  all  persons  without  distinction,  and  of  preventing  any  act  that  may 
appear  dictated  by  passion  or  violence." 

Finally,  in  his  despatch  of  the  21st  of  May,  M.  Calderon  Collantes  refers  to  the  propo 
sition  which  he  made,  when  the  first  differences  broke  out,  to  open  a  conference  iu  order- 
to  establish  between  the  three  governments  a  new  understanding,  embracing  at  once  ac 
complished  facts  and  such  eventualities  as  might  pcssibly  arise.  The  Emperor's  govern 
ment  appreciates  the  sentiments  which  dictated  'that  proposition,  and  it  would  have  been 
happy  to  accept  it  if  it  could  have  hoped  from  it  the  good  effects  promised  to  itself  by  the 
cabinet  of  Madrid.  But  we  had  to  observe  that,  at  the  distance  at  which  we  were  from  the 
scene  of  events,  such  a  new  understanding  could  exert  no  influence  on  their  course  ;  and  it 
is  enough,  in  fact,  to  compare  dates,  in  order  to  convince  ourselves  that  identical  instruc 
tions,  the  most  categorical  from  the  three  governments,  could  not  have  prevented  the 
rupture  consummated  at  Orizaba  by  their  plenipotentiaries,  nor  rendered  measures  instanta 
neously  accomplished. 

I  hasten,  sir,  to  withdraw  from  a  discussion  henceforward  without  purpose  and  into 
•which  I  have  entered  only  with  regret.  Each  government  pronounces  in  full  sovereignty 
on  all  the  questions  in  which  its  dignity  and  its  interests  have  heen  engaged.  It  is  not  our 
.part  to  inquire  into  the  motives  which  may  determine  the  cabinet  of  Madrid  to  adopt  now 
towards  the  government  of  Mexico  a  policy  of  conciliation  and  negotiation  in  which  we 
•cannot  participate.  We  must  state  only,  as  far  as  we  are  concerned,  that  at  the  time  when 
our  plenipotentiaries  separated  from  their  colleagues  of  Orizaba,  on  the  9th  of  April,  no 
Insult  had  been  avenged,  no  injury  repaired.  The  object  of  the  treaty  of  London  had  not 
therefore  been  attained,  and  it  could  not  suit  us  to  accept  the  results,  thus  far  negative  or 
illusory,  of  the  expedition  which  we  had  sent  to  Mexico.  We  regret  to  have  to  accomplish 
.alone  a  duty  of  which  we  would  have  been  happy  arid  proud  to  share  the  dangers  with  the 
glorious  army  of  Spain.  We  will  endeavor  to  prove  equal  to  the  effort ;  we  will  strive  to 
obtain  the  reparation  which  is  due  to  us  ;  we  will  exact  serious  and  lasting  guarantees  for 
the  future.  If,  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  task,  which  is  that  especially  which  we  have 
imposed  on  ourselves,  we  can  be  of  any  assistance  to  the  efforts  which  may  be  made  by  the 
.country  itself  to  emerge  from  the  anarchy  which  devours  it  and  to  reconstitute  itself  on 
new  and  solid  bases,  we  will  not  refuse  our  moral  support  to  such  manifestations  as  may 
appear  to  us  to  merit  our  sympathies.  In  acting  thus,  we  confidently  entertain  the  idea 
that  we  are  serving  the  cause  of  civilization  and  of  our  own  interests,  which  we  do  not 
.  separate,  in  those  distant  regions,  from  those  of  our  allies  who  have  signed  the  treaty  of 
^London  with  us. 

You  are  authorized,  sir,  to  read  this  despatch  to  the  first  secretary  of  state  of  her 
Catholic  Majesty,  and  to  leave  with  him  a  copy  of  it. 

THOU  YEN  EL. 


The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  the  French  Minister  in  Mexico. 

PARIS,  July  8,  1862. 

SIR  :  The  Emperor  has  resolved  on  sending  considerable  re- enforcements  to  Mexico,  and 
.his  Majesty  has  confided  the  command  in  chief  of  his  troops  to  General  Forey.      The 


190  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

re-enforcements  will  not  delay  to  join  the  expeditionary  corps,  but  General  Forey  will 
precede  them  to  Mexico,  his  departure  being  to  take  place  in  a  few  days.  His  Majesty  has 
decided  that  this  general  officer  should  combine  in  his  own  hands  all  the  powers  previously 
conferred  on  Admiral  Juiien  de  la  Gravieie,  and  that  consequently  he  should  be  simul 
taneously  invested  with  the  powers  of  plenipotentiary  and  of  commander-in-chief  of  our 
expedition. 

THOUVENEL. 


7he  Emperor  to  General  Forty. 

FONTAINEBLEAU,  July  3,   1802. 

MY  DEAR  GENERAL:  At  the  moment  when  you  are  about  to  start  for  Mexico,  charged 
with  political  and  military  powers,  I  think  it  useful  to  make  you  acquainted  with  my  ideas. 

The  line  of  conduct  you  will  have  to  follow  is :  1.  To  publish  on  your  arrival  a  procla 
mation,  the  principal  points  of  which  will  be  indicated  to  you.  2.  To  receive  with  the 
greatest  kindness  all  the  Mexicans  who  shall  present  themselves.  3.  Not  to  espouse  the 
quarrel  of  any  parly ;  to  declare  that  everything  is  provisional  so  long  as  the  Mexican 
nation  shall  not  have  expressed  its  opinion  ;  to  show  great  deference  for  religion,  but  at 
the  same  time  to  tranquilize  the  holders  of  national  property.  4.  To  feed,  pay,  and  arm, 
according  to  your  means,  the  Mexican  auxiliary  troops,  and  make  them  play  principal  parts 
in  the  combats.  5.  To  maintain  among  your  own  troops,  as  well  as  among  the  auxiliaries, 
the  most  severe  dir-cipline  ;  to  vigorously  repress  any  act  or  word  insulting  to  the  Mexicans, 
for  the  pride  of  their  character  must  not  be  forgotten,  and  it  is  important  for  the  success 
of  the  enterprise  to  conciliate  the  good  feelings  of  the  people. 

When  you  shall  have  reached  the  city  of  Mexico,  it  is  to  be  desired  that  the  principal 
persons  of  all  political  shades  who  shall  have  embraced  our  cause  should  come  to  an 
understanding  with  you  to  organize  a  provisional  government.  The  government  will 
submit  to  the  Mexican  people  the  question  of  the  political  regime  which  is  to  be  definitively 
established.  An  assembly  will  be  afterwards  elected,  according  to  the  Mexican  laws. 

You  will  aid  the  new  government  to  introduce  into  the  administration,  and  particularly 
into  the  finances,  that  regularity  of  which  France  offers  the  best  model.  For  that  purpose, 
capable  men  will  be  sent  to  second  its  new  organization. 

The  object  to  be  attained  is  not  to  impose  on  the  Mexicans  a  form  of  government  which 
would  be  obnoxiojas,  but  to  assist  them  in  their  efforts  to  establish,  according  to  their  own 
wishes,  a  government  which  may  have  a  chance  of  stability,  and  can  secure  to  France  the 
settlement  of  the  injuries  of  which  she  has  to  complain. 

It  follows,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  if  the  Mexicans  prefer  a  monarchy,  it  is  for  the 
interest  of  France  to  support  them  in  that  path. 

There  will  not  be  wanting  people  who  will  ask  you  why  we  expend  men  and  money  to 
found  a  regular  government  in  Mexico. 

In  the  present  state  of  the  civilization  of  the  world,  the  prosperity  of  America  is  not  a 
matter  of  indifference  to  Europe,  for  it  is  that  country  which  feeds  our  manufactories  and 
gives  an  impulse  to  our  commerce.  We  have  an  interest  in  the  republic  of  the  United 
States  being  powerful  and  prosperous,  but  not  that  she  should  take  possession  of  the  whole 
of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  thence  command  the  Antilles  as  well  as  South  America,  and  be  the 
only  dispenser  of  the  products  of  the  New  World. 

We  now  see,  by  sad  experience,  how  precarious  is  the  lot  of  a  branch  of  manufacture 
which  is  compelled  to  procure  its  raw  material  in  a  single  maiket,  all  the  vicissitudes  of 
which  it  has  to  bear. 

If,  on  the  contrary,  Mexico  maintains  her  independence  and  the  integrity  of  her  territory, 
if  a  stable  government  be  there  constituted  with  the  assistance  of  France,  we  shall  have 
restored  to  the  Latin  race  on  the  other  side  the  Atlantic  all  its  strength  and  its  prestige  ; 
we  shall  have  guaranteed  security  to  ovtr  West  India  colonies  and  to  those  of  Spain  ;  we 
shall  have  established  our  friendly  influence  in  the  centre  of  America  ;  and  that  influence,  by 
creating  immense  markets  for  our  commerce,  will  procure  us  the  raw  materials  indispensable 
for  our  manufactures. 

Mexico  thus  regenerated  will  always  be  well-disposed  towards  us,  not  only  out  of  grati 
tude,  but  also  because  her  interests  will  be  in  accord  with  ours,  and  because  she  will  find 
support  in  her  friendly  relations  with  European  powers. 

At  present,  therefore,  our  military  honor  engaged,  the  necessities  of  our  policy,  the 
interests  of  our  industry  and  commerce,  all  conspire  to  make  it  our  duty  to  march  on 
Mexico,  to  boldly  plant  our  flag  there,  and  to  establish  cither  a  monarchy,  if  not  incom 
patible  with  the  national  feeling,  or  at  least  a  government  which  may  promise  some  stability. 

NAPOLEON. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  191 


The,  French  Minister  in  Mexico  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

ORIZABA,  June  23,  1862. 

Monsieur  le  MINISTRE  :  I  have  received  a  copy  of  a  protest  signed  by  the  French  of  th 
city  of  Mexico  against  the  inflammatory  attacks  and  the  calumnious  accusations  of  which 
the  policy  of  the  Emperor  has  been  the  object  on  the  part  of  some  persons  who  give  them 
selves  out  as  the  interpreters  of  the  French  colony.  This  protest  has  already  been  signed 
by  more  than  three  hundred  Frenchmen,  among  whom  figure  all  that  are  in  any  way 
respectable  among  our  colony  in  the  capital.  I  am  informed  of  two  or  three  hundred 
other  adhesions  which  it  was  impossible  to  collect  for  want  of  time.  I  hasten  to  send  this 
document  to  your  excellency. 

DUBOIS  DE  SALIGNY. 


[Annexed  document.] 
Protest  of  the  members  of  the  French  colony  in  the  city  of  Mexico. 

MEXICO,  May,  1862. 

The  undersigned,  in  obedience  to  the  necessities  of  their  position  in  the  city  of  Mexico, 
and  aware  that  it  does  not  belong  to  them  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  questions  and 
events  in  agitation  at  the  present  time,  have  abstained  from  protesting  publicly  against 
the  injuries,  the  calumnies,  and  the  insensate  outrages  directed  against  the  French  army, 
against  the  government  of  France  and  its  representatives. 

But  what  the  undersigned  consider  as  an  imperious  duty,  is  to  protest  loudly  against  the 
strange  pretensions  of  certain  persons  to  present  themselves  as  the  legitimate  organs  of  the 
sentiments  and  ideas  of  the  French  population;  is,  also,  to 'protest  energetically  against 
certain  publications,  signed  or  not  signed,  called  forth  by  influences  now  well  known,  and 
destined — so  it  is  asserted  in  them — to  enlighten  the  government  of  the  mother  country  in 
regard  to  the  real  interests  of  the  French  colony  in  Mexico. 

The  undersigned,  therefore,  declare  that  they  repudiate  all  sort  of  sympathy  with  the 
ideas  expressed  in  these  writings ;  and  inspired  by  the  sentiment  of  national  dignity,  as 
well  as  by  reason  and  justice,  they  await,  full  of  hope  and  confidence,  the  accomplishment 
of  the  noble  mission  confided  to  the  honor  and  loyalty  of  France. 

[Here  follow  314  signatures  ] 


The  French  Minister  in  Mexico  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

OBIZABA,  July  17,  1862. 

Monsieur  le  MINISTRE  :  I  lose  no  time  informing  you  that  M.  Dastugnes,  one  of  the  most 
estimable  members  of  the  French  colony  at  Mexico,  has  been  recently  carried  off,  at  the 
very  gates  of  the  capital,  by  the  notorious  Cuellar,  long  a  highway  robber,  now  a  colonel 
in  the  troops  of  Juarez,  who  would  have  threatened  our  countryman  to  shoot  him  unless 
he  paid  a  ransom  fixed  at  first  at  2,000  piastres,  subsequently  at  5,000.  Here  is  what  has 
been  written  to  me  on  this  subject  : 

"  I  am  authorized  to  bring  to  your  knowledge  a  new  and  odious  outrage  committed  on 
the  person  of  one  of  our  countrymen.  M.  P.  Dastugnes,  the  French  citizen  who  has  been 
several  times  robbed  already,  as  well  by  the  liberal  as  by  the  reactionary  bands,  and  whose 
claims  appear  in  the  archives  of  the  imperial  legation,  was  seized  some  eight  days  ago  at 
some  leagues  from  the  city  of  Mexico  and  carried  off  prisoner  by  Cuellar. 

"  A  sum  of  2,000  piastres  was  first  demanded  for  his  liberation,  a  sum  which  it  is  utterly 
impossible  for  him  to  pay  ;  some  days  afterwards  the  ransom  was  raised  to  5,000  piastres, 
a  threat  to  shoot  him  if  the  amount  stipulated  was  not  remitted  within  a  very  short  period. 
His  family  is  ignorant  whether  these  threats  have  been  carried  into  execution,  though 
there  is  reason  to  fear  that  they  have,  for  these  bands  a  short  time  ago  hung  several  per 
sons  who  were  unable  to  pay  the  wretches. 

"  It  has  seemed  proper  to  inform  you  of  this  new  outrage  committed  at  the  gates  of 
Mexico.  Although  in  the  present  state  of  things  your  protection  is  powerless  for  us,  it  is 
well  that  you  should  know  that  this  unfortunate  government  is  powerless  to  perform  the 
first  duty  imposed  on  every  government  worthy  of  that  name,  that  of  protecting  persons 
and  property.  And  yet  it  proclaims  itself  the  representative  of  progress,  the  defender  of 
guarantees,  of  liberty,  of  democracy. 


192  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

"Indeed,  we  feel  the  blush  rise  to  our  cheek  at  the  idea  that  people  allow  themselves 
to  be  carried  away  by  these  senseless  words,  especially  when  they  are  sincerely  devoted  to 
the  cultivation  of  liberal  ideas.  Experience  now  is  precise  and  positive.  What  individual 
is  there  of  the  slightest  honor  and  intelligence  who  docs  not  understand  that  there  is  no 
salvation,  possible  for  Mexico  except  by  means  of  intervention  vigorously  conducted,  which 
may  organize  this  country,  now  fallen  into  dissolution,  and  rescue  it  from  the  miserable 
condition  in  which  it  is  now  deeply  buried  ?  We  know  that  you  have  thus  understood  the 
question,  and  what  efforts  you  have  made  and  are  making  to  produce  a  result  which  may 
assure  at  the  same  time  the  future  of  the  country  and  that  of  your  countrymen,  not  allowing 
yourself  to  be  moved  by  the  nameless  injuries  and  outrages  of  which  you  are  the  object, 
and  which  are  for  you  a  source  of  honor  at  the  very  time  that  they  degrade  the  stupid 
government  which  tolerates  them,  if  it  does  not  even  excite  them.  For  the  rest,  I  believe 
I  can  affirm  that  these  outrages  have  excited  the  disgust  of  the  immense  majority  of  the 
French  population,  and  that  they  await  the  moment  of  being  able  to  manifest  the  senti 
ments  of  gratitude  with  which  they  are  animated  towards  you.  You  have  been  already 
enabled  to  know  their  sentiments  in  reading  the  protest  of  which  you  will  probably  have 
received  a  copy,  and  which  is  now  signed  with  more  than  500  signatures.  It  is  a  peremp 
tory  reply  to  the  proceedings  of  some  Frenchmen,  very  limited  in  number,  who  would 
willingly  sacrifice  to  their  personal  interests  the  interests  and  future  of  the  whole  French 
population  in  Mexico.  This  population  has  faith  in  you,  Monsieur  le  Ministre,  and  firmly 
trusts  that  the  French  government  will  accomplish  in  its  entire  extent  the  mission  of 
justice  and  humanity  which  it  has  commenced." 

This  letter  renders  any  reflections  on  my  part  entirely  superfluous. 

DUBOI3  DE  SALIGNY. 


The  French  Minister  in  Mexico  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

ORIZABA,  August  20,  1862. 

Monsieur  le  MINISTRE  :  In  spite  of  the  denials  and  threats  resorted  to  by  the  government 
to  terrify  the  French  of  the  capital,  new  signatures  have  been  added  to  the  protest  of  our 
countrymen  enclosed  to  you  in  my  despatch  of  June  23  ;  a  new  list  which  has  reached  me, 
and  which  I  have  the  honor  herewith  to  transmit  to  you,  increases  to  450  the  number  of 
adhesions  received  up  to  the  22d  of  July. 

DUBOIS  DE  SALIGNY. 


The  French  Mtrdsler  in  Mexico  to  the  Minuter  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

ORIZABA,  October  2,  1862. 

Monsieur  le  MIXISTRE  :  I  wrote  some  time  ago  to  your  excellency  that  the  government 
of  Juarez,  seriously  excited  by  the  protest  spontaneously  signed  by  the  French  of  the  capital, 
had  set  its  police  at  work  to  prevent  the  circulation  of  the  list  and  the  addition  of  new 
signatures.  A  person  who  has  recently  arrived  from  the  city  of  Mexico  advises  me  of 
another  manoeuvre  of  the  administration.  For  some  time  past  the  agents  of  government 
have  been  presenting  themselves  before  our  countrymen  in  order  to  summon  them  to  declare 
categorically,  and  in  writing,  whether  they  are  for  or  against  the  intervention,  not  leaving 
them  in  ignorance  of  the  fact  that  on  this  declaration  on  their  part  depended  the  question 
of  knowing  whether  they  should  be  expelled  or  not  from  the  territory  of  the  republic. 
This  question  of  the  expulsion  of  the  French  is,  moreover,  the  order  of  the  day  among  the 
journals  of  Juarez,  as  also  in  the  clubs  and  patriotic  juntas  organized  by  the  police  who 
proclaim  themselves  almost  unanimously  for  the  affirmative. 

DUBOIS  DE  SALIGNY. 


The  French  Minister  in  Mexico  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

ORIZABA,  October  6,  1862. 

I  have  heretofore  infoimed  your  excellency  that  the  journals  of  the  government  and  the 
patriotic  juntas  of  the  city  of  Mexico  loudly  demanded  that  all  the  French  who  did  not 
publicly  declare  against  the  French  intervention  should  be  expelled,  and  that  their  goods 
should  be  confiscated.  A  sheet  established  by  Juarez  to  excite  the  evil  passions  of  the 
masses,  La  Cuchara,  goes  still  further  ;  it  desires  to  have  all  our  countrymen  constrained, 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  193 

under  pain  of  expulsion,  not  only  to  place  their  fortunes  at  the  disposal  of  Juarez,  but  to 
take  up  arms  to  combat,  under  the  command  of  Mexican  officers,  the  flag  of  their  country. 
In  the  fear  that  certain  persons  might  be  tempted  to  cry  out  at  this  as  exaggeration,  I 
annex  here  the  article  of  that  journal  which  proposes  the  measure  as  a  very  simple  thing. 

DUBOIS  D.E  SALIGNY. 


The  French  Minister  in  Mexico  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

ORIZABA,  October  8,  1862. 

The  Monitor  Republicano  of  the  3d  of  October  speaks  of  arrests  that  have  been  made  in 
the  capital  among  Mexicans  and  French.  Chief  among  the  former  are  mentioned  the 
three  generals  Santiago,  Miguel  Blanco,  and  Guitian,  as  well  as  several  other  persons 
belonging  to  the  first  classes  of  society.  As  to  the  French,  the  number  of  those  thrown 
into  prison  by  Juarez  is,  it  is  said,  quite  considerable,  and  comprises  some  who  have  been 
his  partisans.  Many  persons  here  seem  to  fear  that  extreme  acts  of  violence  may  be  resorted 
to  against  our  unfortunate  fellow-countrymen. 

DUBOIS  DE  SALIGNY. 


The  French  Minister  in  Mexico  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

ORIZABA,  October  11,  1862. 

MONSIEUR  LE  MINISTRB:  I  hasten  to  transmit  to  you  such  items  of  information  from  the 
city  of  Mexico  as  are  worthy  of  credit.  In  the  evening  of  September  16,  the  festival  day 
of  independence,  sixteen  houses  inhabited  by  French  were  assailed  with  stones  by  bands  of 
ruffians,  shouting  cries  of  "  Death  to  them !"  Windows,  doors,  and  fronts  of  shops  were 
broken,  and  two  Frenchmen  were  wounded.  No  measures  were  taken  to  prevent  these 
disorders,  which,  however,  might  have  been  easily  expected,  since  previously,  on  the  night 
of  the  15th,  such  cries  had  been  raised. 

We  cannot  in  any  way  regard  these  disorders  as  a  manifestation  of  public  opinion. 
Two  bands  of  two  or  three  hundred  individuals  at  most,  composed  of  children,  mob-leaders, 
and  that  rabble  which  it  is  always  so  easy  to  collect  in  a  large  city,  will  never  prove  the 
spontaneous  and  irresistible  enthusiasm  of  a  population  of  two  hundred  thousand  souls. 
It  has  required  the  daily  harangues  of  the  newspapers  and  clubs,  the  incendiary  speeches 
delivered  on  the  evening  of  the  15th  in  the  theatres,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  16th  at 
the  Alameda,  and  finally  the  excitement  of  the  festival,  to  arrive  at  this  sad  result.  It  has 
required  especially  the  carelessness  or  the  ill-will  of  the  administration,  which,  with  a 
garrison,  of  two  or  three  thousand  men  and  a  strong  police,  could  not  or  would  not  main 
tain  order,  when  a  hundred  men  properly  employed  would  have  sufficed  for  the  purpose. 

What  the  Mexican  government,  although  not  disposed  to  recoil  from  any  measures,  be 
they  as  tyrannical  or  as  odious  as  they  may,  cannot  procure  for  itself,  is  the  money  neces 
sary  for  the  support  of  troops  and  the  purchase  of  materials  indispensable  for  the  execution 
of  works  of  defence.  The  people  reduced  to  the  most  frightful  misery,  laboring  under 
the  absolute  impossibility  of  paying  the  forced  loans  with  which  they  crush  them  down 
every  day,  their  property  is  seized  and  exposed  to  sale  ;  but  no  purchasers  present  them 
selves.  Then  a  resolution  is  adopted  to  issue  about  fiften  millions  of  piasters  in  paper 
money  having  compulsory  circulation.  The  question  is  asked,  What  do  the  representatives 
of  England  and  the  United  States  intend  to  do  in  presence  of  this  measure  which  so 
seriously  affects  the  English  and  the  Americans  ? 

The  question  was  always  agitated  as  to  whether  all  our  countrymen  should  be  expelled 
in  a  body  from  the  territory  of  the  republic.  But  it  has  been  decided  to  expel  those  who 
were  arrested  at  the  commencement  of  this  month.  They  were  to  be  conveyed  to  Aca- 
pulco,  on  the  Pacific.  It  is  to  be  feared  that,  for  many  among  them  at  least,  expulsion 
under  such  circumstances  may  be  equivalent  to  a  condemnation  to  death. 

DUBOIS  DE  SALIGNY. 


The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  the  French  Ambasa..  dor  at  Madrid. 

PARIS,  December  22,  1862. 

SIR  :  I  have  received  the  despatches  which  you  have  done  me  the  honor  to  write  to  me, 
and  I  have  laid  before  the  Emperor  those  in  which  you  give  me  an  account  of  the  discus 
sion  which  took  place  in  the  Spanish  senate  in  reference  to  the  affairs  in  Mexico. 
H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 13 


194  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

The  speech  delivered  by  the  minister  of  state  of  her  Catholic  Majesty  in  that  discussion 
contains,  in  regard  to  the  events  that  have  occurred  in  Mexico  since  the  signing  of  the 
treaty  of  London,  assertions  and  conclusions  which  it  will  not  behoove  us,  perhaps,  to  leave 
unanswered.  I  might  at  present  confine  myself  to  saying  that  the  explanations  furnished 
by  his  excellency  M.  Billault  to  the  legislative  body,  and  since  developed  in  the  corre 
spondence  of  my  predecessor,  retain  all  their  effect  in  the  eyes  of  the  Emperor's  govern 
ment ;  and  permit  me,  before  replying  to  the  speech  of  M.  Calderon  Collantes,  to  wait  until 
the  result  of  the  debates  entered  upon  in  the  Cortes  has  indicated  the  necessity  of  it  to  me. 

There  is  one  point,  however,  which  appears  to  me  to  call  forth  on  my  part  an  immediate 
explanation  ;  I  mean  the  exchange  of  ideas  which  has  taken  place  between  the  Marquis  of 
Havana  and  myself  in  reference  to  the  eventual  return  of  Spain  to  a  community  of  action 
with  France,  and  I  also  refer  to  the  notes  exchanged  between  us,  and  in  which  these  ideas 
are  expressed.  The  words  uttered  by  the  minister  of  state  in  regard  to  this  diplomatic 
incident  have  been  variously  repeated,  and,  as  far  as  regards  the  opinion  expressed  by  him 
on  the  dispositions  of  the  two  cabinets,  and  on  the  import  of  the  engagements  entered 
into,  there  has  resulted  at  least  an  obscurity  which  it  is  our  common  interest  to  dispel. 
The  affairs  of  Mexico  have  been  the  occasion  of  confusion  and  misunderstanding  between 
us  and  the  Queen's  government  too  frequent  not  to  compel  me  to  be  as  precise  and  specific 
as  possible  ia  rendering  the  terms  of  the  intercommunications  in  question,  and  the  worth 
of  the  assurances  which  have  been  the  consequences  of  them.  M.  Calderon  Collantes, 
moreover,  not  having  deemed  it  proper  to  lay  before  the  Cortes  the  written  documents  of 
this  negotiation,  I  believe  it  my  duty  to  annex  them  to  this  despatch,  although  they  be 
all  well  known  to  you  already,  accompanying  them  with  such  explanations  as  seem  proper 
to  be  made. 

Upon  my  entrance  into  the  ministry,  the  Marquis  of  Havana,  inspired  with  that  cordiality 
of  sentiment  which  he  has  invariably  manifested  during  the  whole  course  of  his  mission, 
came  to  acquaint  me  with  the  desire  of  his  government  to  re-establish  with  us,  in  reference 
to  the  affairs  of  Mexico,  the  accord  unfortunately  broken,  and  to  inquire  into  the  condi 
tions  6f  the  future  co-operation  of  the  two  powers.  In  his  opinion  the  treaty  of  London 
was  not  annulled  by  the  dissension  that  arose  between  the  parties  signing  it ;  it  was  simply 
suspended  ;  the  end  was  not  obtained.  To  the  exclusion  of  all  particular  advantages,  each 
of  the  three  powers  was  always  entitled  to  seek  the  satisfaction  demanded  for  the  injuries 
which  it  had  received,  the  indemnities  due  for  the  damages  sustained  by  its  citizens,  and 
guarantees  for  the  future.  France  would  certainly  accomplish,  to  her  glory,  the  work  of 
war  which  henceforward  she  supported  alone ;  but  the  assistance  of  Spain  would  become 
necessary  to  her,  or  very  useful,  at  least,  to  pacify  that  country  and  conclude  a  solid  peace, 
from  which  the  interests  of  none  of  the  powers  that  signed  the  treaty  of  London  would 
have  to  suffer.  If,  to  obtain  these  results,  the  occupation  of  the  capital  or  of  some  other 
points  of  Mexico  was  judged  indispensable,  the  Queen's  government  was  ready  to  come  to 
an  understanding  with  that  of  the  Emperor  in  order  to  determine  the  number  of  troops  to 
be  furnished,  and  to  indicate  the  way  in  which  they  should  be  employed. 

These  considerations,  developed  by  the  ambassador  of  Spain,  were  resumed  in  a  note 
which  he  addressed  to  me  in  the  course  of  the  month  of  October,  and  which  you  will  find 
hereunto  annexed,  under  the  designation  of  No.  1. 

I  was  enabled  to  dispense  with  entering  on  any  discussion  with  the  Marquis  of  Havana 
in  reference  to  anterior  events,  to  which  I  had  personally  remained  a  stranger,  and  I  have 
been  fortunate  enough,  under  these  circumstances,  to  avoid  any  recrimination  with  him  in 
regard  to  the  past.  I  had  found,  as  I  said  to  him,  France  alone  at  war  with  Mexico.  The 
question  of  inquiring  whether  the  treaty  which  had  regulated  the  co-operation  of  the  three 
powers  was  yet  in  force,  when  two  of  them  had  abandoned  the  enterprise  commenced  in 
common,  appeared  to  me  to  have  become  a  purely  theoretic  investigation,  and  without 
any  practical  application  to  the  circumstances.  We  were  fully  impressed  with  the  import 
ance  of  the  moral  and  material  assistance  which  Spain  would  bring  in  a  common  work, 
but  accomplished  facts  had  imposed  a  position  upon  us  which  we  had  accepted,  and  which 
was  for  the  moment  governed  by  the  interests  of  our  military  dignity  and  honor.  We  did 
not,  for  the  rest,  contest  the  right  of  either  Spain  or  England  to  follow  up  their  claims ; 
we  thought,  whilst  congratulating  ourselves  for  it,  that  the  expedition  with  which  we 
found  ourselves  alone  charged  would  turn  to  their  advantage,  and  we  would  be  happy, 
when  the  proper  time  arrived,  to  come  to  an  undei standing  with  our  allies,  in  order  to 
consolidate  the  results.  I  committed  these  explanations  to  an  unofficial  note  which  I 
transmitted  to  the  Marquis  of  Havana  on  the  27th  of  October,  (annexed  document,  No.  2,) 
in  repty  to  that  which  he  had  addressed  to  me. 

Always  anxious  to  efface  any  traces  which  might  have  been  left  in  our  relations  with 
Spain  by  the  dissensions  that  separated  us  in  Mexico,  the  Marquis  of  Havana  nevertheless 
persisted  with  the  most  honorable  solicitude  to  devise  some  means  for  the  renewal  of  the 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  195 

good  understanding  of  which  his  high  intelligence  of  the  best  interests  of  his  country 
caused  him  to  appreciate  the  value.  He  did  not  cease  to  have  interviews  with  me  on  this 
subject  full  of  mutual  confidence. 

The  ambassador  of  Spain  thought  that  it  would  be  desirable  that  plenipotentiaries  should 
be  nominated  by  Spain  and  England  before  the  operations  of  our  army  were^accomplished  ; 
moreover,  he  judged  it  useful  to  suspend  for  the  present  the  mode  of  procedure  for  the 
establishment  of  a  national  government  in  Mexico,  and  he  suggested  a  system  already  in 
dicated  by  his  government  in  1860.  The  Marquis  of  Havana  desired  to  communicate  to 
me  a  draught  of  an  unofficial  note  which  he  had  prepared  on  these  bases.  I  had  to  decline 
these  new  proposals,  and  if  I  mention  them  now,  though  they  did  not  produce  any  result, 
it  is  because  one  of  the  accounts  of  the  part  of  the  speech  of  M.  Calderon  Collantes,  w  dch 
refers  to  those  negotiations,  would  tend  to  make  us  suppose  that  we  had  actually  entered 
into  engagements  analogous  to  those  which  the  Marquis  of  Havana  proposed  to  us,  whilst 
it  is  precisely  for  not  having  entered  into  such  an  engagement  that  I  requested  the  ambas 
sador  of  Spain  to  consider  as  not  sent  the  note  which  he  had  desired  to  submit  to  me  pre 
liminarily.  I  had  in  fact  to  remind  him  of  the  rights  which  accrued  to  us  from  our  state 
of  war  ;  we  could  not  admit  any  control  or  any  restriction  in  the  exercise  which  we  made 
of  those  rights.  We  were  carrying  on  war  ;  peace  should  result  from  it ;  when  and  how  I 
could  not  tell  him.  At  the  distance  at  which  we  were  from  the  scene  of  events,  I  could 
not  anticipate  them  by  hypothetical  calculations.  I  could  still  less  bind  myself  by  engage 
ments  which  accomplished  facts  in  Mexico  might,  perhaps,  have  weakened  before  they  were 
known  there.  Moreover,  there  was  no  question  for  us  about  founding  and  constituting  a 
government,  and  the  proposition  even  of  the  Marquis  of  Havana  seemed  to  me,  moreover,, 
to  take  too  little  account  of  the  part  which  it  belongs  to  the  Mexicans  to  act  in  such  a 
work.  We  had  no  need  of  returning  to  what  we  had  so  often  repeated,  of  our  desire  to* 
see  that  country  profit  by  the  crisis  through  which  it  was  passing  in  order  to  make  its  regen 
eration  arise  from  it,  and  of  our  good  will  to  aid  it  in  the  efforts  which  it  might  make  im 
order  to  attain  that  object ;  but  the  work  of  its  salvation  is  above  all  its  own  ;  it  is  not  ours.. 
If  our  troops  enter  the  city  of  Mexico  in  triumph,  we  know  not  what  influence  that  event  may 
have  on  the  country  ;  we  do  not  wish  to  exclude  any  combination  in  advance,  nor  to  restrict 
the  use  which  the  Mexican  nation  may  be  able  to  make  of  its  sovereign  rights ;  if  the 
government,  whatever  it  may  be,  which  it  may  choose  to  select,  offers  us  sufficient  guaran 
tees,  our  clearest  interests  will  counsel  us  to  labor  for  its  consolidation.  Whatever  may 
happen,- Mexico  will  never  be  for  us  either  a  conquest  or  a  colony  ;  our  interests  there  will 
consequently  never  be  opposed  to  those  of  Spain  or  England.  We  could,  therefore,  only 
receive  with  eagerness  their  concurrence,  of  which  we  highly  appreciate  the  potent  efficacy, 
in  order  to  consolidate  a  state  of  things  which  might  assure  us  all  the  guarantees  claimed 
on  the  same  grounds  by  the  interests  of  all  the  powers. 

I  added,  finally,  that  before  resuming  with  our  allies  of  the  treaty  of  London  a  negotia 
tion  destined  to  regulate  a  new  understanding,  it  was  necessary  to  be  assured  of  the  dispo 
sition  of  the  English  cabinet,  and  that  I  had  no  indication  up  to  that  time  to  authorize 
me  to  judge  of  it  in  advance. 

The  ambassador  of  Spain  was  eager  to  take  note  of  these  considerations,  and  he  addressed 
to  me,  on  the  29th  of  November,  the  note  hereunto  annexed  under  the  designation  of  No. 
3,  in  which  he  expressed  to  me  a  desire  to  see  the  Emperor's  government  indicate  the  time 
and  the  means  which  appeared  to  it  most  proper  to  arrive  at  such  an  agreement.  I  has 
tened  to  reply  to  the  Marquis  of  Havana  on  the  1st  of  December,  (annexed  document  No. 
4,)  •  "  That  as  soon  as  the  present  phase  of  military  operations  should  be  terminated,  the 
imperial  government  would  be  disposed  to  invite  the  two  powers  that  signed  with  it  the 
treaty  of  London  to  send  to  Mexico  plenipotentiaries  specially  appointed  for  this  purpose 
(ad  hoc,)  who  had  not  been  engaged  in  the  previous  transactions,  in  order  to  advise  in  con 
cert  upon  the  means  of  consolidating  a  state  of  affairs  in  Mexico  that  might  insure  the 
prosperity  of  the  country  and  offer  guarantees  of  security  to  the  interests  of  foreign  na 
tions."  I  added  that  the  Emperor's  government  would  consider  the  declarations  contained 
in  the  present  note  as  final,  as  soon  as  the  governments  of  Spain  and  England  had  given 
their  adherence  to  them. 

Such,  sir,  is  the  last  act  of  that  negotiation,  the  various  incidents  of  which  it  has  ap 
peared  useful  to  me  to  repeat,  before  setting  forth  the  conclusion  to  be  derived  from  them, 
and  in  order  the  better  to  illustrate  their  character  and  value.  It  is  my  duty,  in  conclu 
sion,  to  say  that  the  ambassador  of  Spain  brought  to  the  negotiation  a  mind  entirely  free 
from  prejudice,  and  a  frankness  and  straightforwardness  of  purpose  to  which  I  am  highly 
pleased  to  be  here  able  to  render  homage. 

DROUYN  DE  LHUYS. 


196  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


[Annexed  Document  No.  1.] 

Unofficial  note  transmitted  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  by  his  Excellency  the  Marquis  of  Havana, 

ambassador  of  Spain  at  Paris. 

OCTOBER,  1862. 

The  government  of  her  Catholic  Majesty  has  declared  on  several  occasions  that  it  did 
not  consider  the  treaty  of  London  of  the  date  of  October  31,  1861,  as  annulled,  but  only 
as  suspended,  and  that,  in  its  opinion,  it  could  be  replaced  in  full  force  by  the  agreement 
of  the  powers  which  had  signed  it. 

The  purpose  of  the  treaty  was  to  obtain  the  satisfaction  due  for  the  offences  committed 
against  the  contracting  governments,  indemnity  for  the  wrongs  endured  by  their  subjects, 
and,  as  far  as  possible,  some  guarantee  that  similar  acts  should  not  be  repeated  in  future. 

No  one  of  these  results  has  yet  been  obtained  ;  the  disagreement  supervening  between 
the  plenipotentiaries  and  among  the  chiefs  of  the  expedition  arrested  their  course,  just  at 
the  very  moment  when  that  expedition  seemed  in  the  way  of  attaining  the  end  which  the 
powers  had  proposed  to  themselves. 

Since  then  the  French  government  pursues  its  task  alone.  Without  the  slightest  doubt, 
it  will  triumph  over  all  armed  resistance  that  it  may  encounter  ;  nevertheless  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  obstacles  of  another  nature  my  prevent  it  from  causing  the  Mexican  republic  to 
enter  on  a  solid  and  stable  career,  which,  by  insuring  internal  order,  may  externally  pre 
sent  a  guarantee  for  the  execution  of  any  engagements  entered  into  by  its  government ; 
for  this  latter,  notwithstanding  all  the  liberty  allowed  to  the  country  in  order  to  reconsti 
tute  itself,  might  be  considered  as  imposed  by  France. 

The  community  of  action  stipulated  by  the  treaty  of  London  would  have  avoided  this 
grave  inconvenience,  seeing  that  the  three  powers  which  signed  that  treaty  had  engaged 
themselves,  on  the  one  part,  to  abstain  from  all  intervention  in  the  internal  affairs  of  Mex 
ico  calculated  to  infringe  on  the  rights  of  the  Mexican  nation  to  choose  the  form  of  gov 
ernment  which  suited  it,  and  on  the  other,  not  to  seek  for  any  territorial  acquisitions  or 
special  advantages  for  themselves 

Taking  the  existence  of  the  treaty  of  London  as  a  starting  point,  the  contracting  powers 
would  have  to  settle  the  amount  of  the  claims  which  they  have  to  exact  from  the  Mexican 
government,  and  the  guarantees  which  the  latter  would  have  to  give  to  insure  the  execu 
tion  of  its  engagements  and  to  avoid  the  repetition  of  former  offences.  It  is  evident,  more 
over,  that  if  the  allied  governments  ought  to  remain  free  to  decide  on  the  claims  which 
they  will  judge  it  their  duty  to  maintain,  it  would  nevertheless  be  proper  not  to  place 
Mexico  in  a  state  of  impossibility  to  acquit  herself  of  the  engagements  by  which  she  may 
have  bound  herself.  Moreover,  this  would  be  no  more  than  adhering  to  the  spirit  of  the 
treaty  of  London,  which  was  not  signed  for  the  purpose  of  crushing  out  Mexican  nation 
ality,  but  rather,  on  the  contrary,  to  aid  it  to  recover  from  the  state  of  anarchy  in  which 
the  country  has  been  so  long  plunged. 

This  suffices  to  explain  the  ideas  of  the  government  of  her  Catholic  Majesty  ;  however, 
it  is  not  useless  to  add  that  if,  in  order  to  obtain  the  results  indicated,  the  temporary  occu 
pation  of  the  capital  of  the  republic  or  of  other  points  of  its  territory  was  judged  neces 
sary,  the  Queen's  government  would  find  itself  ready  to  enter  into  a  special  agreement, 
having  for  its  end  to  fix  the  forces  which  each  power  might  have  to  send  thither  and  the 
posts  which  they  should  have  to  occupy. 

Under  the  influence  of  these  ideas,  her  Catholic  Majesty's  government  is  disposed  to  take 
part  in  any  new  conferences  destined  to  attain  the  object  which  the  three  powers  proposed 
to  themselves  by  the  treaty  of  the  31st  of  October  last. 

The  Emperor's  government,  if  it  shares  in  this  way  of  thinking,  may  impart  these  ideas 
to  the  cabinet  of  her  Britannic  Majesty. 


[Annexed  Document  No.  2.] 
Unofficial  Note  addressed  to  the  Spanish  Ambassador  by  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

OCTOBER  29,  1862. 

The  minister  of  foreign  affairs  has  examined  with  the  most  serious  attention  the  un 
official  note  which  the  ambassador  of  Spain  has  done  me  the  honor  of  transmitting  to  me 
in  reference  to  the  affairs  of  Mexico. 

After  having  reviewed  the  essential  objects  which  the  three  powers  proposed  to  them 
selves  to  realize,  when  signing  the  treaty  of  October  31,  1861,  at  London,  the  note  ex- 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  197 

presses  regret  that  the  course  of  the  expedition  sent  to  Mexico  should  have  been  arrested 
in  consequence  of  the  disagreement  supervening  between  the  plenipotentiaries  and  the 
respective  commanders  at  the  very  moment  that  the  object  was  about  to  be  attained. 

His  imperial  Majesty's  minister  cannot  but  share  this  regret,  but,  without  desiring  to 
re-enter  here  on  a  retrospective  discussion  which  has  already  been  sufficiently  elucidated 
by  the  correspondence  of  his  predecessor,  he  will  confine  himself  to  expressing,  in  his  turn, 
the  conviction  that  the  Emperor's  government  has  faithfully  interpreted  the  treaty  of 
October  31,  and  that,  if  it  has  thought  proper  to  act  alone  where  it  had  no  more  ardent 
desire  than  that  of  operating  in  concert  with  its  allies,  it  is  because  it  has  not  depended 
upon  it  to  conciliate  the  divergencies  which  have  been  produced,  and  because  it  has 
judged  that  the  honor  of  its  flag  and  the  care  of  its  interests  imposed  on  it  the  obligation 
of  continuing  alone  the  work  on  which  it  has  entered. 

It  appears  from  the  note  of  his  Excellency  the  Marquis  of  Havana  that  the  government 
of  her  Catholic  Majesty  would  be  disposed  now  to  come  to  an  understanding  with  those  of 
France  and  England,  for  the  purpose  of  determining,  in  special  conferences,  the  measures 
which  it  might  be  opportune  to  adopt  in  concert,  and  the  number  of  troops  which  each 
one  of  the  powers  should  have  to  furnish  in  case  the  temporary  occupation  of  the  city  of 
Mexico  or  of  other  points  in  the  country  should  be  judged  necessary  to  produce  the 
results  indicated  by  the  treaty  of  1860. 

The  Emperor's  government  appreciates,  as  becomes  it,  those  suggestions,  and  his  Majes 
ty's  minister  of  foreign  affairs  is  pleased  to  acknowledge  the  good  intentions  which 
dictated  them.  Impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  moral  and  material  support  of  its 
allies,  it  cannot,  however,  lose  sight  of  the  state  of  affairs  which  accomplished  facts  have 
imposed  upon  it.  Very  far,  moreover,  from  wishing,  even  in  the  most  indirect  manner,  to 
contest  the  right  of  Spain  or  England  to  pursue  their  legitimate  claims  upon  Mexico,  it 
entertains  the  confidence,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  expedition,  of  which,  by  force  of  cir 
cumstances,  it  now  finds  itself  alone  compelled  to  bear  the  burden,  will  turn  to  the  ad 
vantage  of  those  two  powers  at  the  same  time  as  to  its  own.  It  looks  with  the  sincerest 
wishes  for  the  moment  when,  the  efforts  of  its  arms  having  obtained  the  success  which  it 
would  have  been  happy  to  pursue  in  common  with  its  allies,  it  will  be  permitted  to  re 
sume  serious  negotiations  with  Mexico,  to  insure,  with  complete  satisfaction  of  pending 
claims,  the  security  which  up  to  this  time  has  been  wanting  to  the  persons  and  property  of 
foreigners  resident  in  that  country,  and  to  accomplish,  in  fine,  in  a  new  understanding 
with  Spain  and  England,  the  enterprise  commenced  in  common,  and  to  the  success  of 
which  their  cordial  co-operation  can  so  powerfully  contribute. 


[Annexed  Document  No.  3.] 
Unofficial  note  transmitted  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  by  the  Spanish  Ambassador. 

NOVEMBER  29,  1862. 

In  the  unofficial  note  concerning  the  affairs  of  Mexico,  addressed  to  the  ambassador  of 
her  Catholic  Majesty,  under  date  of  the  29th  of  October  last,  by  the  minister  of  foreign 
affairs,  his  excellency  declared  that  if,  by  the  force  of  accomplished  facts,  France  has 
found  herself  under  the  necessity  of  pursuing  alone  the  expedition  commenced  in  common, 
she  did  not  the  less  long  most  ardently  for  the  moment  when  the  efforts  of  her  arms 
would  permit  the  final  accomplishment  of  the  enterprise,  under  a  new  understanding,  t«>r 
the  success  of  which  enterprise  the  cordial  co-operation  of  the  powers  that  signed  the 
treaty  of  London  can  so  powerfully  contribute. 

In  thus  expressing  himself  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  gives  it  to  be  understood  that, 
in  his  opinion,  it  would  be  difficult  to  arrive  at  a  new  agreement  before  the  French  troops 
entered  the  capital  of  the  Mexican  republic. 

Without  wishing  to  dispute  the  validity  of  this  opinion,  her  Catholic  Majesty's  ambas 
sador  thinks  that  it  would  be  desirable  to  see  the  Emperor's  government  now  indicate  the 
time  and  the  means  which  would  appear  to  it  the  most  suitable  to  come  to  that  agree 
ment. 

It  is  not  solely  in  the  interest  of  the  Spanish  claims  in  Mexico  that  the  ambassador  of 
Spain  proposes  to  the  Emperor's  government  to  make  this  declaration  ;  he  thinks  that  its 
advantages  would  make  themselves  more  especially  felt  by  the  confidence  which  it  would 
be  destined  to  inspire  into  the  people  of  the  republic,  who  would  recognize,  by  this  act, 
that  the  Emperor's  government  has  not  ceased  to  consider  as  still  in  force  the  declaration 
contained  in  Article  2  of  the  treaty  of  London,  in  accordance  with  which  the  powers 
signing  it  should  abstain  from  exercising  their  influence  on  the  right  of  the  Mexicans  to 
choose  and  freely  constitute  the  form  of  their  government. 


198  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

[Annexed  Document  No.  4.] 
Unofficial  note  transmitted  to  the  Spanish  Ambassador  by  Hie  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

DECEMBER  1,  1862. 

His  excellency  the  ambassador  of  Spain,  in  a  note  of  the  29th  of  November  last,  after 
having  referred  to  the  conciliatory  disposition  manifested  by  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs 
of  France  on  the  subject  of  the  eventual  re- establishment  of  a  mutual  understanding  in 
regard  to  the  affairs  of  Mexico  as  soon  as  circumstances  will  allow  it,  expresses  the  desire 
that  the  Emperor's  government  should  now  indicate  the  time  and  the  means  which  would 
appear  to  it  the  most  proper  to  come  to  this  agreement.  It  is  not  solely  in  the  interest  of 
the  Spanish  claims  that  the  Marquis  of  Havana  proposes  to  make  this  declaration.  Accord 
ing  to  his  excellency,  the  advantages  of  it  would  make  themselves  more  especially  felt  by 
the  confidence  which  it  would  inspire  into  the  Mexican  people,  who  would  by  this  fact 
recognize  that  the  Emperor's  government  has  not  ceased  to  consider  as  yet  in  force  the 
principle  laid  down  in  Article  2  of  the  treaty  of  London.  * 

In  spite  of  the  change  which  has  been  produced  in  the  attitude  and  in  the  conduct  of  his 
allies  the  Emperor  has  not  modified  his  first  intentions.  So  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  does 
not  hesitate  to  reply  to  his  excellency  the  ambassador  of  her  Catholic  Majesty,  that  as 
soon  as  the  phase  of  military  operations  shall  be  terminated,  the  imperial  government  will 
be  disposed  to  invite  the  two  powers  that  signed  with  it  the  aforesaid  treaty  to  send  to 
Mexico  plenipotentiaries  named  for  that  especial  purpose,  (ad  hoc,)  and  who  have  not  been 
engaged  in  any  of  the  previous  transactions,  to  advise  in  concert  on  the  means  of  consoli 
dating  in  Mexico  a  state  of  things  which  may  insure  the  prosperity  of  the  country,  and 
offer  guarantees  of  security  to  the  interests  of  foreign  nations. 

As  to  the  agreement  on  the  claims  which  the  three  powers  ought  to  exact  from  Mexico, 
it  is  understood  that  those  of  Spain  and  England  cannot  be  any  obstacle  to  the  demands 
which  France  will  have  to  present  in  consequence  of  the  war  which  she  has  seen  herself 
obliged  to  maintain. 

The  Emperor's  government  will  consider  the  declarations  contained  in  the  present  note 
as  final  as  soon  as  the  governments  of  Spain  and  England  shall  have  given  their  adherence 
to  them. 


The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  the  French  Ambassador  at  Madrid. 

PARIS,  December  23,  1862. 

SIB  :  I  have  received  the  despatches  which  you  have  done  me  the  honor  to  address  to  me  ; 
your  telegraphic  messages  of  the  19th  and  20th  of  this  month  have  likewise  reached  me, 
and  I  am  therefore  enabled  to  form  an  entirely  correct  estimate  of  the  consequences  and 
conclusion  of  the  incident  originated  by  the  language  used  by  M.  Calderon  Collantes,  before 
the  senate  in  the  session  of  the  13th.  That  language  was  calculated  to  alter  the  sense  of 
the  explanations  that  took  place  between  that  minister  and  yourself  in  reference  to  various 
circumstances  of  the  Mexican  affair,  and  especially  in  regard  to  the  estimate  of  which  the 
treaty  of  La  Soledad  had  been  the  object,  and  to  place  in  doubt  the  perfect  correctness  of 
the  advices  which  you  had  transmitted  to  the  government  of  the  Emperor. 

The  telegraphic  despatch  which  I  had  the  honor  of  addressing  to  you  on  the  18th  will 
have  shown  you,  sir,  all  the  importance  that  the  Emperor's  government  attached  to  the 
fact  that  the  assertions  of  the  first  secretary  of  state  of  her  Catholic  Majesty,  made  in  op 
position  to  those  which  you  had  set  down  in  your  correspondence  with  my  predecessor, 
should  become  on  your  part  the  object  for  a  demand  for  immediate  reparation.  It  is,  then, 
with  satisfaction  that  I  have  learned  that  you  had  anticipated  in  this  regard  the  instructions 
which  I  have  transmitted  to  you  by  order  of  his  Majesty. 

The  Emperor,  to  whom  I  have  given  an  account  of  your  proceedings,  has  been  pleased 
to  approve  of  them,  and,  as  I  have  hastened  to  announce  to  you  by  telegraph,  his  Majesty 
authorizes  you  to  consider  as  a  sufficient  satisfaction  the  words  which  M.  Calderon  Collantes 
has  pronounced  before  the  senate,  in  the  session  of  the  18th.  Those  explanations,  in  fact, 
tinder  a  form  more  or  less  obscure,  contain  an  evident  retraction  of  the  allegations  which 
had  provoked  our  legitimate  susceptibilities,  and  the  notoriety  which  has  not  failed  to  follow 
the  demand  for  reparation  which  you  addressed  to  the  first  secretary  of  state  cannot  but 
contribute  to  render  still  more  complete  the  satisfaction  which  has  been  given  to  us.  You 
may,  then,  consider  this  affair  as  ended. 

DROTJYN  DE  LHUYS. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  199 


The  French  Minister  at  Washington  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

WASHINGTON,  April  3, 1863. 

M.  LE  MINISTRE  :  Mr.  Seward  tells  me  that  I  may  assure  your  excellency  that  I  was  per 
fectly  right  in  representing  him  as  having  always  at  heart  a  desire  to  avoid  giving  us  any 
cause  of  complaint  on  the  Mexican  question  ;  that  his  policy  has  not  ceased  to  be  frank  and 
open,  and  that  in  all  his  correspondence  not  one  word  could  be  found  to  testify  the  slightest 
participation  in  any  combinations  directed  against  the  government  of  the  Emperor,  or 
which  would  excite  his  susceptibility . 

MERCIER. 


The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  M.  Merrier,  at  Washington. 

«  PARIS,  April  23,  1863. 

SIR:  I  send  you  a  copy  of  a  letter  from  the  minister  of  the  United  States  at  London, 
which  has  just  been  published  in  the  English  papers.  Written,  as  you  see,  to  the  com 
mander  of  the  federal  fleet,  it  has  for  its  object  to  request  him  to  allow  free  passage  for 
arms  and  munitions  of  war  sent  from  England  to  Matamoras  by  Mexican  agents.  This 
document  reveals  too  plainly  with  what  sentiments  the  representative  of  the  United  States 
is  inspired  in  regard  to  us  in  this  circumstance  to  allow  me  to  refrain  from  explaining  my 
self  to  Mr.  Dayton  on  the  matter.  I  have  done  so  in  friendly  but  strong  terms,  and  I 
have  deemed  it  proper,  moreover,  to  embody  the  observations  suggested  to  me  by  this 
strange  incident  in  an  unofficial  note  which  I  have  transmitted  to  him,  and  of  which  you 
will  find  a  copy  enclosed.  That  such  shipments  as  those  in  question  should  not  be  arrested 
by  the  American  cruisers  is  not  what  we  have  to  complain  of,  but  we  have  reason  to  con 
sider  ourselves  aggrieved  at  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Adams  in  giving  such  a  preliminary  assur 
ance  to  the  consigners,  and  thus  contributing,  as  far  as  it  depends  on  him,  to  the  success 
of  unlawful  operations  directed  against  us.  Perhaps,  nevertheless,  I  would  not  have  be 
stowed  so  much  attention  on  this  singular  document  emanating  from  Mr.  Adams  if,  at  the 
same  moment,  your  correspondence  had  not  made  me  acquainted  with  the  very  different 
and  entirely  friendly  language  used  to  you  by  Mr.  Seward.  It  is  enough  to  compare  it 
with  the  letter  written  by  the  minister  of  the  United  States  at  London  in  order  to  be  struck 
with  the  contradiction  which  exists  between  the  attitude  of  this  latter  agent  and  the  dis 
position  with  which  he  ought  to  show  himself  animated,  in  order  to  correspond  with  the 
sentiments  of  his  government. 

DROUYN  DE  LHUYS. 


The  French  Minister  at  Washington  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

WASHINGTON,  May  8,  1863. 

M.  LE  MINISTRE  :  I  received  yesterday  the  despatch  which  your  excellency  has  done  me 
the  honor  of  addressing  me  on  the  subject  of  the  letter  written  by  Mr.  Adams  to  the  com 
manders  of  the  federal  cruisers  to  request  them  to  let  freely  pass  such  arms  and  munitions 
of  war  as  are  sent  from  England  to  Matamoras  by  Mexican  agents. 

On  the  same  day  I  waited  upon  the  Secretary  of  State  to  inform  him  of  the  impression 
made  on  the  Emperor's  government  by  such  a  proceeding  on  the  part  of  the  representative 
of  the  United  States  at  London. 

As  he  had  already  received  advice  of  the  unofficial  note  which  your  excellency^  had 
on  that  occasion  placed  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Dayton,  he  expected  my  call.  After  I  had  un 
folded  to  him  the  observations  which  I  had  be£n  charged  to  make  to  him,  and  which  con 
firmed  those  which  I  had  hastened  to  make  to  him  of  my  own  accord  as  soon  as  I  had 
learned  through  the  newspapers  of  the  letter  of  Mr.  Adams,  Mr.  Seward  entered  into  some 
explanations  tending  to  exonerate  entirely  the  cabinet  of  Washington  from  any  responsi 
bility  for  the  affair.  I  replied  to  him  that,  in  my  correspondence  with  your  excellency  I 
had  always  made  it  my  duty  to  render  full  justice  to  the  honorable  and  loyal  attitude  which 
he  had  at  no  time  failed  to  maintain  in  the  Mexican  question. 

MERCIER. 


200  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  M.  Merrier,  at  Washington. 

PARIS,  June  4,  1863. 

Mr.  Dayton  has  read  to  me  a  letter  addressed  to  him  by  Mr.  Seward  in  reference  to 
that  addressed  by  Mr.  Adams  to  the  commanders  of  the  federal  cruisers.  The  Secretary  of 
State  explains  himself  to  Mr.  Dayton  in  regard  to  that  circumstance  in  the  same  manner 
that  he  did  to  you  in  your  last  interview.  According  to  him,  what  Mr.  Adams  desired  to 
effect  was  merely  that  the  federal  cruisers  should  prevent  all  transportation  of  arms  to  the 
south,  without  troubling  themselves  with  other  transportations  of  the  same  nature  for  a 
different  destination,  whatever  that  destination  might  be.  Mr  Seward,  moreover,  recog 
nizes  that  the  document  emanating  from  the  American  minister  at  London  apparently 
manifests  an  unkindly  disposition,  entirely  at  variance  with  the  sentiments  of  friendship 
which  we  have  reason  to  expect  from  the  cabinet  of  Washington,  and  with  which  it  is  sin 
cerely  animated  in  our  regard.  Therefore  he  does  not  hesitate  to  consider  the  letter  of  Mr. 
Adams  as  an  ill-considered  proceeding. 

In  presence  of  these  declarations  I  had  no  further  cause  to  insist  with  Mr.  Dayton  on  what 
there  might  be  to  regret  in  the  conduct  of  his  colleague  at  London. 

DROUYN-DE  LHUYS. 


The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  M.  Merrier,  at  Washington. 

PARIS,  September  15,  1863. 

SIR  :  Mr.  Dayton,  who  exhibits  in  his  relations  with  me  a  great  confidence",  and  a  rectitude 
to  which  I  am  pleased  to  bear  testimony,  has  been  moved  at  certain  rumors,  propagated  with 
a  design  which  I  have  not  now  to  inquire  into,  but  which  appear  lately  to  have  obtained 
some  credit  at  Paris,  and  he  has  come  to  converse  with  me  about  them.  According  to  these 
reports,  too  inconsiderately  accepted,  the  Emperor's  government  has  decided  to  recognize  the 
States  of  the  south,  and  a  treaty  has  even  been  already  signed,  according  to  which  the  new 
confederacy  is  to  cede  to  France,  either  for  herself,  or  that  she  may  make  a  retrocession  of 
them  to  Mexico,  Texas  and  a  portion  of  Louisiana.' 

At  the  moment  in  which  Mr.  Dayton  was  imparting  to  me  this  information,  I  was  exactly 
in  a  position  to  offer  him  information  for  information,  and,  before  answering  the  questions 
which  he  addressed  me,  I  asked  him  if,  among  the  alarming  symptoms  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  good  relations  of  the  two  countries,  he  had  not,  like  myself,  received  other  news,  like 
wise  diffused  in  public,  such  as,  for  instance,  the  transmission  by  him  to  me  of  a  protest  from 
his  government  against  our  expedition  to  Mexico  and  its  consequences ;  the  conclusion  of  an 
alliance,  offensive  and  defensive,  between  the  United  States  and  Russia;  the  appearance  of  a 
federal  fleet  before  Yera  Cruz,  &c.,  &c. 

In  regard  to  the  protest,  after  remarking  to  me  that  I,  better  than  any  one  else,  knew  that 
he  had  not  transmitted  to  me  any,  Mr.  Dayton  said  to  me  that,  under  the  promptings  of  the 
general  tenor  of  the  correspondence  of  Mr.  Seward,  and  of  the  knowledge  which  he  himself 
had  of  the  inclinations  of  his  fellow-citizens,  he  had  been  able  to  speak  to  me  of  the  painful 
impression  produced  on  public  opinion  in  his  country  by  the  preponderant  intervention  of  a 
European  power  in  an  American  republic,  and  by  the  creation  of  a  monarchical  establishment 
in  a  country  adjacent  to  the  United  States ;  but  that  from  that  to  a  protest,  or  to  any  inten 
tion  whatever  of  comminatory  intermeddling,  was  very  far,  and  that  nothing  in  his  instruc 
tions  authorized  him  to  overleap  that  distance.  He  knew  nothing,  on  the  other  hand,  of  the 
alleged  alliance  of  his  government  with  Russia,  and  he  had  every  reason  to  disbelieve  it.  As 
to  the  presence  of  a  federal  fleet  before  Vera  Cruz,  this  news  did  not  seem  to  him  even  to 
merit  the  honor  of  a  contradiction. 

I  told  Mr.  Dayton  that  I  had  never  attached  any  importance  to  the  reports  which  I  had 
pointed  out  to  him,  and  that,  in  speaking  to  him  of  them,  my  object  was  much  less  to  call 
forth  explanations  on  his  part,  than  to  warn  him  against  rumors  of  a  different  character ;  but 
having  probably  the  same  origin  of  which  he  had  spoken  to  me,  I  could,  however,  contradict 
them  categorically.  In  regard  to  the  recognition  of  the  States  of  the  south,  the  intentions 
of  the  Emperor's  government  were  known  to  him,  and  this  question  was  still  at  the  point 
where  our  late  conversations  had  left  it.  We  had  not,  therefore,  recognized  the  south,  and, 
much  more,  we  had  not  signed  with  it  any  treaty  for  the  cession  of  Louisiana  and  Texas. 
With  respect  to  this,  I  could  repeat  to  him,  what  I  had  so  often  said  to  him  already,  that  we 
neither  sought  for  ourselves,  nor  for  others,  any  acquisition  in  America.  I  added  that  I  trusted 
that  the  good  sense  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  would  do  justice  to  exaggerations  and 
false  suppositions,  by  the  aid  of  which  it  was  endeavored  to  mislead  and  sour  public  opinion ; 
and  that  I  relied  on  his  co-operation  in  trying  to  render  prevalent  a  more  equitable  apprecia 
tion  of  our  intentions  and  of  the  necessities  which  our  policy  obeyed. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  201 

I  have  thought,  sir,  that  it  was  well  that  you  should  be  informed  of  the  particulars  of  this 
conversation,  in  order  that  you  might,  on  your  part,  communicate  it  to  Mr.  Seward,  and 
receive  the  precise  words  of  it,  in  order  to  rectify  arpund  you  false  opinions  and  unjustifiable 
anticipations. 

Accept,  sir,  assurances  of  my  high  consideration. 

DROUYN  DE  LHUYS. 
Mr.  MERCIER, 

Minister  of  the  Emperor  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


The  Minister  of  Foreign  A  fairs  to  General  Bazaine,  commander-in-chief  of  the  French  forces  in  Mexico. 

PARIS,  August  14,  1863. 

GENERAL  :  The  despatches  which  I  receive  to-day  from  Mexico  confirm  the  news  which  had 
already  reached  Europe  by  means  of  the  telegraph,  of  the  important  resolutions  voted  by  the 
Assembly  of  Notables,  at  Mexico,  on  the  10th  of  last  July.  This  news  could  be  received  only 
with  sincere  satisfaction  by  the  government  of  the  Emperor,  and  we  congratulate  ourselves 
on  seeing  our  anticipations  justified  by  the  good  sense  and  patriotism  of  the  assembly. 

As  you  know,  general,  when  the  necessity  of  proceeding  to  obtain  redress  for  accumu 
lated  wrongs  conducted  us  to  Mexico,  the  Emperor  entertained  the  idea  of  the  possibility 
of  procuring  the  regeneration  of  that  country  from  the  very  crisis  brought  upon  it  by  the 
government  of  M.  Juarez.  According  to  his  Majesty's  ideas,  no  pressure  should  be  exer 
cised  upon  the  Mexican  nation  ;  it  alone  should  have  the  right  of  deciding  on  the  form  of 
its  institutions,  and  in  case  it  should  adopt  a  monarchical  constitution,  on  the  choice  of  the 
prince  who  should  be  called  to  reign  over  it.  It  should  only  know  in  advance  that  our 
moral  support  was  pledged  to  all  honorable  and  serious  efforts  which  should  be  used  to 
rescue  the  country  from  anarchy  and  dissolution.  This  is  what,  in  conformity  with  the  or 
ders  of  the  Emperor,  the  generals  and  all  the  agents  of  his  Majesty  in  Mexico  have  had 
for  their  mission  to  cause  to  be  well  understood  around  them.  It  is,  then,  in  the  plenitude 
of  its  rights  and  in  the  free  exercise  of  its  independence  that  the  Mexican  nation  founds,  at 
this  moment,  its  new  destinies.  We  already  see,  in  the  vote  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables, 
a  spontaneous  manifestation  and  a  most  imposing  one  of  its  dispositions  ;  but  it  is  impor 
tant  that  this  vote  should  be  confirmed  and  ratified  as  soon  as  possible  by  the  assent  of  the 
people.  "We  likewise  applaud  the  choice  of  the  eminent  prince  whom  the  assembly  has 
called  to  the  throne  by  an  acclamation  which  must,  in  like  manner,  receive  its  definitive 
approval  from  the  suffrages  of  the  country. 

DROUYN  DE  LHUYS. 


The  Minister  of  Foreign  A  fairs  to  General  Bazaine. 

AUGUST  17,  1863. 

GENERAL  :  At  the  moment  in  which  you  find  yourself  invested  with  the  plenitude  of  po 
litical  and  military  power,  and  when,  thanks  to  the  heroism  of  our  soldiers  and  the  skill  of 
our  chiefs,  the  elaboration  of  a  new  political  regime  supersedes  the  clash  of  arms  in  Mexico, 
I  deem  it  useful  to  retrace  once  more  the  ideas  with  which  the  Emperor's  government  is  in 
spired.  Those  ideas  have  been  most  clearly  indicated  in  the  letter  addressed  by  his  Ma 
jesty  to  General  Forey,  July  3,  1862,  and  to  this  memorable  document  we  must  always 
refer. 

I  shall  not  return  to  enumerate  the  facts  which  caused  our  intervention,  or  the  incidents 
too  well  known  which  have  signalized  the  first  phase  of  it,  whilst  we  were  engaged  in  col 
lective  action  with  other  powers.  I  refer  to  them  merely  to  recall  to  mind  that,  left  alone, 
we  have  used  our  independence  only  to  pursue  the  work  which  it  was  not  in  our  power  to 
accomplish  in  conjunction  with  the  rest,  and  without  deviating  from  the  line  which,  from 
the  beginning,  we  had  traced  out  for  ourselves  and  which  we  had  indicated  to  our  allies. 
In  acting  thus,  we  persist  in  believing  that  we  serve  the  general  interests  of  Europe. 

We  have  recognized  that  the  legitimacy  of  our  intervention  resulted  solely  from  our 
grievances  against  the  government  of  that  country  ;  we  have  declared  that,  whatever 
rights  war  conferred  on  us,  we  sought  neither  conquest  nor  colonial  establishment,  nor  even 
any  political  or  commercial  advantage  to  the  exclusion  of  other  powers.  Penetrated,  how 
ever,  with  the  idea,  which  several  onerous  experiences  justified,  that  an  expedition,  analo 
gous  to  those  of  which  the  traditional  proceedings  of  the  Mexican  government  have  so 
often  imposed  on  us  and  others  the  necessity,  would  assure  us  only  very  precarious  satis- 


202  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

faction  and  no  guarantees  for  the  future,  we  have  thought  that  it  would  be  worthy  of  us 
and  profitable  for  all  to  remind  the  Mexican  people  of  the  iniquities  of  their  government, 
and  to  afford  them,  if  they  desired  to  avail  themselves  of  it,  the  occasion  and  the  means 
to  react  against  the  elements  of  dissolution  accumulated  on  their  soil  by  a  deplorable  suc 
cession  of  anarchical  powers.  We  applaud  ourselves  heartily  now  for  not  having  despaired 
of  the  good  sense  and  patriotism  of  the  Mexican  nation.  For  the  rest,  we  most  unequiv 
ocally  eschew,  as  you  are  aware,  any  intention  of  substituting  our  influence  in  place  of  the 
free  resolutions  of  the  country  ;  we  promise  it  our  moral  support  to  second  whatever  efforts 
it  may  wish  to  make  in  its  own  independence  ;  but  it  is  from  its  own  loins  that  its  regen 
eration  must  issue. 

We  have  received  with  pleasure,  as  a  symptom  of  favorable  augury,  the  manifestation 
of  the  Assembly  of  Notables  of  Mexico  in  favor  of  the  establishment  of  a  monarchy,  and 
the  name  of  the  prince  called  to  the  empire.  However,  as  I  have  indicated  to  you  in  a 
preceding  despatch,  we  can  consider  the  votes  of  the  Assembly  at  Mexico  only  as  the  first 
indication  of  the  disposition  of  the  country.  With  all  the  authority  which  attaches  to  the 
eminent  men  who  compose  it,  the  Assembly  recommends  to  its  fellow-countrymen  the 
adoption  of  monarchical  institutions,  and  it  designates  a  prince  for  their  suffrages.  It  be 
longs,  however,  to  the  provisional  government  to  collect  those  suffrages  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  banish  all  doubt  in  regard  to  the  expression  of  the  will  of  the  country.  It  is  not  my 
part  to  indicate  to  you  the  mode  to  be  adopted  in  order  that  this  indispensable  result  should 
be  completely  attained  ;  we  must  search  for  this  in  the  local  customs  and  institutions. 
Whether  the  municipalities  should  be  called  upon  to  declare  their  wishes  in  the  different 
provinces  according  as  they  shall  have  recovered  the  free  disposal  of  themselves,  or  whether 
the  lists  should  be  opened  by  their  care  in  order  to  collect  the  votes,  the  best  method  will 
be  that  which  shall  insure  the  largest  manifestation  of  the  popular  will  in  all  its  independ 
ence  and  sincerity.  General,  the  Emperor  particularly  recommends  this  essential  point  to 
your  most  careful  attention. 

Other  questions  at  the  same  time  demand  your  solicitude.  We  have  flattered  ourselves 
with  the  idea  that  we  represent  in  Mexico  the  cause  of  progress  and  of  civilization,  and  our 
regard  for  our  responsibility  does  not  permit  us  to  accept  the  species  of  provisional  guar 
dianship  with  which  we  are  invested  by  circumstances,  except  on  condition  of  serving  that 
cause  faithfully  by  our  counsels  and  by  our  actions.  From  this  point  of  View,  we  have  to 
regret  certain  measures  which  contrast  in  an  unfavorable  manner  with  the  ideas  which  we 
ought  to  strive  to  establish.  Sequestrations,  prohibitions,  outlawries  have  too  often  been, 
in  Mexico,  the  arms  used  by  parties  in  straits,  in  their  desperate  contests — too  of  ten,  indeed, 
not  to  interdict  the  use  of  them  to  a  government  that  goes  to  conserve  and  restore.  Adopted, 
doubtless,  in  view  of  the  urgent  necessities  of  which  I  cannot  judge,  they  can  have  but  a 
provisional  character,  and  at  the  moment  at  which  I  write  to  you  they  are  certainly  re 
voked,  if  they  have  not  been  already  so  at  the  reception  of  the  instructions  sent  out  by 
the  last  packet. 

The  reorganization  of  the  Mexican  army  is  one  of  the  most  important  questions  which 
should,  at  present,  occupy  the  attention  of  the  provisional  government  and  yours.  It  is 
the  duty  of  the  minister  of  war  to  transmit  special  instructions  to  you  on  this  point.  I 
will  confine  myself  to  saying,  that,  the  desire  of  the  Emperor's  government  being  to  re 
strict,  as  promptly  as  circumstances  will  permit,  the  extent  and  the  duration  of  our  occu 
pation,  it  is  essential  that  this  reorganization  should  be  pushed  forward  with  all  possible 
activity,  and  that  it  is  desirable  that  in  future,  and  in  proportion  to  the  progress  realized, 
an  honorable  share  of  duty  should  be  assigned  to  the  Mexican  army.  In  the  interest  of 
the  country  and  its  ulterior  development,  as  well  as  to  provide  for  present  necessities,  I  re 
commend  you  to  press  upon  the  government  the  duty  of  applying  its  utmost  care  to  mul 
tiply  the  means  of  communication,  and  to  assure,  on  the  roads  which  now  exist,  security 
of  transportation  and  rapid  exchange  of  correspondence. 

Without  directly  substituting  your  initiative  for  that  of  the  government,  all  your  coun 
sels,  general,  should  tend  to  have  the  administration,  properly  so  called,  reconstituted  in 
conditions  of  regularity  and  strength,  such  as  may  give  confidence  to  the  country  and  re 
assure  it  against  all  ideas  of  reactionary  and  exclusive  policy.  Under  the  shadow  of  our 
flag,  all  parties  can  be  worthily  reconciled,  and  we  will  induce  them  to  this  ;  but  as  we  re 
pudiate  their  passions,  we  must  never  allow  it  to  serve  as  a  shelter  for  them  to  work  out 
their  revenges. 

The  same  principles  should  preside  over  the  reorganization  of  the  judicial  administra 
tion,  and  you  will  have  to  recommend  to  the  government,  to  be  inspired  with  them  in  the 
choice  of  magistrates  and  in  the  impulse  which  it  will  give  them,  the  independence  and 
honesty  of  the  magistracy  being  able  to  contribute  powerfully  to  elevate  the  moral  state  of 
a  people  among  whom  the  notions  of  right  must  have  been  very  much  blunted  by  the  con 
tact  of  so  many  revolutions. 

The  existing  administrative  and  judicial  institutions  appear,  moreover,  to   answer  the 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  203 

wants  and  customs  of  the  country.  Your  counsels  should,  therefore,  be  directed,  in  this 
regard,  rather  to  the  choice  of  functionaries  and  the  directions  to  be  impressed  upon  them, 
than  to  the  institutions  themselves. 

It  is  not  entirely  so  with  regard  to  the  finances.  We  have  there,  moreover,  a  direct  in 
terest,  which  commands  us  to  watch  more  closely  over  the  execution  of  such  regulations 
as  ought  to  assure  to  the  country  the  benefits  of  a  regular  system  of  accountability.  The 
proper  management  of  the  public  money  is  the  guarantee  of  our  debts,  and,  from  this 
point  of  view,  we  have  good  reason  to  exercise  an  active  control  over  the  financial  admin 
istration.  We  have,  for  the  rest,  as  far  as  depended  on  us,  facilitated  its  reorganization  by 
assuring  to  it  the  precious  support  of  special  agents  delegated  for  that  purpose  by  the  min 
ister  of  finance.  Under  their  enlightened  influence,  the  germs  of  prosperity  so  varied  and 
abundant  which  the  country  possesses  cannot  fail  to  be  rapidly  developed. 

I  have  spoken  of  our  claims.  They  are,  as  you  know,  general,  of  two  kinds  :  those 
which  are  anterior  to  the  war,  and  those  which  have  their  origin  in  the  war.  As  to  the 
former,  they  will  be  all  referred  for  examination  to  a  commission  which  shall  be  instituted 
in  connexion  with  my  department,  and  which  shall  be  composed  in  such  a  way  as  to  assure 
an  unquestionable  authority  to  its  decisions.  The  total  amount  to  be  presented  to  the 
Mexican  government  will  be  composed  of  the  sum  of  all  these  claims  that  shall  be  recog 
nized  by  the  commission  as  legitimately  founded  in  justice. 

As  to  those  which  proceed  from  the  war  which  we  are  now  maintaining,  my  colleagues 
in  the  departments  of  war  and  marine  are  occupied  in  combining  such  elements  as  will 
allow  them  to  forma  proper  estimate  of  the  expenses  of  which  we  shall  have  to  claim  re 
imbursement.  We  shall  most  likely  be  able  to  transmit  to  you,  by  the  next  packet,  the 
result  of  this  labor,  and  you  will  then  have  to  present  to  the  provisional  government  for 
acceptance  the  demand  for  reimbursement  of  the  sum  which  shall  be  indicated  to  you. 

DKOUYN  DE  LHUYS. 


The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  General  Bazaine. 

GENERAL  :  I  have  communicated,  as  I  announced  to  you  my  intention  of  doing,  with  my 
colleagues  in  the  departments  of  war,  marine,  and  finance,  in  order  to  agree  upon  the 
amount  of  indemnity  for  the  war,  for  which  we  shall  have  to  claim  reimbursement  from 
Mexico.  The  various  items  of  information  which  were  indispensable  to  us  in  order  to  ap 
preciate  exactly  the  sum  total  of  our  expenses  are  now  in  our  possession.  Consequently 
we  shall  not  delay  in  settling  definitely  the  figures  of  the  sum  at  whichthis  indemnity  ought 
to  be  estimated.  We  had,  likewise,  to  take  into  consideration,  in  advance,  the  expenses 
yet  to  be  incurred  before  our  forces  shall  have  completely  evacuated  the  Mexican  territory. 
I  have,  therefore,  conferred  on  this  subject  with  my  colleagues,  and  I  shall,  in  all  proba 
bility,  be  able  to  transmit  to  the  Marquis  de  Montholon,  at  the  moment  of  his  departure, 
suitable  instructions  to  enable  him  to  negotiate  these  two  arrangements  immediately  upon 
his  arrival  in  Mexico. 

DROUYN  DE  LHUYS. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  January  31,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY:  I  have  the  honor  to  send  to  you,  enclosed  with  this  note, 
a  series  of  articles  which  contain  the  history  of  political  occurrences  in  Mexico, 
interwoven  with  the  European  interference,  which  it  is  attempted  to  carry  into 
effect  in  that  republic,  and  which  demonstrate  the  notorious  injustice  of  the  war 
which  the  French  government  is  making  on  my  country,  and  the  complete  in 
sufficiency  and  inexactness  of  the  pretexts  which  have  been  alleged  by  the  in 
vader  to  the  civilized  world  while  pretending  to  justify  such  a  war.  The  said 
articles  were  written  by  Mr.  Lefevre,  French  by  birth,  nationality,  and  senti 
ments,  who  has  resided  many  years  in  the  Mexican  republic ;  who  has  witnessed, 
in  person,  many  of  the  acts  which  he  recounts  ;  and  had  access  to  the  archives 


204  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

of  the  Mexican  government,  while  writing  a  more  extended  work  on  the  same 
events,  which  he  published  in  1862.  Although  they  are  not  of  official  character, 
they  may  serve  much  to  illustrate  the  truth  in  a  question  so  complicated,  for 
which  reason  I  send  them  to  your  department. 

I  avail  of  this  opportunity  to  .repeat  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  most 
distinguished  consideration, 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fyc*,  fyc. 


[From  the  Daily  News,  Wednesday,  December  30,  1863.] 

THE  INTERVENTION  IN  MEXICO. 

No.  I. — ORIGIN  OF  THE  QUESTION. 

There  are  two  methods  of  representing  facts.  The  first  and  easiest,  which  is  that  followed 
by  the  panegyrists  of  established  power,  and  assumes  the  legitimacy  of  what  is  done  from 
the  mere  existence  of  the  facts. 

Writers  of  the  fatalistic  school  proceed  in  this  manner.  The  secret  of  their  reasoning  is 
found  in  that  unlucky  declaration  of  M.  de  Montalembert,  "Everything  which  is  possible 
is  just ;"  and  if  we  accepted  such  a  doctrine  without  protest,  we  should  have  nothing  more 
to  do  than  to  bow  everywhere  and  in  all  things  before  the  deification  of  force.  All  the 
logic  of  the  writers  of  this  school  reduces  itself,  in  fact,  to  this  somewhat  unintellectual 
glorification. 

But  because  the  head  of  the  French  empire  thinks  fit  to  overthrow  the  republic  of  Mex 
ico,  because  his  troops  are  in  possession  of  Vera  Cruz,  Puebla,  Mexico,  and  probably  by  this 
time  of  San  Luis  Potosi,  is  that  a  reason  for  maintaining  the  legitimacy  of  a  war  which  all 
France  disapproves  of,  and  which  has  never  had  any  advocates  except  among  the  fanatics 
paid  to  glorify,  everywhere  and  always,  the  acts  of  the  imperial  government?  Assuredly 
not. 

The  other  school,  on  the  contrary,  considers  itself  bound  to  take  everything  into  account. 
Its  criticism  maintains  that  every  fact  which  takes  place  before  our  eyes  proceeds  logically 
from  certain  causes,  which  are  always  pre-existent,  and  that  in  no  case  can  success  destroy 
right.  Belonging,  ourselves,  to  this  later  school,  it  is  according  to  its  principles  that  we 
are  about  to  study  the  circumstances  which  are  taking  place  at  this  moment  upon  the  ter 
ritory  of  Mexico. 

And,  in  the  first  place,  why  has  the  French  army  interfered  in  the  internal  affairs  of  that 
unhappy  country,  and  whence  comes  its  intervention  ? 

This  intervention,  it  ought  to  be  distinctly  stated,  does  not  proceed,  as  is  pretty  generally 
supposed,  from  the  causes  which  led  to  the  signing  of  the  convention  of  the  31st  of  October, 
1861,  and  which  are  recorded  therein. 

It  would  be  an  impeachment  of  the  good  faith  of  the  powers  whose  names  are  at  the  bot 
tom  of  that  diplomatic  document  to  believe  for  an  instant  in  the  anterior  necessity  of  an 
armed  intervention  in  the  affairs  of  the  country,  when  all  the  facts,  on  the  contrary,  unite  in 
establishing  that  this  eventuality  had  been  carefully  repudiated  in  all  the  diplomatic  doc 
uments  exchanged  between  the  official  representatives  of  the  three  powers,  in  order  to 
arrive  at  a  common  understanding.  Search  must  be  made  elsewhere,  therefore,  if  the  origin 
of  the  present  intervention  is  to  be  discovered  ;  and  however  slightly  we  refer  to  what  has 
taken  place,  we  shall  find  that  origin  in  the  support  which  the  ministers  of  the  imperial 
government  have  constantly  afforded  to  the  reactionary  parties  against  the  liberal  tend 
encies  of  nearly  all  the  people  of  Mexico. 

This,  however,  demands  a  word  of  explanation. 

In  1856  Mexico,  weary  of  a  system  of  pronunciamienfos,  a  system  which  had  lasted  for 
forty  years,  rose  against  General  Santa  Anna,  the  last  representative  of  that  unenlightened 
system,  and  the  insurrection,  soon  driving  before  it  the  defenders  of  the  despot,  arrived  vic 
torious  even  in  the  capital  itself,  where  it  installed  General  Alvarez  at  first,  and  M.  Comon- 
fort  afterwards,  as  provisional  presidents  of  a  de  facto  government.  This  was  the  legitimate 
insurrection  of  the  interests  of  the  many  against  the  privileges  of  the  few  ;  the  victory  of 
right  over  might ;  and  to  put  an  end  in  future  to  the  pronunciamientos  which  were  ruining  and 
demoralizing  the  country,  it  was  resolved  to  solemnly  proclaim  in  a  charter  the  rights  and 
duties  of  every  one. 

This  charter — an  expression  of  the  ideas  and  of  the  wishes  of  the  entire  country,  inas 
much  as  the  representatives  of  all  the  people  of  Mexico  were  summoned  to  discuss  it — was 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  205 

concluded  on  the  12th  of  January,  1857.  After  being  voted  by  the  constituent  assembly, 
it  was  submitted  to  the  ratification  of  the  people,  was  voluntarily  accepted  by  all  the  States 
of  the  republic,  and  received  the  special  oath  of  M.  Comonfort,  appointed  President  in  virtue 
of  article  75,  on  the  1st  of  December  of  the  same  year. 

Finally,  to  conclude  with  the  reforms  of  this  period,  we  ought  to  add  that  the  vote  of 
the  constitution  had  been  preceded  by  two  laws,  the  object  of  one  of  which  was  to  come  to 
the  assistance  of  property  by  bringing  mortmain  property  into  circulation  ;  while  the  other 
suppressed  all  special  jurisdictions  known  under  the  name  of  fueros  ecclesiastiques  et  militaires, 
and  subjected  to  the  undeviating  regulations  of  general  law  the  members,  until  then  priv 
ileged,  of  the  army  and  the  clergy. 

There  was,  however,  no  spoliation.  The  property  rights  of  the  chapters  and  convents 
were  openly  recognized  ;  and  to  indemnify  the  clergy,  it  was  decided  that  the  revenue  of 
all  real  property  should  be  capitalized,  by  taking  for  basis  of  estimate  the  annual  value  of 
the  said  property,  as  representing  a  sum  lent  at  6  per  cent,  per  annum,  but  that  the  capital 
in  question  should  be  repaid  to  the  chapters  and  convents  by  the  principal  tenant,  substi 
tuted  by  the  terms  of  the  new  law,  as  proprietor,  for  the  rights  of  the  clergy  henceforth 
barred. 

It  was,  however,  from  the  army  and  the  clergy  that  protests  against  the  new  order  of 
things  proceeded.  These  two  bodies  combined  their  intrigues  in  order  to  exert  a  pressure 
upon  the  honest  but  undecided  mind  of  M.  Comonfort,  and  on  the  17th  of  December,  1857, 
i.  e.,  only  sixteen  days  after  having  taken  his  oath,  he  overthrew  the  constitution  that  he 
had  just  sworn  to.  He  then  pronounced  in  favor  of  a  reactionary  plan,  drawn  up  by  himself 
and  some  of  his  councillors ;  and  in  order  not  to  be  opposed  in  these  projects,  he  arrested  M. 
Juarez,  president  of  the  supreme  court  of  justice,  designated  in  virtue  of  Art.  79  of  the  same 
constitution  to  supply  the  place  of  the  coup  d'etat  President  until  the  nomination  of  his  sue- 


Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  the  avowed  assistance,  or  rather  the  treason  of  the  chief  magis 
trate  of  the  republic,  the  triumphant  faction  had  adherents  in  the  cities  of  Mexico,  Quere- 
taro,  and  Puebla  only  ;  while  the  entire  State  of  Vera  Cruz,  Yucatan,  Oaxaca,  Guerrero, 
Michoacan,  San  Luis  (with  the  exception  of  a  small  portion  of  the  garrison,)  Guanajuato, 
Zacatecas  ,  Jalisco,  Colima,  Durango,  Coahuila,  Nuevo  Leon,  Tabasco,  Chiapas,  Chihuahua, 
Sonora,  Sinaloa,  and  a  great  part  even  of  the  district  of  Mexico,  continued  to  recognize  the 
constitution  of  1857  as  the  fundamental  law  of  the  republic. 

Nay,  more,  M.  Gutierrez  Zamora,  governor  of  the  State  of  Vera  Cruz,  deceived  by  a  friend 
who  had  come  to  him  on  behalf  of  M.  Comonfort,  pronounced,  in  the  first  place,  in  favor  of 
the  coup  d'etat,  in  the  trust  that  that  movement  had  no  other  object  than  that  of  investing 
the  President  with  powers  which  would  enable  him  to  accomplish,  without  the  intervention 
of  a  congress,  always  slow  in  deciding,  the  reforms  initiated  by  the  last  revolution.  But 
when  he  learnt  the  truth — when  he  knew  that  M.  Comonfort,  instead  of  advancing,  had,  on 
the  contrary,  bound  himself  hand  and  foot  to  the  reactionary  party  by  throwing  open  the 
council  to  the  famous  Father  Miranda,  he  felt  that  he  had  been  trifled  with  ;  and  not  con 
tent  with  repairing  his  error  by  returning  within  the  three  days  which  followed  his  defec 
tion  to  the  constitution  of  1857,  he  himself  assembled  the  legislature  of  his  State  in  order  to 
submit  his  conduct  to  it,  and  to  surrender  himself  thus  to  the  justice  of  his  fellow-citizens. 

If,  therefore,  in  the  events  of  this  period  there  was  a  pressure  of  any  kind  of  the  minority 
upon  the  majority  to  employ  expressions  so  often  repeated  recently  by  the  agents  of  the  im 
perial  government,  this  pressure  proceeded  solely  from  the  authors  of  the  coup  d'Stat,  all  of 
whom  are  now  partisans  of  the  intervention,  except  MM.  Comonfort  and  Payno ;  and  but 
for  the  necessity  of  giving  a  liberal  coloring  to  an  expedition  the  real  motives  of  which  it 
is  not  yet  dared  to  state,  we  should  not  be  able  to  understand  how  in  so  simple  a  question 
the  ministers  of  the  empire  have  been  able  to  blind  themselves  so  far  as  constantly  to  take 
the  part  for  the  whole. 

M.  Comonfort,  nevertheless,  soon  perceived  what  a  deplorable  part  he  had  been  made  to 
play.  But  too  weak  to  dare  to  publicly  admit  his  fault,  and  surrender  himself,  like  ML 
Gutierrez  Zamora,  to  the  justice  of  the  congress,  he  preferred  to  shuffle,  and  continued  to 
vacillate  from  side  to  side,  hoping,  doubtless,  in  time,  to  oppose  the  credit  of  the  president 
of  the  supreme  court,  then  a  prisoner,  to  the  annoying  influence  of  the  leader  of  the  pro- 
nonces,  and  the  ambition  of  the  general  of  the  counter-revolutionary  army  to  the  well-known 
patriotism  of  the  provisional  president  appointed  by  Art.  79  of  the  constitution.  With  this 
object  he  arrested  General  Zuloaga  ;  but  this  time  also  his  half-and-half  policy  failed  before 
the  pitiless  logic  of  the  spirit  of  the  party,  and  he  was  compelled,  in  spite  of  himself,  to 
liberate  his  two  prisoners,  M.  Juarez  and  M.  Zuloaga. 

The  former,  restored  to  liberty  on  the  llth  January,  1858,  immediately  repaired  to 
Guanajuato,  to  organize  there  the  constitutional  government.  Zuloaga,  glad  to  be  let  off 
so  easily,  shut  himself  up  in  the  citadel,  determined  to  no  longer  trust  his  fortune  in  the 
hands  of  M.  Comonfort ;  and  the  latter,  abandoned  by  everybody,  without  party  or  pres- 


206  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS, 

tige,  unable  to  count  upon  the  reactionaries,  who  despised  him  after  making  him  their 
accomplice,  or  upon  the  liberal  party,  which  he  had  so  disgracefully  betrayed  only  sixteen 
days  after  taking  the  oath  of  the  constitution  ; — the  latter,  we  repeat,  soon  felt  that  his 
time  had  come,  and  relinquished  de  facto  the  presidency,  by  signing  on  the  15th  of  January 
the  decrees  necessitated  by  the  situation  as  general-in-chief  of  the  troops  under  his  orders, 
and  no  longer  as  President  of  the  republic.  M.  Comonfort  fell,  therefore,  before  the 
abandonment  of  his  own  forces,  rather  than  from  the  efforts  of  the  reactionary  party. 

On  the  morning  of  the  22d  January  the  national  palace  of  Mexico  was  vacant.  The 
religionnaires  occupied  it  not  as  a  conquered,  but  as  an  abandoned  post. 

Hence  it  is  untrue  that  the  reactionary  party  overthrew  at  Mexico,  on  the  22d  January, 
1858,  the  government  established  by  the  constitution  of  1857,  for  that  government  had 
been  sitting  since  the  14th  of  the  same  month  at  Guanajuato,  and  on  the  19th  M.  Juarez 
had  publicly  taken  possession,  by  issuing  a  manifesto  intended  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
country  and  of  the  foreign  ministers  to  the  situation. 

It  is  still  more  opposed  to  the  truth  to  give  to  the  promoters  of  the  insurrection  com 
menced  on  the  17th  of  December,  1857,  and  terminated  on  the  22d  January,  1858,  by  the 
momentary  triumph  of  the  plan  of  Tacubaya,  at  Mexico,  the  name  of  de  facto  government, 
since  the  legitimate  government  had  never  ceased  to  exist,  and  there  could  not  be  two 
governments  in  the  same  country,  one  legitimate  and  the  other  illegitimate. 

It  is  true  that  a  division  of  the  federal  army,  commanded  by  M.  Comonfort,  forgetting 
the  fidelity  it  owed  to  its  flag,  rebelled  amid  the  ringing  of  the  bells  which  pealed  forth 
the  impious  vengeance  of  the  monks  and  the  clergy,  and  at  the  same  time  abjured  its  flag, 
its  oath,  and  the  constitution.  How  long  has  the  treason  of  the  army  implied  the  fall  of 
the  government  that  it  had  to  sustain  ?  Neither  force  nor  treason  avails  against  the  truth, 
and  the  energy  displayed  by  the  people  of  Mexico  for  the  maintenance  of  the  constitution 
during  the  three  years  the  civil  war  lasted  alone  suffices  now  to  show  on  which  side  was 
the  right  then,  and  on  which  the  insurrection. 

Let  us  see,  therefore,  what,  under  these  circumstances,  was  the  conduct  of  the  European 
ministers  accredited  to  the  constitutional  government.  There  were  two  such  ministers  at 
that  time — viz.,  M.  de  Gulnar  and  Mr.  Lettsom ;  the  former,  minister  of  the  imperial 
government,  was  also  charge  d'affaires  of  the  governments  of  Belgium,  Spain,  and  Prussia  ; 
the  latter  was  simply  charge  d'affaires  of  the  British  government.  Both  were  accredited 
to  the  government  of  the  republic,  and  not  to  the  individual  who  might  happen  to  be  at 
that  moment  dwelling  in  the  national  palace  of  Mexico  ;  and,  moreover,  they  perfectly 
well  knew  all  the  threads  of  all  the  intrigues  that  were  crossing  each  other  between  the 
citadel  and  the  palace,  and  from  the  palace  to  the  convent  of  St.  Domingo,  the  seat  of  the 
insurrection.  They  knew  well  how  their  conduct  at  such  a  moment  might  assist  in 
consolidating  or  weakening  the  legitimate  government.  Honor,  then,  made  it  their  duty 
to  risk  no  step  prejudicial  to  the  authority  of  the  government  to  which  they  were  accredited. 
Unfortunately  it  was  not  so.  Whether  from  party  connexion,  or  from  personal  regard  for 
the  author  of  the  coup  d'etat,  or  from  some  other  motive  of  which  I  am  ignorant,  they 
recognized,  on  the  23d  January,  the  insurrection,  which  in  the  capital  was  triumphant 
over  the  right,  and  it  was  their  recognition,  equally  mysterous  and  inopportune,  that,  by 
lending  a  semblance  of  validity  to  what  must  otherwise  have  proved  an  abortion,  became 
the  sole  cause  of  the  events  which  afterwards  brought  about  the  convention  of  October  31, 
1861. 

The  recognition  of  the  reactionary  insurrection — 17th  December,  1857,  21st  January, 
1858 — by  the  European  representatives,  at  a  time  when  they  had  in  their  hands  the  mani 
festo  published  four  days  before  by  M.  Juarez,  at  Guanajuato,  was  a  grave  fault,  as  lower 
ing  the  government  to  which  they  were  accredited  ;  and  it  was,  moreover,  an  absurdity. 
A  grave  fault,  because  the  representatives  of  foreign  states  should  never,  under  any 
circumstances,  be  mixed  up  with  conspiracies  against  the  government  which  has  received 
them  within  its  territory.  An  absurdity,  because  such  recognition,  once  admitted  as  a 
doctrine,  and  pushed  to  its  extreme  consequences,  would  oblige  them  to  recognize  in  the 
quality  of  a  government  de  facto,  the  first  andit  who  should  escape  from  prison  and  prove 
fortunate  or  audacious  enough  to  seize  by  a  coup  de  main  the  seat  of  the  government.  Now 
I  repeat,  such  a  doctrine  is  absurd,  and,  therefore,  beyond  discussion. 

If  it  be  true,  as  I  have  myself  heard  M.  de  Morineau,  consul  of  the  imperial  government 
at  Mexico,  declare,  that  the  instructions  of  the  European  representatives  accredited  to  the 
republic  enjoined  them  at  that  time  to  recognize  in  the  quality  of  government  de  facto  the 
first  conspirator  who  might  succeed  in  seizing  the  capital,  those  instructions,  let  me  be 
allowed  to  say,  would  have  been  an  absurdity,  which,  out  of  respect  to  the  government  in 
question,  I  shall  pass  by  without  further  notice. 

In  truth,  the  presence  of  representatives  of  European  states  in  a  country  like  Mexico  is 
simply  an  act  of  policy  necessitated  by  the  interests  of  the  European  residents.  The 
recognition  which  these  ministers  may  think  proper  to  bestow  upon  any  government  for 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  207 

the  time  being  cannot  of  itself  confer  any  right  upon  that  government.  Consequently, 
their  recognition,  however  desirable  it  may  be  with  respect  to  the  daily  relations  of  the 
European  residents  with  that  government,  cannot  convert  the  wrongful  into  the  rightful 
possession,  or  set  up  a  right  where  it  does  not  exist.  Thus  in  the  case  which  I  am  discus 
sing,  after  as  before  January  22,  1858,  the  constitutional  government  remained  the  true 
legal  government  of  Mexico.  That  government,  legitimate  as  long  as  it  remained  within 
the  limits  prescribed  by  the  constitution  from  which  it  emanated,  became  the  government 
de  facto  on  the  day  when,  in  order  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  situation,  it  found  itself 
constrained  to  transgress  those  limits. 

But  whether  a  legitimate  or  de  facto  government,  it  alone  had  authority  to  represent 
Mexico  in  the  eyes  of  the  foreigner  ;  it  alone  had  the  right  to  exercise  sovereignty  in  the 
name  of  the  country,  and  consequently  to  conclude  contracts  and  treaties  subject  to  the 
condition  of  submitting  them  afterwards  to  the  sovereign  sanction  of  the  congress. 

If,  therefore,  now  that  the  French  army  is  master  of  Mexico,  the  imperial  government 
demands  from  that  unhappy  country  the  recognition  of  certain  contracts — that  of  M.  Jecker 
for  instance,  or  any  other  of  the  same  kind — it  can  only  do  so  in  the  name  of  force,  the 
last  argument  which  those  who  have  no  other  to  offer  are  accustomed  to  invoke. 

These  facts  clearly  show  that  the  Mexican  government  emanating  from  the  constitution 
of  1857  never  ceased  to  exist,  and  that  the  European  ministers  accredited  to  it  committed 
a  great  fault  in  recognizing,  on  the  23d  of  January,  1858,  the  triumphant  insurrection  in 
the  capital ;  especially  as  they  were  informed  of  the  presence  of  the  legitimate  govern 
ment  at  Guanajuato,  and  as  they  had  received  the  manifesto  published  on  the  19th,  that 
is,  four  days  before  by  the  ad  interim  President,  M.  Benitio  Juarez. 

It  would  be  easy  to  show  that,  as  far  as  concerns  the  conduct  of  the  ministers  of  Great 
Britain  and  France,  this  unusual  recognition  was  in  direct  opposition  to  the  diplomatic 
traditions  of  their  countries,  and  was  condemned  beforehand  by  the  approbation  given  on 
both  sides  of  the  channel  to  the  policy  followed  under  similar  circumstances  by  the 
ministers  of  those  two  powers  at  Lisbon,  under  the  reigns  of  George  IV,  Charles  X,  and 
Louis  Philippe. 

It  remains  for  me  to  state  how  this  reaction  gave  way,  which  appeared  for  a  while  so 
persistent,  and  under  the  pressure  of  what  circumstances  the  convention  of  the  31st 
October.  1861,  was  produced. 

E.  LEFEVRE. 


[From  the  Daily  News,  January  4,  1864. 
No.  II. — THE  REACTIONARY  ADMINISTRATION. 

The  coup  d'Stat  had  become  an  established  fact  in  Mexican  history.  True,  the  legal  posi 
tion  of  the  country  produced  by  the  constitution  of  the  12th  of  February,  1857,  remained 
the  same,  but  the  reactionists  forced  their  yoke  by  arms  upon  the  unfortunate  people  who 
submitted  to  it,  and  their  action  was  all  the  more  to  be  feared  because  they  thoroughly 
understood  the  necessity  of  utilizing  by  all  possible  means  the  time  they  still  had  before 
them. 

In  the  first  place  came  two  decrees  of  the  28th  of  January,  1858,  the  former  of  which  had 
no  other  object  than  that  of  abolishing  in  the  localities  subjected  to  the  coup  d'&at  the  dis 
positions  of  the  law  of  the  25th  of  June,  1856,  respecting  the  alienation  of  the  ecclesiastical 
property,  and  the  latter  that  of  re-establishing  the  ecclesiastical  and  military  jurisdictions 
(fueros)  wherever  they  had  prevailed  before  the  1st  of  January,  1853. 

M.  de  Gabriac,  the  minister  of  the  Imperial  French  government,  forgetting  that  the 
diplomatic  agents  accredited  at  foreign  courts  are  not  considered  privileged  conspirators, 
and  consequently  should  scrupulously  abstain  from  fomenting  and  favoring  conspiracies  and 
plots  against  the  governments  which  receive  them,  did  not  hesitate,  in  a  letter  of  the  27th 
of  February,  1858,  which  he  probably  did  not  intend  for  the  honors  of  publication,  to 
congratulate  himself  upon  the  part  he  had  taken  in  the  perpetration  of  this  outrage  against 
the  sovereignty  of  the  people  of  Mexico,  by  recalling  to  the  archbishop  of  Mexico,  D. 
Lazaro  de  la  Garza,  the  trifling  services  (debiles  servicios)  which  he  had  rendered  to  his 
country  and  to  the  holy  churches  of  that  ecclesiastical  province. 

We  knew  that  France  spent  enormous  sums  in  maintaining  representatives  at  certain 
foreign  courts  for  the  purpose  of  sustaining  the  rights  of  her  subjects  there,  and  of  protect 
ing  them  when  necessary  against  the  despotism  of  the  local  authorities  ;  but  we  were  not 
previously  aware  that  M.  de  Gabriac  had  been  specially  charged  to  protect  and  defend 
in  Mexico,  against  the  ideas  of  our  own  time,  the  interests  of  what  he  calls  the  "holy 
churches  of  that  ecclesiastical  province,"  and  it  is  right  to  announce  the  fact  to  the  impe- 


208  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

rial  government  and  the  people,  in  order  that  they  may  both  know  in  what  manner  their 
official  representative  in  Mexico  understood  the  obligations  of  his  post,  and  what  reasons 
constantly  prevented  him  from  giving  effect,  as  he  ought  to  have  done,  to  the  legitimate 
complaints  of  his  fellow-countrymen  against  the  abuse  of  power  of  the  reactionary  adminis 
tration. 

Those,  in  fact,  who  pronounced  BO  boldly  on  the  night  of  the  16th  to  the  17th  of  Decem 
ber,  1857,  against  the  constitution  of  their  country,  had  counted  upon  the  venality  of  part 
of  the  constituted  authorities  and  the  apathy  of  others,  in  order  to  seize  suddenly  upon  a 
position  which  the  undecided  character  of  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  republic  rendered  on 
all  sides  vulnerable. 

In  this  plan,  which  had  long  been  matured  among  the  leaders  of  the  conservative  party, 
treason  formed  one  of  the  principal  means  of  action,  and  nothing  was  more  naturaHhan 
this  hope  in  a  country  where  men's  consciences,  governed  by  the  priests,  were  accustomed 
to  put  themselves  up  to  public  auction.  The  clergy  opened  their  coffers,  in  which  they 
had  accumulated  the  millions  extorted  from  the  fears  of  dying  men ;  and,  as  Captain 
William  C.  Aldham,  royal  navy,  indicates,  in  a  note  dated  off  Vera  Cruz,  the  20th  of  March, 
1860,  the  property  of  the  poor  thus  became  the  principal  resource  of  a  fratricidal  war, 
undertaken  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  in  the  republic  the  fatal  preponderance  of  the 
army  and  the  priests. 

Nevertheless,  neither  the  means  of  the  clergy  nor  the  resources  they  disposed  of  were 
equal  to  the  task  they  had  undertaken.  Their  attempts  at  seduction  failed  before  the 
inflexible  morality  of  the  defenders  of  the  constitution.  The  States  rose  with  arms  in  their 
hands  at  the  voice  of  those  defenders  to  maintain  the  constitution  they  had  freely  accepted 
and  sworn  to ;  the  resources  became  exhausted,  and  three  months  had  scarcely  elapsed 
when  the  victors  were  already  reduced  to  expedients.  In  such  a  situation  people  are  not 
particular  about  means.  On  this  occasion  the  expedient  assumed  the  shape  of  a  decree, 
dated  the  15th  of  May,  1858,  with  the  signature  of  a  certain  Felix  Zuloaga,  formerly  a 
croupier  in  a  gambling  house,  but  then  president  of  the  reaction  by  the  grace  of  the  coup 
d'etat.  By  article  1  of  this  decree  "  a  tax  of  one  per  cent." — we  are  nut  inventing,  we  are 
quoting — "was  imposed  for  once  only  upon  all  capital  floating  or  fixed,  which  was  or  might 
be  employed  in  any  industry  whatever;"  but  by  a  prudential  reservation,  for  which 
foreigners  especially  ought  to  have  been  grateful  to  M.  Zuloaga,  the  decree  of  which  we 
speak  only  applied  to  those  who  possessed,  or  who  were  supposed  to  possess,  the  means  of 
satisfying  the  exigencies  of  the  reaction. 

This  was  a  good  deal,  doubtless ;  it  was  even  too  much ;  at  any  rate,  by  touching  only 
capital  of  an  estimated  value  of  £1,000  sterling  and  upwards,  the  administration  gave  evi 
dence  of  a  reserve  too  rare  in  similar  cases  not  to  be  publicly  recognized. 

The  alarm  was  general.  Exclamations  simultaneously  broke  forth  on  every  hand  ;  from 
high  and  low  ;  from  the  wholesale  merchant  and  the  retail  dealer ;  from  the  capitalist  and 
the  borrower  ;  from  the  chief  city  of  the  republic,  and  from  several  towns  in  the  power  of 
the  reaction,  and  the  excitement  increasing  each  day  ;  at  length  on  the  22d  of  the  same 
month,  that  is  to  say,  seven  days  after  the  appearance  of  the  decree,  it  found  expression  in 
a  diplomatic  protest  signed  by  Mr.  John  Forsyth,  the  minister  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Otway,  who  had  recently  arrived  to  replace  Mr.  Lettsom,  on  his  part  addressed  to 
the  Tacubaya  administration  a  representation  from  the  English  residents  against  the  tax 
in  question,  accompanied  by  a  note  in  which  he  begged  the  above-named  administration  to 
"suspend  the  effects  of  the  tax,  as  far  as  English  subjects  were  concerned,  until  he  had 
submitted  the  case  to  his  government,  and  received  instructions  relative  to  the  course  he 
was  to  pursue  in  this  matter." 

Finally,  M.  de  Gabriac  himself  sent  a  note  on  the  29th  of  the  same  month  to  M.  L.  G. 
Cuevas,  °  °  °  the  preceding  year  with  levying  a  tax  of  one  per  cent,  upon  every  capital, 
floating  or  fixed,  of  an  estimated  value  of  £1,000  sterling  and  upwards.  On  this  occasion  M. 
Miramon  acted  more  wisely  ;  he  fastened  upon  capital  of  £200  sterling  ;  he  assimilated  the 
instruments  of  labor  with  productive  capital,  and  struck  a  blow  both  at  rich  and  poor,  the 
capitalist  and  the  workman,  the  producer  and  the  consumer. 

However,  this  was  nothing  yet.  Wants  every  day  increased  in  consequence  of  the  daily 
waste  of  the  public  fortune.  Coffers  full  in  the  morning  were  empty  at  night ;  and  in 
order  to  fill  them  again  in  this  limited  administration  of  the  coup  d'ttat,  there  was  no  other 
resource  than  that  of  extraordinary  imposts.  Recourse  to  them  again  became  necessary, 
and  this  time  household  property  had  its  turn. 

By  a  decree  dated  the  30th  of  May,  1859,  it  was  decided  that  this  property  should  be 
subjected  to  a  tax  of  10  per  cent.,  payable  by  the  landlord  and  tenant,  at  the  rate  of  5  per 
cent,  for  each,  and  that  no  one  capable  of  being  taxed  might  be  forgotten,  care  was  taken 
to  include  the  under-tenants  in  the  impost. 

All  this  was  but  the  business  of  a  month  ;  no  less,  but  certainly  no  more.  By  the  1st  of 
July  the  exchequer  was  as  empty  as  before,  and  in  order  to  replenish  it  recourse  was  had 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  209 

to  a  sort  of  panacea  known  in  the  history  of  that  sad  period  by  the  name  of  the  Peza  law 
of  the  19th  of  July,  1859.  The  assessment  of  the  taxes  was  entirely  changed,  which  was 
far  from  being  a  crime,  but  a  demand,  such  as  had  never  been  heard  of  in  the  worst  times, 
was  made  upon  all  the  rate  payers,  native  and  foreign,  of  a  year's  taxes  in  advance,  taking 
for  basis  the  regulations  newly  established  by  the  law  of  which  we  are  speaking. 

In  demanding  a  year's  taxes  in  ad-vance,  the  administration  had  officially  undertaken  to 
satisfy,  during  this  same  period  of  time,  all  the  exigencies  of  the  situation  without  further 
recourse  to  the  pockets  of  the  rate  payers.  How  this  was  to  be  done  it  alone  knew.  It  is 
certain  that  if  objections  had  then  been  made  against  the  framer  of  the  Peza  law,  they 
would  not  have  failed  to  reply  that  their  measures  were  all  taken,  and  that  with  the  sum 
they  demanded  they  would  undertake  to  meet  all  the  eventualities  of  the  future.  The 
foreigners,  deprived  as  usual  of  the  protection  of  their  ministers,  had  to  accept  the  terms 
of  this  tacit  contract,  but  they  could  not  demand  the  strict  application  of  it.  Without 
respect  for  engagements  which  were  all  the  more  sacred  because  it  had  itself  dictated  their 
conditions  ;  without  pity  for  commerce,  which  it  was  day  by  day  ruining  by  its  exactions, 
but  reckoning,  doubtless,  upon  the  forbearance  of  which  MM.  Gabriac  and  Otway  had  given 
so  many  proofs,  the  reactionary  administration,  at  the  commencement  of  the  new  year, 
published  another  new  financial  law ;  and  this  time,  that  nothing  might  be  wanting  to 
complete  the  hateful  character  of  the  measure,  the  statesmen  of  the  reaction  did  not  hesi 
tate  to  take  the  1st  of  January,  1860,  as  the  starting  point  of  a  tax  imposed  by  a  law  dated 
the  25th  of  March  of  the  same  year,  giving  it  thus  a  retroactive  effect  of  three  months. 

Let  us  now  recapitulate  a  little. 

M.  Zuloaga,  the  intimate  friend  of  MM.  Gabriac  and  Otway,  had  contented  himself  with 
imposing  a  tax  upon  capital  of  £1,000  sterling  and  upwards.  In  February  7,  1869,  M. 
Miramon,  another  and  not  less  intimate  friend  of  those  gentlemen,  had  attacked  (and,  as 
usual,  as  an  "  extraordinary"  measure)  personal  properties  of  £200  sterling  and  upwards, 
and  had  included  the  liberal  and  industrial  professions  in  the  impost.  In  May  of  the  same 
year  he  had  imposed  10  per  cent,  on  real  property.  Then  came  the  "Peza"  law.  Then, 
when  it  was  found  that  all  the  financial  measures  above-mentioned  were  insufficient  to  fill 
the  void  of  this  Danaids'  sieve,  which  was  called  at  that  time  "the  public  treasury,"  the 
same  Miramon  taxed  all  at  once,  March  20,  1860 — 

1.  Effective  capital  of  £200  sterling  and  upwards  ; 

2.  The  liberal  and  industrial  professions  ; 

3.  "Moral  capital." 

This  last  was  quite  a  local  discovery  ;  no  European  government  had  heretofore  thought 
of  availing  itself  of  such  a  financial  resource.  It  would  be  difficult  to  explain  technically 
what  these  Mexican  financiers  of  the  reactionary  party  meant  by  the  two  words,  "  Moral 
capital ;"  but  according  to  the  common  talk  on  this  subject,  it  appears  that  the  adminis 
tration  comprised  under  that  denomination  the  wages  of  workmen  and  servants,  and  the 
salaries  of  employers  of  all  sorts,  to  whatever  class  they  might  belong.  By  these  means 
the  exchequer  managed  to  find  even  the  poorest  of  the  European  residents  in  possession 
of  a  capital  of  which  he  had  never  dreamed.  Nor  yet  was  it  enough  to  invent  categories 
hitherto  unknown  of  taxable  persons  ;  the  greater  object  was  to  properly  develop  the 
resources  of  the  old  tax  payers.  To  this  end  commissions  were  instituted  under  the  title  of 
assessing  juntas.  All  these  commissions  vied  with  each  other  in  zeal  in  screwing  up  the  rate 
of  taxation  imposed  upon  foreigners.  Thus  the  amount  of  taxation  paid  by  them  in  1855, 
1856,  and  1857  doubled,  and  in  some  cases  tripled  in  1858,  under  the  administration  of 
Zuloaga,  was  in  1859,  under  that  of  Miramon,  raised  fourfold,  and  sometimes  even  seven 
fold  in  the  case  of  certain  Europeans,  mostly  French,  for  whom  M.  de  Gabriac  could  never 
be  induced  to  seek  redress. 

A  simple  enumeration  of  all  the  abuses  of  power  of  which,  during  the  three  years  of  the 
reactionary  government,  the  foreign  merchants  established  at  Mexico  were  victims,  would 
be  an  endless  catalogue,  which  it  would  be  materially  impossible  to  inflict  upon  your 
readers.  Enough  to  add,  that  on  reading  the  note  addressed,  29th  September,  1861,  by 
M.  de  Saligny  to  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  of  the  imperial  government,  I  could  not  but 
wonder  whether  the  writer  was  really  aware  of  what  had  taken  place  before  his  arrival, 
and  it  appeared  to  me  a  curious  study  to  count  up  the  "  extraordinary"  taxes  levied  at  that 
time  by  the  friends  of  M.  de  Gabriac,  by  the  men  whose  factitious  power  French  bayonets, 
are  now  restoring.  If  it  were  possible  to  be  surprised  at  anything,  I  might  fairly  marvel  at 
the  mighty  wrath  of  the  representative  of  the  Emperor  at  measures  the  principle  of  which 
for  my  own  part  I  have  never  refrained  from  censuring,  but  which  that  gentleman's  pre 
decessor  found  perfectly  natural,  perfectly  legitimate,  when  the  reactionary  party  decreed 
and  profited  by  them. 

While,  however,  the  financial  resources  of  the  reaction  were  sinking  into  a  bottomless 
pit  of  deficits,  and  the  complaints  of  the  European  residents  were  lost  in  the  noise  of  official 
congratulations,  a  new  insurrection,  fomented  by  men  in  the  very  bosom  of  the  reactionary 
H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 14 


210  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

party,  disclosed  on  a  sudden  the  deep  dissensions  existing  among  the  pretended  defenders 
of  order.  The  chiefs  of  this  insurrection  were  the  Generals  Manuel  Robles,  Pezuela,  and 
Michel  Maria  de  Echeagoray.  It  was  called  the  "  Christmas  pronunciamiento,"  because  it 
broke  out  December  23,  1858.  The  \vhole  meaning  of  this  movement  was  expressed  in 
the  third  paragraph  of  the  preamble  of  the  decree  drawn  up  on  that  occasion,  stating^ 
"  that  it  was  necessary,  in  order  to  obtain  the  pacification  of  the  republic,  to  overthrow  the 
government  of  Zuloaga  ;"  and  in  the  following  article  of  a  new  programme,  "  the  govern 
ment  established  at  Mexico,  in  pursuance  of  the  scheme  of  Tacubaya,  lacks  authority." 
In  otber  words,  after  betraying  the  constitution  of  1857,  in  company  with  M.  Comonfort, 
on  the  pretext  that  that  constitution  was  not  in  harmony  with  the  wants  of  the  country,  a 
few  subaltern  military  chiefs  betrayed  this  time  the  government  they  had  themselves 
assisted  to  instal  eleven  months  before,  alleging  for  their  justification  that  that  govern 
ment  wanted  that  physical  and  moral  force  which  it  required  to  establish  peace  in  the 
republic,  and  transferred  their  mercenary  swords  from  M.  Zuloaga  to  M.  Ilobles,  just  as 
they  had  transferred  them,  at  the  beginning  of  the  troubles,  from  M.  Comonfort  to  M. 
Zuloaga,  and  as  they  were  shortly  about  to  transfer  them  from  M.  Kobles  to  M.  Miramon. 
It  would  be  far  too  lengthy  and  tedious  a  task  to  recount  how  the  last-named  personage, 
after  declining  the  presidency  offered  to  him  by  an  assembly  of  reactionary  "notables," 
convoked  by  M.  Robles,  succeeded  in  getting  himself  nominated  substitute  to  General 
Zuloaga,  thus  restored  just  a  month  after  his  fall.  Besides,  Miramon,  Robles,  or  Zuloaga, 
it  was  the  reaction  still — the  same  system,  and  therefore  perhaps  better  in  the  hands  of  M. 
Miramou,  a  more  thoroughgoing  reactionist  than  M.  Robles.  If  I  dwell  on  the  doings  of 
this  personage,  then,  it  is  not  to  relate  how  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of  his  party,  but  to 
express  rny  astonishment  at  his  recognition  as  President  of  the  republic  by  the  then  repre 
sentative  of  Great  Britain,  Mr.  Oiway,  who  had  in  three  successive  notes,  dated  the  pre 
ceding  November  2U,  December  1,  and  4,  officially  demanded  his  immediate  dismissal,  with 
a  statement  in  the  official  journal  of  the  reasons  for  cancelling  his  appointment.  But  the 
situation  was  changed  since  then  ;  M.  Miramon  was  no  longer  the  general  whose  dismissal 
was  peremptorily  demanded  as  a  punishment  for  his  illegal  proceedings  against  British 
subjects  resident  at  San  Luis  ;  he  was  now  a  sort  of  sovereign,  acting  as  deputy  for  another 
sort  of  sovereign,  whom  Mr.  Lettsom  had,  perhaps  imprudently,  recognized,  but  whom  at 
any  rate  he  had  recognized  ;  and  Mr.  Otway,  I  must  acknowledge,  yielded  with  a  very 
good  grace.  He  immediately  recognized  this  coarse  and  ill-bred  soldier ;  and  the  latter, 
now  free  in  his  movements,  soon  started  for  the  first  campaign  against  Vera  Cruz. 

At  the  same  time  M.  Degollado,  general-in-chief  of  the  constitutional  army,  at  the 
head  of  from  4,000  to  5,000  men  at  most,  operated  a  diversion  against  the  city  of  Mexico, 
for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the  reactionary  authorities  from  despatching  re-enforcements 
to  the  army  before  Vera  Cruz;  and  he  encamped  at  Tacubaya,  a  village  situated  some 
three  miles  from  the  capital. 

Great  was  the  alarm  among  the  defenders  of  this  good  cause.  General  Antonio 
Corona,  charged  with  the  command  in  the  absence  of  Miramon,  called  every  defender 
of  order  he  could  lay  his  hands  upon  to  the  rescue ;  and  shortly  were  seen  to  enter 
the  capital  all  the  "faithful"  whom  the  reaction  could  depend  upon,  from  the  irregu 
lars  of  the  Indian  Mejia  to  the  bandits  of  General  Marquez.  This  man  arrived 
April  8,  1859.  Two  days  after  he  eallied  out  at  the  head  of  some  6,000  men  and  40 
pieces  of  artillery  to  lay  siege  to  the  village  held  by  the  constitutional  army,  and  was 
repulsed  in  an  assault  the  same  day,  and  twice  again  the  day  following.  It  was  only  on 
the  third  day,  at  11  a.  m.,  he  succeeded  in  carrying  the  intrenchments  which  the  consti 
tutionalists  had  hastily  thrown  up.  At  the  same  time  Miramon  arrived,  accompanied  by 
his  aides-de-camp  only,  having  been  obliged  to  raiee  the  siege  of  Vera  Cruz.  At  noon 
Miramon  rode  out  to  the  scene  of  action,  and  between  2  and  3  p.  m.  effected  a  junction 
with  General  Marquez.  Now,  what  passed  between  these  two  men,  so  well  calculated  to 
understand  each  other,  I  cannot  say  ;  all  I  know  is,  that  having  laid  waste  the  village, 
these  defenders  of  "order,"  still  reeking  with  blood,  went  together  straight  to  the  hos 
pital,  where  the  wounded  of  the  day  before  and  of  the  day  preceding  lay  huddled  to 
gether,  friends  and  enemies  alike.  There  were  found  seven  generous  and  devoted  men 
doing  their  duty  as  surgeons  or  physicians  at  the  bedsides  of  the  wounded  and  the  dying. 
Marquez  had  them  seized,  and  that  same  evening  ruthlessly  slaughtered  in  cold  blood, 
together  with  all  the  wounded  officers  whom  the  fortune  of  war  had  delivered  into  the 
hands  of  the  reactionists  that  day.  This  atrocious  massacre  was  executed  at  night  by  the 
light  of  lanterns  under  the  immediate  orders  of  General  Marquez  and  M.  Miramon.  I 
will  not  undertake  to  examine  which  of  these  two  men  was  the  guiltier,  nor  whether  the 
seven  surgeons  were  comprised  in  the  death  warrant  addressed  April  11,  1859,  by  Miramon 
to  Marquez,  nor  whether  Marquez  exceeded  his  orders  in  having  them  shot.  These  are 
secondary  questions,  which,  in  an  assize  court,  might  perhaps  be  worked  by  a  skilful  ad 
vocate  into  a  plea  of  extenuating  circumstances  for  his  criminal  clients ;  but  before  the 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  211 

indignant  conscience  of  humanity  they  cannot  change  the  nature  of  the  crime  committed 
by  the  orders  of  those  men.  Both  Miramon  and  Marquez,  the  one  equally  with  the 
other,  stand  accountable  for  the  blood  shed  on  that  horrible  night ;  the  latter  for  having 
executed  the  assassinations,  the  former  for  having  commanded  them  ;  or,  if  the  surgeons 
were  not  put  to  death  by  his  orders,  for  not  having  immediately  arrested  the  assassins. 

Let  us  see  what  the  British  government  thought  of  that  atrocious  butchery.  Not  only 
did  the  resident  representatives  of  the  European  governments  take  no  steps  to  prevent  the 
assassinations  I  have  just  described,  not  only  did  they  make  110  protest  against  it,  -but  it 
appears  that  in  their  correspondence  with  their  governments  they  did  not  even  think  it 
worth  while  to  mention  the  circumstance  ;  for  if  the  British  government  was  afterwards 
informed  of  it,  it  was  through  a  private  correspondence ;  and  because  among  the  victims 
there  happened  to  be  one  physician  of  English  extraction,  Dr  John  Seferino  Duval. 

But  the  reactionary  administration  understood  too  well  how  far  it  had  transgressed  all 
permissible  limits  not  to  hasten  to  anticipate  the  just  reproaches  to  which  it  was  liable. 
Accordingly,  as  early  as  June  20,  it  had  ordered  its  agent  at  London,  Mr.  Murphy,  to  put 
into  the  hands  of  the  British  government  a  formal  complaint  of  the  conduct  pursued 
during  the  siege  of  Mexico  by  Messrs.  G.  B.  Matthews  and  Frederick  Glennie,  the  former 
secretary  of  legation,  and  the  latter  consul  of  the  British  government  at  Mexico.  Mr. 
Murphy  then  demanded  an  interview  with  Mr.  Seymour  Fitzgerald,  the  then  under 
secretary  for  foreign  affairs,  who,  so  far  from  listening  to  the  agent's  complaints,  de 
clared  to  him,  with  all  the  indignation  of  a  man  of  honor  and  feeling,  what  her  Majesty's 
government  thought  of  the  assassinations  committed  at  Tacubaya  on  the  night  of  April 
11.  This  reply  is  so  honorable  to  the  government  of  your  country  that  1  cannot  hesitate 
to  make  it  known  through  an  extract  from  the  despatch,  marked  "  Very  important,"  and 
"reserved,"  addressed  by  Mr.  Th.  Murphy,  at  that  time  diplomatic  representative  at  the 
British  court  of  the  Mexican  republic,  to  his  own  government  . 

MEXICAN  LEGATION. — No.   16. 

VERY  IMPORTANT — RESERVED. 

EXCELLENCY  :  I  have  had  a  conference  with  Mr.  Seymour  Fitzgerald  on  the  contents  of 
the  despatch  No.  7,  marked  "Very  confidential,."  of  your  excellency,  dated  the  30th  of 
Inst  April,  relative  to  the  conduct  of  Mr  G.  B.  Matthews,  secretary  of  the  British  legation 
at  Mexico,  and  to  that  of  the  British  consul,  Mr.  Frederick  Glennie,  during  the  occupa 
tion  of  Tacubaya  and  the  environs  of  the  capital  by  the  forces  of  M.  Santos  Dejollado. 

Mr.  Seymour  Fitzgerald  replied  to  me  that  it  was  somewhat  out  of  season  on  my  part  to 
be  bringing  complaints  to  the  government  of  her  Majesty  when  they  had  in  their  hands 
an  account  wiitten  by  a  merchant  in  Mexico  (whose  name  he  would  not  give  me)  concern 
ing  Mr.  John  Duval,  a  subject  of  her  Majesty,  who,  (as  it  was  alleged,)  in  company  with 
several  other  foreigners  and  natives  of  the  country,  had  been  assassinated  in  the  most 
cruel,  inhuman,  and  shameful  manner,  by  order  of  the  authorities  of  Mexico,  solely 
because  they  had  been  found  attending  to  the  wounded  of  Tacubaya,  according  to  their 
duty  as  surgeons. 

Mr.  Seymour  Fitzgerald  added  that  her  Majesty's  government  had  never  known 
of  an  order  so  barbarous,  go  unworthy  of  a  people  which  pretends  to  pass  for  civilized— an 
order,  in  short,  which  deserved  the  execration  of  the  whole  world.  He  ended  by  de 
claring  that  the  government  of  her  Majesty  were  resolved  to  demand  a  signal  reparation, 
and  a  large  indemnity  to  be  paid  immediately  to  the  widow  of  M.  Duval,  and  that  failing 
this  reparation  and  indemnity,  they  were  resolved  to  recognize  the  constitutional  govern 
ment.  »  o  «  o 

M.  MURPHY. 

His  Excellency  the  MINISTER  OF  FOREIGN  RELATIONS  at  Mexico. 

This  conversation  was,  in  fact,  followed  by  peremptory  orders,  for  on  the  4th  August 
following,  that  is,  three  or  four  days  after  the  arrival  of  the  mail  bringing  that  despatch 
from  Mr.  Murphy,  Mr.  Otway  himself  addressed  to  the  reactionary  government  a  note,  in 
which  he  claimed,  in  behalf  of  the  widow  Duval,  the  indemnity  of  which  Mr.  Murphy 
had  received  warning  ;  and  at  length  some  doubts  of  the  legitimacy  of  the  government 
established  by  the  coup  d'etat  began  to  appear.  Unfortunately,  the  reactionary  govern 
ment  continued,  to  elude  the  demand  on  more  or  less  plausible  pretexts,  and  it  was  not 
until  1861,  after  the  definitive  triumph  of  the  liberal  party  in  Mexico,  that  the  affair  was 
settled  to  the  satisfaction  of  Madame  Duval  and  of  the  British  government. 

E.  LEFEVRE. 

ERRATUM.— In  letter  I,  (Daily  News,  December  30,)  for  M.  de  Gulnar,  read  M.  de 
Gabriac. 


212  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

[From  the  Daily  News,  January  7,  1864.] 
No.  III.— THE  JECKER  BONDS. 

October  29,  1859,  the  reactionary  administration,  in  pressing  want  of  money,  published 
a  decree,  purporting  to  create  a  paper  issue  of  15,000,000  piastres,  or  a  little  more  than 
£3,000,000  sterling. 

By  this  decree  the  administration  suspended  the  issue  to  the  same  amount  of  bonds 
created  by  the  Pezi  law,  (Art.  2,)  and  decided  that  the  new  bonds  should  be  received  in 
the  proportion  of  20s.  per  cent,  each,  in  payment'of  all  the  taxes  or  duties  which  the 
treasury  should  impose,  (Art.  3  ;)  that  they  should  bear  an  annual  interest  of  6  per  cent, , 
(Art.  4  ;)  that  half  that  interest  should  be  guaranteed,  for  five  years,  by  the  house  of  J.  B 
Jecker,  whose  signature  shall  authorize  the  issue  of  the  bonds,  (Art  5  ;)  and  that  the  pos 
sessors  of  the  old  bonds  should  have  the  faculty  to  convert  them  into  new  bonds,  by  paying 
into  the  hands  of  the  above-mentioned  Jecker,  as  the  banker  who  had  undertaken  the 
operation,  a  sum  of  25  per  cent.,  for  the  " revalidation "  of  the  bonds  of  the  old  internal 
debt,  of  27  per  cent,  for  the  bonds  which  have  been  created  by  the  law  of  November  30, 
1850,  and  of  28  per  cent,  for  those  which  were  created  by  the  famous  Peza  law  (Art.  8.) 

The  operation  was  calculated  to  produce  a  net  profit  of  3,750,000  piastres  (£750,000.) 
On  this  amount  M.  Jecker  received  :  1.  Five  per  cent,  commission  on  the  total  is^ue,  or,  in 
other  words,  the  twentieth  of  the  total  realisable  profit  of  the  operation — £150,000  2 
To  payment  of  five  years'  interest,  (of  which  he  guaranteed  one-half  conformably  with  the 
terms  of  Art.  4,)  £450,000;  balance  remaining  to  the  government,  £150,000;  total, 
£750,000.  Nevertheless,  in  the  course  of  its  execution,  this  transaction  presented  itself 
under  three  distinct  and  independent  aspects.  The  first  is  that  which  it  had  naturally  in 
virtue  of  the  decree  of  October  29,  above  mentioned. 

The  second  is  that  which  it  received  from  a  private  convention  proposed  by  the  house  of 
Jecker,  on  the  same  day,  October  29,  1859,  to  the  reactionary  administration,  and  accepted 
by  the  latter. 

The  third  is  that  which  it  assumed,  from  time  to  time,  in  consequence  of  certain  pro 
posals  or  contracts  presented  by  the  above-named  house  of  Jecker,  in  order  to  carry  out 
the  operation  advantageously.  Between  these  three  aspects  of  the  transaction  the  difference 
is  so  great  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  explain  it  without  making  it  demonstrable  in 
figures. 

Result  of  the  affair  of  the  Jecker  bonds  had  the  operation  been  carried  out  in  conformity  with  the  terms 
of  the  decree  of  October  29,  1859. 

Product  of  sums  expected  to  accrue  to  the  treasury  from  the  conversion,  at  an  average 
of  25  per  cent.,  of  15,000,000  piastres  in  bonds,  issued  in  conformity  with  the  decree  of 
that  day,  £750,000.  Product  of  fifteen  millions  of  piastres  in  Peza  bonds,  which  were 
then  worth  5  per  cent.,  and  redeemable  in  proportion  as  the  new  bonds  should  be  issued, 
£150,000.  Value  of  the  new  Jecker  stock,  which  the  government  was  to  redeem  with  the 
20  per  cent,  on  the  State  revenues,  £3,000,000. 

Approximate  calculation  of  the  sums  that  should  have  accrued  from  the  fifteen  half-yearly 
payments  (at  the  least)  required  for  the  redemption  of  the  whole  amount  of  the  interest 
on  the  sum  of  £3,000,000  sterling  in  bonds,  in  conformity  with  Arc.  5  of  the  decree 
above  mentioned. 

First  half-yearly  payment  at  6^- £=  3  per  cent,  on £3,000,000  £90,000 

Second do do 2,800,000  84,000 

Third do do 2,600,000  78,000 

Fourth do do 2,400,000  72,000 

Fifth do do 2,200,000  66,000 

Sixth do do 2,000,000  60,  00» 

Seventh do do 1,800,000  54,000 

Eighth do do 1,600,000  48,000 

Ninth do do 1,400,000  42,000 

Tenth do do 1,200,000  36,000 

Eleventh do do 1,000,000  30,000 

Twelfth do do 800,000  24,000 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  213 

Thirteenth  half-yearly  payment  at  6  —  |=3  per  cent.  on...         £600,000  £18,000 

Fourteenth do do. 400,000  12,000 

Fifteenth do do 200,000  6,000 

Total 720,000 

This  sum,  added  to  the  £3,000,000  of  bonds  issued,  made  a  general  total  of    £3,720,000 


From  this  sum,  by  deducting  the  credit  from  the  debit,  the  following  result 

was  obtained £3,720,000 

Deduct 900,000 

Total £2,820,000 

So  that  if  the  operation  had  been  carried  out  in  conformity  with  the  prescriptions  of  the 
decree  to  which  we  referred  at  the  beginning  of  this  article,  £900,000  would  have  cost  the 
government  the  enormous  sura  of  £2,820,000. 

The  operation,  however,  was  not  carried  out  on  these  terms,  for  at  the  moment  of  its 
execution  the  house  of  Jecker  presented  another  proposal,  which  we  proceed  to  analyse  as 
follows : 

Result  of  the  affair  of  the  Jecktr  bonds  if  the  operation  had  been  carried  out  in  conformity  with  the 

second  proposal  of  that  house. 

Credit.  Debit. 

Total  accruing  to  the  national  treasury  from  the  conversion  of 

£3,000,000  sterling  of  bonds  issued  as  above  mentioned- £750,  000 

Peza  bonds,  redeemed  as  above  mentioned _ 150,  000 

£900,000 


Expenses  of  the  operation. 

Commission  of  5  percent,  to  MM.  Jecker _>  £150,000 

Deposit  of  10  per  cent   with  MM.  Jecker  for  payment  of  interest 

guaranteed  by  same 300,000 

Brokerage ..  30,000 

Printing  bonds 2,400 

Total  to  deduct  from  amount  above  mentioned -.       482,400 

Difference  in  favor  of  the  treasury £417,  600 

From  which  must  be  deducted  also  the  supposed  value  of  the 

Peza  bonds 150,000 

Net  result  of  the  operation £267,600 

But  the  value  of  the  new  stock  which  it  was  proposed  to  redeem  was £3,  000,  000 

That  of  the  interest  at  3  per  cent,  which  was  also  to  be  redeemed  in  fifteen 

half-yearly  payments  was _. --  720,  000 

Total £3,720,000 

From  which  if  we  deduct  the  net  sum  accruing  to  the  treasury 267,  600 


The  difference  against  the  treasury  was --     £3,452,400 

So  that  if  the  operation  had  been  carried  out  according  to  the  last  proposal  of  M.  Jecker, 
£417,  600,  including  even  the  supposi-d  value  of  the  Peza  bonds,  would  have  cost  the  state 
£3,720,000,  or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  the  public  treasury  would  have  received  a  sum  of 
£267,600,  on  condition  of  p»yii-g  interest  fur  it  from  eight  to  ten  years  at  the  rate  of 
something  like  80  per  cent,  per  ainni  a 

Nor  is  this  all.  The  most  singu  u  future  in  this  operation  is  that  to  transform  it  from 
theory  into  practice  no  account  was  taken  either  of  the  decree  which  had  imposed  it  upon 
the  tax- payers,  nor  of  the  last  prop;  sals  presented  to  the  government  by  the  house  of 
Jecker  itself;  but  it  was  realize  i  a  <y  how.  by  means  of  private  contracts  presented  one  by 
one  to  the  sanction  of  the  authorities,  for  the  public  took  but  the  smallest  part  in  the 


214  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

conversion,  nnd  M.  Jecker  found  himself  obliged  to  complete  it  himself  by  altering  each 
time,  both  in  its  form  and  in  its  mode  of  stating  the  figures,  not  only  the  decree  of  October 
29,  but  even  the  very  terms  of  his  own  last  proposal. 

Thus  the  first  contract  proposed  by  him  to  the  administration  bears  date  October  27, 
1859,  two  days  anterior  to  the  publication  of  the  decree. 

The  second  presented  by  his  nephew  and  partner,  M.  Jules  Borneque,  bears  date  January 
26,  1860. 

The  third,  presented  also  by  his  nephew,  is  dated  March  13  of  the  same  year. 

By  virtue  of  these  three  private  contracts  the  house  of  Jecker  converted  a  pnrt  "f  the 
Peza  bonds  and  became  master  of  the  new  stock  in  the  following  proportion: 

It  converted,  by  the  first  contract,  £400,000  ;  by  the  second,  £1,200,000  ;  by  the  third, 
£1,248,322  ;  total,  £2,848,322  ;  brokerage  paid  to  M.  Clement  Caricabure,  £30,000  ;  con 
verted  by  different  persons,  £121,678  ;  total  equal  to  the  amount  of  issue  £3,000,000. 

It  remains  for  us  to  explain  how  the  house  of  Jecker  undertook  to  convert  a  certain 
quantity  of  bonds  bearing  the  signatures  of  MM.  Peza  and  Zuloaga  in  exchange  for  an 
equal  quantity  of  bonds  which  were  issued  by  the  administration  of  Miramou.  By  means 
of  the  three  contracts  above  mentioned  MM.  Jecker  &  Co.  remitted  in  hard  cash  a  sum  of 
£144,604  ;  in  bonds  presented  as  cash,  £49,350  ;  in  bills  on  the  customs,  also  presented  as 
cash,  £20,000  ;  in  clothing  and  equipments  for  the  army  £73,600  ;  total,  £287.554. 

It  is  true  we  have  drawn  up  this  statement  on  the  proposals  made  by  MM.  Jecker  &  Co. 
themselves,  and  stipulated  by  the  contracts  above  mentioned  ;  but  at  the  moment  of  making 
the  remittances  to  the  treasury  the  negotiators  arranged  to  pass  as  cash  a  certain  quantity 
of  other  credits  or  bonds,  so  that  this  new  transaction  was,  in  fact,  another  variation  of 
the  primitive  scheme  of  the  operation. 

The  following  is  the  result  of  the  treasury  account :  MM.  Jecker  &  Co.  have  remitted  in 
cash,  £123,785  ;  in  ordinary  bonds  at  3  and  5  per  cent.,  £68,400  ;  in  Peza  bonds,  £6,000  ; 
M,  Jecker  bonds,  (those  of  his  contract,)  £4,950  ;  in  bills  on  the  customs,  £20,000 ;  in 
army  clothing,  &c.,  £73,600  ;  in  divers  credits  and  payments,  £1,350  ;  total,  £298,085. 
Difference:  treasury  account,  £298,085;  former  account,  £287,554  ;  difference  in  favor  of 
treasury  account,  £10,531. 

In  the  second  of  these  accounts  the  total  sum  of  the  remittances  is  augmented,  as  it 
appears,  by  £10,531,  but  it  is  at  the  same  time  diminished,  so  far  as  the  portion  which 
MM.  Jecker  &  Co.  were  to  remit  in  cash,  contrary  to  their  proposals,  by  the  sum  of  £20,818. 
We  remark  also  a  difference  between  the  quantity  of  bonds  redeemed  by  M.  Jecker,  accord 
ing  to  the  account  presented  by  him,  and  that  which  the  registers  of  the  treasury  show. 
But  the  difference  is  trifling,  and  scarcely  diminishes  in  any  sensible  degree  the  sum  in  cash 
which  M.  Jecker  received  for  converting  bonds  of  individual  holders.  We  have  mentioned 
it  as  a  term  of  comparison,  and  as  evidence  that  this  transaction  was  one  of  those  in  which 
the  profits  are  calculated  in  propoition  to  the  risks. 

We  may  thus  easily  understand  the  difference  that  exists  between  the  conversion  of 
stock  as  it  was  proposed  by  the  decree  of  October  29,  1859,  and  that  which  was  effected  by 
the  agency  of  MM.  Jecker,  a  conversion  for  which  the  government  received  only  £123,785 
in  specie,  and  £73,600  in  army  clothing.  But  even  supposing  that  all  the  different  fractional 
sums  remitted  by  M.  Jecker  could  be  treated  as  cash,  it  would  be  not  the  less  clear  that  for 
£287,554  the  government  (besides  3  per  cent,  yearly  interest,  which  was  to  be  redeemable 
in  fifteen  half-yearly  payments,  and  the  total  of  which  amounted  to  £720,000,)  mortgaged 
for  ten  years  more  the  revenues  of  the  republic  by  taking  the  fifth  of  their  effective  value 
until  the  complete  redemption  of  the  £300,000  remitted  in  bonds  to  M.  Jecker. 

In  other  words,  for  £287,554,  value  received  in  money,  in  clothes,  in  bills  on  th  •  customs, 
and  in  bonds,  the  public  treasury  undertook  the  reimbursement  of  a  sum  of  £3,720,000. 

Besides,  it  will  be  observed  that  in  these  transactions  no  profit  whatever  results  to  the 
government,  since  M.  Jecker,  after  having  reserved  out  of  the  £3,000,000,  which  he  hud 
received  to  effect  the  conversion  of  the  stock — 1,  5  per  cent,  commission  ;  2,  10  per  cent., 
to  cover  the  portion  of  the  interest  for  which  he  was  personally  responsible,  ought  at  least 
to  have  made  good  to  the  government,  every  time  that  a  bond  was  redeemed,  the  10  per 
cent,  corresponding  to  that  bond,  or,  at  least,  the  surplus,  whenever  a  half-yearly  pay 
ment  of  interest  was  effected.  MM.  Jecker,  however,  in  paying  that  half-yearly  interest — 
that  is,  H  per  cent. — considered  themselves  discharged  from  all  further  obligation,  and 
retained,  besides,  the  8£  per  cent,  in  addition  to  their  commission  of  5  per  cent. 

In  this  state  of  things,  although  it  may  be  difficult  to  get  at  the  precise  figures,  since 
the  actual  charges  on  the  house  of  Jecker  are  not  known,  we  may  establish  a  commercial 
balance-sheet  more  or  less  accurate  of  what  that  operation  must  have  cost,  and  wo  may 
here  remind  the  reader  that  the  expenses  of  brokerage  to  M.  Caricabure,  or  of  printing  the 
bonds,  were  not  borne  by  MM.  Jecker,  but  by  the  government. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  215 


APPROXIMATE  CALCULATION  OF  THE  COST  OF  THE  AFFAIR  OF  THE  JECKER  BONDS. 

Cash  paid  into  treasury,  comprising  payments  for  the  purchase  of  a  flotilla 123,  785 

Cost  sur  place  of  222,000  piastres  in  bonds  at  3,  and  at  5  to  6  per  cent 2,  664 

Ditto  of  24,750  piastres  in  Jecker  bonds  at  30  per  cent 1,425 

Ditto  of  100,000  piastres  in  bills  on  customs  at  50  per  cent 10,000 

Ditto  of  368,000  piastres  for  clothing  and  equipments 73,600 

Ditto  of  14,378,700  piastres  in  Peza  bonds  employed  in  the  conversion,  at  5  per 

cent - 143,787 

Total 355,321 

Deduct  : 

1.  Value  of  554,127  piastres  in  bonds,  which  M.  Jecker  realized  at  30  per 

cent 33,247 

2.  Ten  per  cent,  which  M.  Jecker  reserved  on  621,300  piastres,  in  bonds 

converted  by  the  public 12,426 

45,673 

;      Actual  disbursements 309,648 

This,  let  me  repeat,  is  only  given  as  an  approximate  account,  and  may  contain  errors. 
But,  even  if  we  add  or  subtract  some  thousands  of  pounds  sterling  from  the  figures  given 
above,  it  will  still  remain  a  fact  that  the  affair  was  from  first  to  last  simply  a  banking  op 
eration,  in  which  the  reactionary  government  issued  £3,000,000  in  bonds  bearing  interest 
at  6  per  cent,  per  annum,  and  that  these  bonds,  redeemable  in  ten  years,  were  sold  sur  place 
at  25  per  cent. 

In  another  letter  we  propose  to  consider  this  great  operation  from  a  political  point  of 
view. 

E.  LEFEVRE. 


[From  the  Daily  News,  January  13,  1864.] 
°No.  IV. — CONCLUSION  OF  THE  JECKER  QUESTION. 

In  our  last  article  we  contented  ourselves  with  representing  the  affair  of  the  Jecker 
bonds  from  a  purely  commercial  point  of  view  ;  but  in  order  to  complete  it  some  fresh  re 
flections  are  required,  which  appear  to  us  of  a  very  serious  nature. 

The  French  imperial  government  demanded  the  execution  of  this  contract  through  M. 
de  Saligny,  and  that  agent  introduced  the  condition  into  one  of  the  articles  of  his  ultima 
tum. 

Now,  one  of  two  things  follows  from  the  explanations  we  have  already  given: 

Either  that  contract  was  in  principle  an  innovation,  and  completely  independent  of  the 
decree  which  authorizes  it ;  or  it  was  a  series  of  different  contracts,  which  may  be  classed 
among  those  called  in  French  jurisprudence  contrats  bilateraux. 

If  it  is  regarded  as  a  single  contract — which  is  incorrect,  not  to  say  absurd — then  it  was 
violated  at  every  turn  by  M.  Jecker  himself.  It  was  modified  in  a  thousand  ways.  In 
fine,  it  is  connected  with  a  thousand  different  operations.  The  imperial  government  could 
not,  therefore,  demand  from  the  Mexican  government  the  full  and  complete  execution  of 
the  decree  of  the  29th  October,  1859,  siuce'his  client  had  never  executed  his  part  of  it. 

If,  on  the  contrary — and  the  evidence  of  this  fact  cannot  be  disputed  by  anybody — the 
deed  in  question  is  not  composed  of  one  but  of  several  contracts  concluded  by  the  nephew 
of  M.  Jecker,  rather  than  by  M.  Jecker  in  person,  it  follows  that  each  of  those  contracts 
was  distinct,  and  this  shows  that  both  M.  Jecker  and  the  reactionary  government  made 
and  unmade,  according  to  their  interests,  the  conventions  they  signed  ;  that  they  modified 
them  ;  that  they  changed  them  ;  and  above  all,  that  they  materially  altered  the  disposi 
tions  of  the  legislation  which  served  as  their  starting  point.  It  was,  therefore,  supremely 
unjust  on  the  part  of  the  imperial  commissioner  to  demand  the  full  and  entire  execution 
of  the  clauses  which  were  hi  favor  of  M.  Jecker,  since  the  latter  had  modified  all  those 
which  were  in  favor  of  the  treasury,  by  paying  into  it  bonds,  bills,  goods,  and  drafts  upon 
the  custotn-house,  instead  of  money. 

*  See  Daily  News  of  December  30,  January  4,  and  January  7. 


216  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

But  there  is  a  still  more  conclusive  reason.  'Ike  contract  m  question  was  infringed, 
nay,  broken,  completely  broken,  by  the  Jecker  firm  itself. 

In  fact,  about  the  middle  of  the  month  of  May,  18GO,  that  firm  saw  itself  under  the 
necessity  of  suspending  payment.  It  cannot  be  said  that  this  arose  from  the  ill-will  of  the 
constitutional  authorities,  for  those  authorities  were  only  re-established  in  Mexico  on  the 
25th  of  the  following  December. 

However,  in  taking  this  very  serious  step  M.  Jecker  naturally  suspended  all  his  opera 
tions. 

On  the  18th  or  19th  of  the  same  month  he  assembled  his  creditors  and  made  terms  with 
them  on  condition  that  a  conseil  d' intervention  should  be  appointed. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  became  impossible  for  him  to  retain,  the  deposit,  as  he  had 
undertaken  to  do  on  commencing  the  refaction,  the  10  per  cent,  corresponding  to  the  in 
terest  of  the  bonds  issued,  and  which  alone  amounted  to  the  enormous  sum  of  £300,000. 
The  contrary,  however,  happened,  and  while  M.  Jecker  presented  his  14,000,000  of  bonds 
as  part  of  his  capital,  while  he  mortgaged  them  (which  he  had  no  right  to  do,  as  he  had 
not  fulfilled  the  conditions  of  his  contract,)  he  said  nothing,  and  with  good  reason,  of  that 
£300,000  which  he  ought  to  have  had  in  his  strong  box  to  raeet  the  interests  becoming 
due,  and  to  dispose  legitimately  of  this  paper  which  a  part  of  the  country  was  paying  for 
then  with  the  sweat  of  its  brow. 

However,  there  is  more  yet.  Under  the  circumstances  in  which  M.  Jecker  concluded 
his  famous  contract,  it  was  not  a  loan,  pure  and  simple,  undertaken  by  a  banker  uncon 
nected  with  politics  ;  it  was  a  real  and  effective  society  that  the  Jecker  firm  formed  with 
a  counter-revolutionary  party,  for  the  purpose  of  driving  from  Vera  Cruz  the  government 
which,  in  conformity  with  all  the  usages  of  civilized  nations,  was  the  only  national  and 
legitimate  government. 

Thus,  even  before  failing,  M.  Jecker  had  committed  the  grave  fault  of  contracting  with 
a  government  which,  according  to  the  rules  of  international  law,  was  incapable  of  con 
tracting,  and  of  having  by  that  circumstance  mixed  himself  up  in  the  intestine  dissensions 
of  the  country. 

He  ought,  therefore,  to  have  known  to  what  he  exposed  himself  in  case  of  reverses  ;  and 
to  completely  establish  this  fresh  fact  we  might,  if  it  were  necessary,  translate  the  decree 
rendered  at  Vera  Cruz  upon  the  matter  on  the  3d  of  November,  1858— that  is,  a  year  be- 
fore'the  signing  of  the  contract  with  which  we  are  occupied. 

It  would  be  seen  there,  among  other  things,  that  every  person  convicted  of  having 
afforded  aid,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  insurgents,  by  supplying  them  with  money,  or 
in  any  other  manner,  was,  for  that  alone,  to  lose  the  integral  value  of  the  amounts  he  had 
given,  and  to  be  condemned  to  pay,  moreover,  to  the  treasury,  as  a  fine,  double  the  amount 
of  money  he  had  supplied. 

The  good  faith  of  M.  Jecker  might  be  defended  by  maintaining  that  he  might  or  might 
not  have  known  of  this  decree ;  but  this  objection,  which  is  more  special  than  solid, 
would  only  serve  to  establish  the  insignificant  value  of  his  reclamation  in  the  opinion 
even  of  those  who  sustain  it ;  for  it  is  publicly  notorious  that  during  the  whole  period  of 
the  reactionary  administration  the  decrees  rendered  at  Vera  Cruz  by  the  legitimate  author 
ity  were  disseminated  in  the  capital  by  the  clandestine  press  ;  and  it  would  be  insulting  to 
the  public  to  try  to  make  it  believe  that  in  a  matter  of  this  importance  M.  Jecker  alone 
was  ignorant  of  the  terms  of  a  decree  the  rigorous  dispositions  of  which  were  known  to 
every  one  in  Mexico. 

Let  us,  therefore,  turn  from  these  questions,  and  place  ourselves  solely  upon  the  ground 
of  facts,  in  order  to  study  the  position  occupied  by  the  Jecker  affair  upon  the  entrance  of 
the  constitutional  forces  into  the  capital  of  the  republic. 

The  counter-revolutionary  authorities  had  disappeared,  carrying  away  with  them  the 
hopes  of  all  those  who  had  attached  their  fortune,  to  them ;  and  M.  Jecker  was  of  this 
number.  Ought  the  legitimate  government  to  have  sanctioned  its  contract  with  the  fallen 
administration  ?  We  do  not  hesitate  to  reply  in  the  negative  ;  in  the  first  place,  because 
the  operations  connected  with  it  were  directed  against  itself,  and  because  a  government 
could  not  in  any  case  be  compelled  to  pay  for  the  weapons  with  which  the  insurgents  had 
made  war  against  it ;  secondly,  because,  in  consequence  of  the  financial  organization  which 
had  again  been  instituted  in  the  country,  the  assignment  of  20  per  cent,  contained  in  the 
decree  of  the  29th  of  October  was  legally  and  de  facto  completely  suspended. 

It  only  remained  for  him  in  reality  to  conclude  an  engagement  by  private  arrangement, 
as  the  government  several  times  proposed,  or  to  apply  to  the  tribunals,  and  make  them 
judges  of  the  transaction. 

But,  urged  by  M.  de  Saligny,  M.  Jecker  refused  to  follow  the  example  given  to  him  by 
several  English  citizens,  Mr.  Davidson,  for  instance,  and  he  addressed  himself  to  the 
French  legation,  which  proposed  a  settlement,  the  object  of  which  was  to  reduce  to  ten 
millions  of  piastres  (£2,000,000)  the  sum  to  be  paid  to  M.  Jecker.  In  the  event  of  ac- 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  217 

ceptance,  this  debt  was  to  be  paid  off  by  instalments,  by  means  of  a  sum  of  15  per  cent, 
levied  upon  the  custom-house  revenues.  Finally — to  omit  nothing — this  proposition  was 
preceded  by  a  note,  in  which,  while  recognizing  that  this  nffair  was  the  only  one  which  could 
occasion  serious  difficulties  between  France  and  Mexico,  M.  de  Saligny  proceeded  to  add  men 
acingly,  immediately  afterwards,  that  it  would  prevent  the  imperial  government  from 
giving  free  course  to  its  friendly  intentions  towards  the  republic. 

The  following  is  this  note.  It  is  the  best  reply  to  the  statements  made  by  the  late  M. 
Billault  before  the  corps  legislatif  on  the  27th  of  June,  1862,  and  the  6th  of  February, 
1SG3,  denying  that  any  pressure  was  exerted  upon  the  relations  of  the  imperial  govern 
ment  with  Mexico  by  this  unfortunate  affair  of  the  Jecker  bonds  : 

LEGATION  OF  FRANCE  IN  MEXICO, 

Mexico,  May  2,  1861. 

Monsieur  le  MINISTRE  :  I  have  had  the  honor  of  frequently  conversing  during  the  last 
three  months  with  your  excellency  upon  a  question  in  which  the  interests  and  the  honor 
of  France  are  seriously  involved — I  mean  the  question  relating  to  the  Jecker  bonds. 

After  the  conversations  exchanged  on  this  subject  between  your  excellency  and  myself, 
I  believe  I  need  not  for  the  moment  enter  into  the  details  of  this  matter.  It  appears  to 
me  equally  superfluous  to  discuss  here  an  incontestable  and  undisputed  principle  which 
prevails  in  the  relations  between  all  civilized  nations,  and  that  your  excellency  yourself 
did  not  refuse  to  admit — the  principle  of  the  solidarity,  in  connexion  with  international 
engagements,  of  the  various  governments  which  succeed  each  other  in  a  country.  This 
principle  France,  throughout  the  various  phases  she  has  passed  through  during  the  last 
fifty  years,  has  always  respected — sometimes  at  the  cost  of  grievous  sacrifices  which  are 
still  fresh  in  all  memories.  It  is  her  right,  therefore,  and  her  duty  to  demand  that  it 
shall  be  respected  by  other  nations  ;  and,  however  sincere  and  ardent  may  be  the  kindly 
feeling  with  which  the  Emperor  is  animated  towards  the  Mexican  government,  he  cannot 
recognize  in  that  government  the  faculty  of  emancipating  itself  from  that  principle,  and 
,  of  creating  for  its  own  advantage  a  new  international  law  in  formal  opposition  with  that 
which  has  hitherto  served  as  the  rule  of  all  international  relations. 

As  I  had  given  you  to  expect,  therefore,  not  leaving  you  ignorant  of  the  matter,  I  have 
received,  first  by  the  Tennessee,  twelve  days  ago,  and  since,  by  the  last  English  packet, 
precise  and  peremptory  orders  from  my  government  upon  this  question. 

I  had  hoped  that,  informed  by  you  of  the  necessity  and  danger  of  the  situation,  as  well 
as  of  the  incontestable  obligations  imposed  upon  it,  the  government  of  his  excellency  the 
President  would  have  hastened  to  settle  this  affair,  the  only  one  which  can  occasion  grave 
difficulties  between  the  two  countries,  and  prevent  France  from  giving  free  course  to  her 
friendly  intentions  towards  Mexico.  My  hope,  unfortunately,  has  been  deceived.  I  cannot 
take  upon  myself  to  delay  any  longer  the  execution  of  the  orders  of  the  Emperor's  govern 
ment.  Nevertheless,  before  notifying  them  to  you  in  an  official  manner,  I  have  felt  bound 
to  give  you  a  fresh  proof  of  the  conciliatory  spirit  with  which  I  am  personally  animated  ; 
and,  guided  by  a  sentiment  that  you  will,  I  hope,  appreciate,  I  beg  of  you  to  let  me  know 
with  the  shortest  delay  the  definitive  intentions  of  your  government. 
I  am,  &c., 

A.  DE  SALIGNY. 

His  Excellency  M.  FRANCISCO  ZARCO, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  Mexico. 

In  this  note  M.  de  Saligny  openly  asserted,  as  it  will  be  seen,  a  principle  which  no  one 
thought  of  denying — the  solidarity,  in  connexion  with  international  engagements,  of  the 
various  governments  which  succeed  each  other  in  the  same  country .  But  he  refrained,  and 
with  good  reason,  from  showing  how  the  interests  and  the  honor  of  France.were  so  seriously 
implicated  in  the  acceptance  of  the  Jecker  bonds,  or  the  titles  upon  which,  according  to 
him,  the  legitimacy  of  the  reactionary  government  was  based.  Yet  it  was  worth  the 
trouble 

During  three  years  there  were,  in  effect,  two  different  government*  in  Mexico.  One  of  these 
constituted  powers  was  established  at  Vera  Cruz,  the  other  at  Mexico.  Which  was  to  be 
considered  as  the  legitimate  government  and  which  as  the  intruder  ? 

M.  Jecker,  it  is  true,  had  concluded  different  contracts  with  one  <  f  these  two  governments ; 
but  in  proceeding  thus  he  had  acted  as  a  banker,  not  as  a  Kr^n< •hman,  for  he  was  then  a 
Swiss  citizen,  and,  try  as  we  may,  we  cannot  understand  how  the  non-execution  of  a  con 
tract  between  a  Swiss  and  the  more  or  less  legitimate  government  of  Mexico  could  affect  the 
honor  and  the  interests  of  France 

M.  de  Gabriac,  then  minister  of  the  imperial  government  in  Mexico,  had  recognized,  it 
is  true,  the  government  established  in  that  city;  but  was  this  recognition  a  sufficient  reason 
why  his  successor,  M.  de  Saligny,  in  an  affair  concerning  a  Swiss  citizen,  and  not  a  French 


218  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

subject,  should  claim,  in  favor  of  transactions  between  that  government  and  that  Swiss 
citizen,  "the  solidarity  of  international  engagements?" 

Surely  there  were  two  previous  questions  to  be  decided  :  1.  How  carne  this  Swiss  citizen 
to  claim  a  right  to  the  protection  of  France  ?  2 .  Had  the  reactionary  government  become 
the  legitimate  government  of  the  republic  ?  For  if  M.  Jecker,  by  reason  of  his  nationality, 
had  never  had  any  right  to  the  protection  of  France,  if  it  had  been  decided,  ufter  a  fair 
and  careful  deliberation,  that  the  reactionary  government  was  an  usurpation,  it  is  clear 
that  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  could  have  claimed  any  right — the  former  to  demand 
of  France  a  guarantee  for  his  jobbing  speculations,  the  latter  to  make  the  country  respon 
sible  for  its  acts  ;  and  in  neither  case  could  M.  de  Saligny  be  justified  in  quoting,  in  favor 
of  the  acts  of  his protfyt,  that  principle  of  the  solidarity  of  international  engagements,  or,  in 
other  words,  the  common  and  equal  responsibility  of  successive  governments,  upon  which 
he  insisted,  in  order  to  exercise  a  pressure  upon  the  legitimate  government. 

Now,  it  results  from  a  note  of  M.  Arnold  Sutter,  consul  general  ot  the  Swiss  confederation 
in  Mexico,  that  the  citizens  of  that  nation  have  never  been  under  the  protection  of  any 
foreign  power,  and  that  in  extraordinary  emergencies  only  their  consuls  general  are  au 
thorized  to  claim  the  protection,  not  of  the  minister  of  the  Emperor  of  the  French,  but  of 
the  envoy  of  the  United  States  of  America 

The  following  is  the  note  written  after  the  departure  of  M.  de  Saligny  from  Mexico,  and 
addressed  to  the  government  of  the  republic,  in  consequence  of  the  Prussian  minister,  M.  do 
Wagner,  having  interfered  in  the  affairs  of  a  Swiss  citizen,  M.  Santiago  Kern,  proprietor  of 
a  mill  situate  near  the  city  of  Mexico : 

CONSULATE  GENERAL  OF  SWITZERLAND  IN  MEXICO, 

February  8,  1862. 

The  undersigned,  consul  general  of  the  Swiss  confederation,  has  4he  honor  to  acknowledge 
the  receipt  of  the  note  addressed  to  him  by  his  excellency  the  minister  for  foreign  affairs, 
under  date  the  7th  instant,  asking  whether  he  is  still  in  the  exercise  of  his  consular  func 
tions,  the  attention  of  the  government  having  been  drawn  to  the  fact  that  the  legation 
of  France,  and  subsequently  that  of  his  Majesty  the  King  of  Prussia,  have  taken  part  in 
questions  touching  the  interests  of  Swiss  citizens. 

The  undersigned  has  the  honor  to  reply  to  his  excellency  that  the  instructions  he  has 
received  from  his  government  authorize  him  in  all  respects  to  put  himself  in  communication 
with  the  government  of  the  Mexican  republic,  and  to  receive  all  the  communications  which 
the  Mexican  government  may  transmit  to  him.  At  the  same  time  it  is  his  duty  to  inform 
his  excellency  that,  in  pursuance  of  a  convention  agreed  to  between  the  government  of  the 
Swiss  confederation  and  the  government  of  the  United  States  of  America,  the  Swiss  consuls 
are  authorized  to  demand,  in  case  of  need,  the  protection  of  the  diplomatic  agents  of  the  United  Slates,  and 
that  the  latter  are  instructed  to  consider  it  their  duty  to  protect  Swiss  citizens  as  they  should 
their  own  fellow-countrymen. 
The  undersigned,  &c., 

ARNOLD  SUITER. 

His  Excellency  the  MINISTER  OF  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS  OF  MEXICO 

So  that,  if  M:  Jecker  had  any  complaint  to  make  against  the  government  of  the  Mexican 
republic,  it  was  to  the  American  and  not  to  the  French  legation  that  he  should  have  ad 
dressed  it. 

So  much  for  the  first  point  It  remains  to  clear  np  the  second  According  to  the  doc 
trine  of  international  law  propounded  during  Louis  Philippe's  reign  by  M.  Rossi,  at  the 
College  of  France,  it  is  understood  "  that  an  insurrection  in  no  respect  alters  the  relations 
between  the  government  of.  the  country  in  which  the  insurrection  breaks  out  and  foreign 
powers.'  It  is  e.ven  admitted  that  the  latter  ought  to  abstain  rigorously  from  giving  any 
aid,  direct  or  indirect,  to  the  insurgents,  because,  in  acting  otherwise,  they  would  be  acting 
against  the  presumption  of  the  national  will,  which  is  always  in  favor  of  the  established 
government,  so  long  as  that  government  exists. 

The  whole  question,  then,  is,  by  what  title  M  Zuloaga  first,  and  then  M.  Miramon,  could 
have  superposed  the  authority  of  the  reactionary  insurgents  upon  that  of  the  government 
emanating  from  the  constitution  of  1857,  and  thus  engage  the  responsibility  of  the  latter  ; 
for  it  is  evident  that  if  the  title  invoked  by  M.  de  Saligny  was  not  in  accordance  with  the 
usages  of  international  law,  it  was  therefore  null,  and  the  engagements  undertaken  in  the 
name  of  that  pretended  government  with  M.  Jecker,  or  any  other  person,  would  fall  under 
the  category  of  those  private  engagements  which  are  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  ordinary 
tribunals.  The  constitutional  government,  so  long  as  it  existed  alone,  represented  the 
nation  in  the  eyes  of  foreign  sovereigns;  alone  had  the  right  to  sign  contracts,  and,  con 
sequently,  to  engage  the  responsibility  of  the  republic.  Thio  point  is  beyond  all  possibility 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  219 

of  dispute.    What  it  was  essential  to  demonstrate  was  that  that  government  had  succumbed 
under  the  assaults  of  the  reactionary  party,  and  how  and  when  it  had  succumbed. 

Here  the  facts  speak  for  themselves  irresistibly.  At  the  risk  of  repeating  a  part  of 
what  we  stated  in  our  first  article,  we  may  be  permitted  to  summarize  them  as  follows : 

December  17,  1857,  M.  Comonfort,  President  of  the  "Mexican  republic,  rose  in  insurrec 
tion,  in  company  with  a  certain  Zuloago,  against  the  constitution  to  which  sixteen  days 
before  he  had  sworn  fidelity,  and  proceeded  to  arrest  M.  Juarez,  who,  as  president  of  tho 
supreme  court  of  justice,  was  designated,  according  to  the  terms  of  article  79  of  the  con 
stitution,  to  replace  him  in  the  functions  of  President  till  the  nomination  of  his  successor. 
January  11  following,  perceiving  that  he  was  the  tool  of  reactionary  parties,  he  restored 
M.  Juarez  to  liberty. 

From  that  day  forth  M.  Juarez  was  the  veritable  President  of  the  republic,  and  M.  Comon 
fort  was  so  well  convinced  of  this  that,  in  signing  the  decrees  required  by  the  circumstances, 
he  assumed  the  title  of  general-in-chief  of  the  division  of  the  army  placed  under  his 
orders. 

January  19,  1858,  M.  Juarez  publicly  took  possession  of  the  presidency  at  Guanajuato  by 
a  manifesto  to  that  effect,  and  when,  on  the  22d,  the  insurgents  entered  into  the  national 
ptlace  of  Mexico,  the  legitimate  government  had,  in  fact,  been  organized  three  days  before 
in  the  former  city.  Since  then  M.  Juarez  has  not  ceased  to  fulfil  his  duties  towards  the 
republic  and  towards  foreign  powers  in  every  case  ;  that  is  to  say,  where  these  powers  had 
deigned  to  address  themselves  to  him  ;  and  unless  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  recognition 
of  the  coup  d'etat  by  the  ministers  of  England  and  of  France  constituted  a  legitimacy  which 
before  was  wanting  to  that  act  of  M.  de  Zuloaga  and  Miramon,  a  doctrine  which,  in  M.  de" 
Saligny's  own  words,  "  would  create  in  their  behalf  a  new  c/roit  de  yens  in  formal  opposition  to  that 
which  has  hitherto  served  as  a  rule  for  all  international  relations,"  we  cannot  see  in  virtue  of  what 
legitimate  right  or  usage  the  administration  of  Juarez  could  be  held  responsible  for  the 
acts  or  contracts  of  the  usurping  administration  of  MM.  Zuloaga  and  Miramon. 

M.  Jecker  had  voluntarily  entered  into  several  contracts  with  persons  who  had  no  law 
ful  authority  to  treat  in  the  name  of  the  republic.  This  was  an  affair  between  his  former 
partners  and  himself.  If  he  had  been  mistaken  in  his  calculations,  it  was  for  him  to  bear 
the  consequences  of  his  mistake,  and  to  consider  himself  fortunate  if  the  lawful  govern 
ment  forbore  to  inflict  upon  him  the  penalties  which  he  had  incurred  according  to  the 
terms  of  article  1  of  the  decree  of  November  3,  1858. 

But  the  Mexican  government  never  placed  itself  on  that  absolute  ground  of  strict  right. 
M.  Zarco  always  manifested  to  M.  de  Saligny  his  desire  to  arrange,  in  a  manner  satisfactory 
to  the  interested  parties,  the  questions  pending  between  France  and  Mexico ;  and  while 
taking  into  account  the  difficulties  which  beset  the  case  of  M.  Jecker,  both  on  account  of 
its  origin  and  the  exhaustion  of  the  public  treasury,  he  added  that- as  soon  as  the  question 
of  principle  was  settled  the  details  should  be  speedily  arranged  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
parties  principally  concerned. 

If,  then,  M.  Jecker  did  not  come  to  terms  on  this  question  with  the  Mexican  govern 
ment,  it  is  simply  because,  as  we  said  above,  he  refused  to  do  so  ;  and  if  he  refused,  it  is 
simply  because  M.  de  Saligny  constantly  opposed  any  terms  of  arrangement  whatsoever. 

E.  LEFEVRE. 


No.  V.— CONCLUSION  OF  THE  REACTIONARY  ADMINISTRATION. — ENGLISH  MEDIATION. 

There  are  cases  in  which  certain  governments,  without  being  compelled  to  admit  expli 
citly  that  they  have  been  mistaken,  may  be  so  favored  by  the  institutions  from  wh£*h  they 
spring  as  to  have  need  of  the  support  of  public  opinion,  and  they  are  enabled  then  to  react 
without  danger  against  their  previous  decisions. 

The  English  ministry  acted  thus  in  the  Mexican  question  after  its  charge  d'affaires,  Mr. 
Lettsom,  and  its  official  representative,  Mr.  Ottway,  had  both  recognized  the  reactionary 
administration  emanating  from  the  Tacubaya  project,  and  by  degrees  separated  itself  from 
that  administration  to  draw  nearer  to  the  constitutional  government. 

It  profited,  in  the  first  place,  by  the  horror  it  felt  at  the  assassinations  committed  on  the 
llth  of  April,  1859,  at  the  village  of  Tacubaya,  by  order  of  Marquez  and  Miramon,  to 
declare  to  the  minister  for  foreign  affairs  of  that  government  of  bandits  "  that  it  was  not 
sure  it  had  done  well  in  giving  an  uninterrupted  preference  from  the  commencement  of  the 
troubles  to  the  government  of  which  that  minister  was  the  organ." — (Note  of  Mr.  Ottway, 
dated  August  4,  1859.)  Then,  too,  in  reply,  on  the  16th  of  December,  1859,  to  certain 
English  merchants,  who  begged  him  to  declare  that  the  sole  de  facto  government  was  that 
to  which  he  was  accredited,  her  Britannic  Majesty's  minister  saicl  "  it  was  difficult  to  say 


220  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

which  was  the  real  de  facto  government  in  Mexico,  for  while  England  and  France  recognized 
the  authority  of  the  President  who  was  in  possession  of  Mexico,  the  United  States,  on  the 
contrary,  recognized  that  of  the  President  who  governed  at  Vera  Cruz." 

This,  if  we  may  be  allowed  so  to  express  ourselves,  was  the  first  step  in  the  path  of  repa 
ration.  Then  came  the  recall  of  Mr.  Ottway,  a  gentleman  so  compromised  by  his  weakness 
and  partiality  towards  the  reactionaries  that  he  had  become  an  embarrassment.  Next 
came  a  despatch  dated  the  26th  of  January,  1860,  in  which  Lord  John  Russell,  minister 
of  foreign  affairs,  requested  Mr.  George  B.  Matthews,  the  charge"  d'affaires,  to  offer  the 
mediation  of  England  to  the  two  belligerent  parties,  but  on  condition  of  "  a  general  am 
nesty  being  at  once  proclaimed,  together  with  civil  and  religious  tolerance." 

This  despatch,  dated,  as  we  have  said,  the  26th  Jan  uary^  1860,  arrived  in  Mexico  about 
the  end  of  February,  and  was  not  known  in  Mexico  until  the  early  part  of  March,  when 
M.  Miramon,  who  left  on  the  8th  of  February  for  the  second  campaign  of  Vera  Cruz,  had 
already  arrived  under  the  walls  of  that  place. 

It  was  then  sent  to  Captain  Aldham,  commander  of  the  English  corvette  Valorous, 
anchored  at  Sacrificios,  to  be  communicated  by  him  to  the  belligerents,  and  it  received  on 
the  2d  March  a  first  reply  direct  from  Miramon,  in  which,  without  saying  anything  about 
"religious  toleration,"  he  presented,  however,  as  a  basis  of  an  armistice,  six  articles,  the 
object  of  which  was  to  legitimatize  the  insurrection  by  compelling  the  constitutional  govern 
ment  to  take  shelter  under  its  skirts. 

The  constitutional  government,  though  placed  in  a  much  more  favorable  position  with 
the  English  government,  inasmuch  as  by  the  law  of  12th  July,  1859,  seven  months  before 
the  proposition  of  tolerance,  it  had  abolished  religious  marriages  and  substituted  for  them 
the  civil  contract,  besides  proclaiming  liberty  of  worship,  considered  that  it  ought  to  de 
cline  all  direct  reply,  on  the  ground  that  the  moment  was  inopportune  for  answering  the 
English  proposals,  and  on  both  sides  preparations  were  made  for  the  struggle. 

Thereupon  Miramon,  before  opening  fire  against  the  place,  addressed  a  last  office  to  M. 
Eamon  Iglesias,  superior  commander  of  the  forces  of  Vera  Cruz,  in  order  to  avoid,  if  possi 
ble,  the  effusion  of  blood.  This  time  MM.  Santos  Degollado  and  Jose  de  Emparander,  in 
the  name  of  the  constitutional  government,  and  Isidro  Diaz  and  Manuel  Robles  Pezuela, 
in  that  of  the  coup  d'ttat,  met  in  a  railway  station  to  discuss  the  basis  of  an  armistice  ;  but 
they  could  not  agree  upon  the  first  conditions,  and  war  followed,  accompanied  on  the  part 
of  the  reactionaries  with  such  atrocious  circumstances  that  the  commander  of  the  Valorous 
considered  it  his  duty  to  interfere  in  the  name  of  outraged  humanity  by  declaring  to  Gen 
eral  Miramon  that  he  might  destroy  the  city,  and  perhaps  even  take  possession  of  its  ruins, 
but  he  would  never  gain  the  hearts  of  those  who  inhabited  it. 

"If  your  excellency,"  he  said  at  the  end  of  his  communication,  "does  not  judge  it 
opportune  to  terminate  an  anti-Christian  war  which  nothing  justifies,  directed  solely 
against  property  and  foreign  commerce,  and  which  is  a  cause  of  ruin  to  her  Majesty's  sub 
jects,  in  my  capacity  as  commander-in-chief  of  her  Britannic  Majesty's  naval  forces  in  these 
waters  1  shall  energetically  protest  against  this  war,  and  I  announce  to  you  that  I  shall 
take  the  first  opportunity  of  making  known  to  my  government  that  your  excellency  has 
caused  the  ruin  of  English  subjects  and  English  commerce." 

Miramon,  in  his  reply,  did  not  deny  any  of  the  charges  contained  in  the  letter  of  Cap 
tain  Aldham.  He  contented  himself  with  saddling  the  horrors  committed  by  a  useless 
bombardment  upon  the  necessities  of  war,  and  remained  profoundly  silent  respecting  the 
accusation  of  having  wickedly  directed  his  shells  towards  the  houses  in  which  peaceful 
citizens  resided,  nearly  all  of  whom  were  foreigners,  instead  of  discharging  them  upon  the 
fortified  points  held  by  the  defenders  of  Vera  Cruz. 

Meanwhile  M.  Munoz  Ledo  addressed  an  official  note  to  the  foreign  ministers  in  Mexico, 
announcing  to  them  the  failure  of  the  efforts  made  at  Vera  Cruz  by  the  representative  of 
the  reactionary  party  in  order  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation.  He  dwelt  especially,  with 
the  charge  d'affaires  of  the  British  government,  upon  the  causes  of  the  failure,  and  induced 
that  agent  to  bring  to  the  knowledge  of  the  London  cabinet  the  motives  which,  according 
to  him,  had  prevented  the  question  from  being  settled  in  a  pacific  manner,  and  in  con 
formity  with  the  sense  of  the  instructions  transmitted  to  Mexico  by  Earl  Russell. 

But  Mr.  Matthews  was  not  a  man  to  be  imposed  upon  by  the  insidious  language  of  the 
reactionary  diplomacy.  He  knew  as  well  as  M.  Munox  Ledo  what  had  passed  before  Vera 
Cruz,  and  how  Miramon,  in  distorting  the  sense  of  the  English  proposal,  had  endeavored 
to  make  use  of  that  proposal  so  distorted  to  impose  the  law  upon  his  adversaries.  He 
replied,  therefore,  "that  he  learnt  with  pleasure  that  his  excellency  the  President  had 
received  with  attention  the  proposals  of  her  Britannic  Majesty's  government  with  a  view 
to  the  reconciliation  of  fhe  belligerent  parties  upon  certain  bases  specified  beforehand, 
because  those  propositions,  according  to  M.  Munoz  Ledo,  were  in  harmony  with  his  own 
opinions  ;  "  but  he  added  it  was  also  for  this  reason  that  he  "could  not  refrain  from  ex 
pressing  his  sincere  regret  that  the  propositions  made  by  his  excellency  to  the  constitutional 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  221 

party  were  not  in  conformity  with  those  recommended  by  her  Majesty's  government,  nor 
with  the  enlightened  opinion  and  the  friendly  sentiments  towards  Mexico  with  which  her 
Majesty's  secretary  of  state  had  been  animated  in  proposing  the  basis  suggested,  as  the 
best,  the  surest,  and  the  most  prudent  means  of  re-establishing  peace  in  the  republic,"  &c. 
On  his  side,  Captain  Aldharn  pursued  at  Vera  Cruz,  with  a  perseverance  certainly  worthy 
of  better  success,  the  generous  idea  of  a  compromise  between  the  two  parties,  separated 
hencefoi  th  more  perhaps  by  the  blood  with  which  the  reactionaries  had  stained  their  hands 
since  their  accession  to  power  than  by  the  circumstances  which  had  opened  out  to  them 
the  path  to  it.  Difficulties  increased  his  energy.  Thus,  when  he  learnt  that  Miramon,  at 
the  end  of  his  resources,  and  unable  for  want  of  ammunition  to  continue  longer  the  bom 
bardment  of  the  place,  Avas  preparing  to  raise  a  siege  he  ought  never  to  have  undertaken, 
he  thought  the  occasion  more  favorable,  and  on  the  28th  of  March,  1860,  addressed  to  the 
reactionary  President  a  fresh  letter,  the  more  prominent  passages  of  which  we  cannot 
refrain  from  citing,  as  they  show  better  than  we  can  the  real  causes  of  the  present  disor 
ganization  of  the  republic. 

"I  think  it  needless  to  tell  your  excellency,"  he  wrote,  "that  the  greatest  obstacle  to 
the  establishment  of  a  liberal  and  constitutional  government  arises  from  the  great  power 
and  wealth  of  the  Mexican  church.  The  bases  of  the  church  are  good,  for  they  were 
founded  by  the  Saviour  of  mankind.  But  your  clergy  does  not  follow  the  path  He  traced. 
Its  eyes  are  closed  because  its  works  are  bad,  and  it  takes  pleasure  in  them.  It  will  not 
reform  itself,  for  to  do  so  it  must  renounce  its  mundane  pleasures.  It  voluntarily  keeps  its 
flocks  in  darkness  and  ignorance  in  order  that  they  may  be  ignorant  of  its  ways. 

' '  If  your  excellency  continues  in  the  path  you  have  hitherto  chosen  you  will  never 
reign  in  the  hearts  of  your  fellow-citizens.  A  email  number  of  them  may  join  you,  but  it 
will  be  from  fear,  not  from  affection. 

"  Do  you  claim  to  be  a» Christian  government?  Why  does  not  your  country  prosper  like 
so  many  others  which  have  passed  through  a  period  of  greater  calamity  than  that  which 
you  are  now  passing  through  ? 

"  Because  they  adopted  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  their  actions  were  in  accordance 
with  Christianity. 

"  You,  on  the  contrary,  merely  know  its  name. 

"But  the  time  has  arrived  when  true  Christianity  ought  to  prevail ;  when  liberal  and 
enlightened  principles  ought  to  take  the  place  of  darkness  and  ignorance. 

"Your  excellency  has  the  power  in  your  hands.  You  can  become  if  you  please  the 
founder  of  a  great  work,  desired  by  the  immense  majority  of  the  people  of  Mexico. 

"Cast  off  the  fetters  that  enchain  you.  Unite  cordially  and  sincerely  with  those  who 
are  struggling  for  liberty  of  conscience  and  free  institutions.  Once  united  you  will  be 
strong  Put  the  church  in  the  place  which  belongs  to  it.  Assign  to  it  a  fitting  revenue 
and  apply  the  rest  of  its  property  to  the  development  of  the  national  wealth.  Compel  the 
clergy,  in  a  word,  to  follow  the  path  traced  out  for  it  by  its  chief.  Protect  commerce  and 
business  with  foreign  powers ;  open  your  ports,  reduce  the  taxes,  and  your  excellency  will 
soon  see  welfare  and  prosperity  spread  throughout  the  country,  and  your  excellency  will 
have  been  the  director  and  the  leader  of  this  new  state  of  things." 

Thereupon  Miramon,  summoned  by  the  persistence  of  the  English  commander  to  declare 
hiinseif  categorically  upon  the  different  points  contained  in  the  note  of  Earl  Russell,  and 
especially  upon  religious  toleration,  again  glided  away  from  the  responsibility  of  a  direct 
reply  by  sheltering  his  disinclination  behind  the  congress  of  1857,  which,  he  said,  although 
the  most  liberal  of  all  that  had  been  held,  had  not  dared,  nevertheless,  to  establish  this 
toleration. 

This,  we  admit,  was  convicting  the  liberal  majority  of  that  assembly  of  pusillanimity ; 
but  it  will  equally  be  admitted  that  some  days  after  M.  de  Gabriac  thought  proper  to  take 
the  stage  in  person.  It  was  only  when  he  had  ceased  to  hope  that  the  reactionists  would 
take  possession  of  Vera  Cruz  that  he  began  to  speak  of  mediation.  But  after  their  defeat 
he  deemed  it  prudent  to  offer  his  services,  if  only  to  have  the  right  of  protecting  the  in 
terests  of  the  defeated  party.  So  he  volunteered  his  services  in  conjunction  with  those  of 
Mr.  Matthews,  and  on  April  12,  1860,  he  offered  the  good  offices  of  the  imperial  legation 
for  the  conclusion,  of  an  armistice,  during  which  they  should  proceed  to  elect  a  national  assembly  to  decide 
the  definite  form  of  government  for  the  country. 

The  advantage  of  this  new  intervention,  as  it  appeared  to  the  reactionary  party,  was, 
that  for  the  moment  at  least  it  put  an  end  to  any  measure  of  civil  and  religious  toleration. 
Accordingly  M.  Munoz  Ledo  replied  to  M.  de  Gabriac,  on  the  18th  of  the  same  month, 
that  "  the  government  of  his  excellency  President  Miramon  regarded  as  a  favor  of  Provi 
dence  the  accord  of  the  two  cabinets  of  London  and  Paris  relative  to  the  salutary,  disinter 
ested,  and  impartial  counsels  contained  in  the  note  of  the  minister  of  the  Emperor."  We 
see  how  unsubstantial  was  this  accord.  Indeed,  the  reactionary  administration  had  so  little 
faith  in  it,  in  spite  of  the  assurance  which  it  affected  in  its  communication  to  M.  de  Gabriac, 


222  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

that  about  the  same  time  M.  Munoz  Ledo,  in  reply  to  a  pressing  inquiry  from  Mr.  Matthews 
as  to  the  views  of  the  cabinet  to  which  M.  Munoz  Ledo  belonged  upon  the  pacification  of 
the  republic  as  the  British  cabinet  had  advised,  returned  an  evasive  answer,  to  the  effect 
that  a  preliminary  declaration  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  would  be  an  invasion  of  the 
sovereign  rights  reserved  to  the  congress  whose  convocation  was  demanded.  Nothing  could 
be  falser  than  'this  reasoning,  for  a  political  assembly  is  no  more  competent  to  pronounce 
upon  the  relative  value  of  this  or  that  form  of  religious  worship  than  the  fetate  to  pretend 
to  a  cognizance  of  supernatural  things  ;  and  this  constitutional  government,  six  weeks  be 
fore,  on  proclaiming  liberty  of  conscience  as  a  natural  consequence  of  the  substitution  of 
the  civil  contract  of  marriage  for  the  purely  religious  sacrament,  had  sufficiently  attested 
its  firm  resolve  to  make  Mexico  participate  in  the  adoption  of  the  great  principles  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty  proclaimed  in  France  in  1789.  For  the  constitutional  government 
the  difficulty  of  acceding  purely  and  simply  to  the  counsels  of  the  British  government,  and 
signing  an  armistice  of  which  the  first  condition  should  be  the  recognition  of  civil  and 
religious  toleration,  did  not  (as  in  the  case  of  the  reactionists)  consist  in  the  adoption  of 
that  measure,  which  in  fact  it  had  already  decreed  ;  but  it  proceeded  from  the  very  condi 
tions  of  its  power,  conditions  which  it  could  not  infringe  without  betraying  its  duties  and 
deluding  the  hopes  of  the  country.  The  re  fore  it  was  that,  in  its  reply,  dated  March  10, 
I860,  and  addressed  to  Captain  Aldham,  R.  N.,  to  be  by  him  transmitted  to  Mr.  Matthews, 
and  by  the  latter  to  the  British  cabinet,  it  pointed  out  the  true  legitimate  origin  and  quality 
of  the  constitutional  government ;  proved  by  the  text  of  official  documents  the  loyalty 
with  which  it  had  hitherto  fulfilled  the  obligations  contracted  by  the  republic,  even  towards 
those  powers  whose  representatives  had  recognized  the  counter-revolutionary  movement  of 
Tacubaya,  and  merely  given  it  an  importance  which  it  would  never  otherwise  have  obtained, 
and  concluding  by  declaring  "  that  admitting"  that  the  constitutional  President,  in  order  to 
secure  at  once  the  advantages  of  peaceful  and  tranquil  existence,  consented  to  an  armistice 
based  upon  the  surrender  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  as  the  reactionary  administration 
proposed,  such  an  act  of  guilty  complaisance  would  not  bring  the  civil,  war  to  an  end.  On 
the  contrary,  it  would  result  in  perverting  the  civilizing  tendencies  of  the  great  liberal 
party,  and  in  weakening  the  elements  of  order  which  still  existed  by  casting  loose  passions 
now  under  restraint  and  urging  them  to  a  struggle  more  disastrous  and  terrible  than  any 
before  known  in  the  country." 

Since  then  the  situation  has  not  changed.  The  reactionary  aspirations  of  M.  de  Gabriac 
have  undoubtedly  triumphed  for  a  while  in  the  capital  with  the  aid  of  the  intervention, 
but  the  country  is  up  in  arms,  and  every  day's  experience  justifies  the  previsions  of  the 
government  of  M.  Juarez. 

In  order  to  understand  the  causes  of  the  rupture  of  the  convention  c  f  London,  we  have 
thus  endeavored  to  trace  clearly  the  line  of  demarcation  which,  for  the  last  four  years  at 
least,  has  separated  the  liberal  policy  pursued  in  Mexico  by  the  British  government  from 
that  of  which  the  imperial  government  of  France  has  unhappily  made  itself  the  champion. 

E.  LEFEVRE. 


No.  VI. — CONCLUSION*  or  THE  SCANDALS  or  THE  REACTIONARY  PARTY. — ROBBERY  AT  THE  BRITISH 

LEGATION 

While  Captain  Aldham  denounced  at  Vera  Cruz  the  savage  acts  of  the  President  of  the 
reaction,  at  Mexico  M.  de  Gabriac  at  last  received  orders  to  return  to  France. 

That  minister  communicated  the  news  to  the  administration  by  a  note,  in  which  he  asked 
to  be  allowed  to  "  frank,"  in  other  words,  to  send  away,  without  being  compelled  to  pay 
the  export  duty,  a  sum  of  £30,000,  forming  the  greater  part  of  the  gains  he  had  realized 
in  Mexico  during  a  stay  of  five  years,  and  he  announced  his  departure  for  the  8th  May, 
1860. 

He  left,  in  fact,  on  that  day,  glad  no  doubt  to  escape  the  sight  of  the  fresh  scandals  which 
were  about  to  arise  in  the  ranks  of  the  pretended  defenders  of  order. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  affirm  whether  he  was  apprised  of  what  was  g  >ing  to  happen, 
but  if  we  remember  the  time  he  lost  in  going  to  Vera  Cruz,  where  he  had,  on  the  24th  of 
May,  a  long  conference  with  an  ambassador  newly  arrived  from  Spain,  it  will  seem  very 
difficult  for  it  to  have  been  otherwise. 

However  it  may  have  been,  the  Tacubaya  project,  restored  in  January,  1859,  under  cir 
cumstances  already  known  to  the  reader,  definitely  passed  from  life  to  death  the  day  succeed 
ing  the  departure  of  M.  de  Gabriac  after  a  fresh  freak,  of  which  M.  Miramon  was  again 
the  hero ;  and  President  Zuloaga,  prisoner  of  his  substitute,  was  carried  into  the  interior 
of  the  country,  where  his  gendarme  was  called  in  consequence  of  the  victories  of  Loma, 
Alta,  and  Penuelas,  gained  over  the  reactionaries  by  Generals  Uraga  and  Gonzales  Ortega. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  223 

This  removal  was  kidnapping — thorough  kidnapping,  accompanied  by  all  the  aggravated 
circumstances  of  premeditation,  violence,  and  arnbush — and  it  complicated  in  suck  a 
grotesque  manner  the  difficulties  of  a  situation  already  tolerably  involved,  that  everybody 
regarded  it  as  an  omen  of  the  fall,  more  or  less  distant  but  certain,  of  the  reactionary  ad 
ministration.  The  newsmongers  immediately  turned  it  to  account  in  their  own  manner  ; 
and  the  public,  which  knew  the  truth  only  by  the  burdens  that  the  clashing  of  subaltern 
ambitions  caused  to  weigh  upon  it,  was  this  time  made  acquainted  with  the  last  farce  rep 
resented  at  the  palace,  by  a  document,  the  object  of  which  was  to  declare  that  there  was 
no  longer  a  constituted  power,  and  which  had  all  the  more  effect  that  it  bore  the  names  of 
three  members  of  the  diplomatic  body. 

The  facetious  substitute  had  rushed  into  the  risks  of  this  fresh  adventure  with  all  the 
eagerness  of  an  ill-bred  school-boy,  who  considers  he  has  a  right  to  play  tricks  upon  his 
tutor  solely  because  the  poor  wretch  seems  ridiculous  to  him.  But  sobered  by  the  attitude 
of  the  diplomatic  corps,  he  reflected  upon  the  influence  that  this  informality  might  exercise 
upon  his  own  position,  and  he  thought  it  would  be  well  to  obtain  the  formal  recognition  at 
least  of  the  power  he  had  just  seized  upon  in  so  strange  a  manner. 

With  this  object  he  enjoined  his  factotum,  General  Antonio  Corona,  to  elicit  the  opinion 
(paid  for  beforehand)  of  what  he  called  his  council  of  state.  When  the  cards  were  shuffled 
he  placed  his  abdication  in  the  hands  of  M.  Ignacio  Pa  von,  president  of  the  supreme  tri 
bunal  of  justice,  and  pretended  to  submit  his  conduct  to  the  control  of  twenty-six  notables 
selected  from  the  very  flower  of  the  reactionary  party,  who  had  accepted  the  deplorable 
mission  of  giving  to  his  usurpation  the  deceitful  gloss  of  which  a  few  days  later  the  am 
bassador  Pacheco  spoke  in  a  despatch  addressed  by  him  on  the  15th  of  June,  1860,  to  M. 
Calderon  Collantes. 

The  farce  played  out,  M.  Miguel  Arroyo,  secretary  general  of  the  ministry  of  foreign 
affairs,  one  of  the  notables  who  had  just  accorded  their  satisfecit  to  M.  Miramon,  received 
orders  to  communicate  the  result  to  the  representatives  of  the  foreign  powers  ;  but  he  re 
ceived  in  exchange  from  Mr.  G.  B.  Matthews,  charge  d'affaires  of  the  British  government, 
a  declaration  stating  "  that  he  could  not  recognize  by  anticipation  the  administration  estab 
lished  in  the  capital  of  the  republic,  under  the  presidency  of  the  former  substitute  of  M. 
Zuloaga,  before  receiving  express  orders  from  his  government." 

Thereupon,  M.  Lares,  who  had  been  promoted  within  a  few  days  to  the  functions  of 
minister  of  foreign  affairs,  intimated  to  him  "that  from  the  moment  he  refused  to  recog 
nize  the  government  of  General  Miramon  before  receiving  orders  from  London,  the  general, 
on  his  part  before  occupying  himself  with  the  interests  of  the  English  residents,  would 
wait  until  he  had  nothing  elise  to  do." 

The  question,  it  will  be  seen,  grew  more  embittered  every  day.  Nevertheless,  Mr. 
Matthews,  after  observing  to  M.  Lares  that  his  conduct  in  this  matter  had  been  entirely  in 
conformity  with  that  of  the  majority  of  the  corps  diplomatique,  contented  himself  by  replying 
to  him  "  that  he  supposed,  in  expressing  itself  thus,  the  government  of  which  General 
Miramon  was  the  head  had  no  intention  of  evading  the  responsibility  devolving  in  such 
cases  upon  every  de  facto  government,  but  that  if  it  were  otherwise  he  should  receive  the 
declaration  with  the  utmost  surprise,  aud  that  he  should  have  the  disagreeable  duty  of 
communicating  it  to  his  government." 

M.  Lares  replied,  on  the  24th  of  September,  that  he  could  enter  into  no  discussion  upon 
the  points  advanced  by  Mr.  Matthews,  except  with  the  minister  of  her  Britannic  Majesty, 
after  such  minister  had  recognized  the  government  of  M.  Miramon  ;  because  the  Mexican 
government  could  only  treat  as  a  de  facto  government,  and  that  while  it  was  unrecognized 
by  Mr.  Matthews  it  could  not  employ  that  title  in  treating  with  him. 

Finally  Mr.  Matthews  received  the  instructions  of  which  he  spoke  in  his  note  to  M.  Lares. 
They  reached  him  in  the  early  part  of  October,  and  on  the  17th  he  addressed  to  the  men 
who  for  nearly  three  years  had  taken  pleasure  in  violating  the  most  sacred  engagements  a 
last  note,  in  which  he  repeated  to  them,  in  rather  more  measured  terms,  though  similar  in 
substance,  what  Captain  Aldham  in  his  note  of  the  28th  of  the  previous  March  had  already 
written  to  M.  Miramon.  He  concluded  by  declaring  that  he  had  received  orders  to  break  of 
his  relations  with  the  government  established  at  Mexico,  and  he  retired  with  his  legation  to  Jalapa, 
a  town  some  ninety  miles  from  Vera  Cruz. 

This  was  precisely  what  the  ministers  of  the  reaction  desired,  in  order  to  proceed  to  the 
inauguration  of  a  system  entirely  their  own.  To  begin  with — who  would  believe  it  ? — the 
first  two  blows  fell  upon  M.  Jecker. 

In  the  early  part  of  August,  1860,  this  well-known  banker,  whose  coffers  had  been  so 
often  thrown  open  to  the  necessities  of  M.  Miramon,  was  informed  that  he  had  to  pay  into 
the  treasury  chest  the  modest  sum  of  £2,000,  to  be  devoted  to  the  relief,  in  a  moment  of 
distress,  of  the  unceasing  poverty  of  the  authors  of  the  coup  d'etat.  .  M.  Jecker,  to  do  him 
justice,  resisted  as  well  as  a  banker  who  had  just  failed  to  meet  his  engagements  could 
resist.  He  discussed,  he  complained,  he  protested,  and  only  when  he  found  all  his  efforts 


224  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

unavailing,  concluded  that  he  had  better  come  to  terms.  So  he  offered  £800  ;  but  this 
sum  General  Corona,  commanding  in  the  absence  of  Miramrm,  inexorably  declined  to 
accept,  and  even  carried  his  forgetful  ness  of  the  services  M.  Jecker  had  rendered  so  fir  as 
to  inflict  a  fine  of  £600  upon  the  recalcitrant  banker.  Then,  at  length,  M.  Jecker  under 
stood  the  men  he  had  to  deal  with,  and  sent  to  say  that  nothing  should  extort  the  sum 
demanded  of  him.  Accordingly,  when  the  police  agent  came  in  the  evening  -with 
an  armed  force,  he  found  the  house  barricaded,  and  entrance  impossible.  Next  morning 
the  doors  were  opened  as  usual,  and  the  "defenders  of  order,"  armed  some  with  pickaxes, 
some  with  hatchets,  rushed  in.  The  doors  of  the  offices  were  opened  in  presence  of  the 
consul  of  France,  whom  M.  Jecker  had  sent  for,  and  whose  protests  were  set  at  naught. 
The  gang  were  going  to  break  open  the  chests  and  safes,  when  M.  Jecker  interfered  and 
consented  to  give  up  the  keys.  The  safes  were  opened,  and  nothing,  absolutely  nothing, 
found  in  them.  The  knowing  banker  had  removed  all  their  contents  in  the  night 

Then  followed  the  arrest  of  MM.  German  Landa  and  Sanchez  Navarro,  and  MM.  Gorribar 
and  Joaquim  Rosas,  who  had  one  and  all  forgotten  that  in  the  hands  of  the  heroes  of 
Tacubaya  their  property  was  not  quite  so  safe  as  in  the  hands  of  professed  highwaymen 
and  housebreakers. 

But  what  were  a  few  thousand  pounds,  more  or  less,  to  such  an  administration?  A  drop 
of  water  in  the  ocean.  Exactions  increased  with  difficulties,  and  the  rapacity  of  the  soldiery 
with  the  need  of  their  services,  until  one  fine  day  nothing  was  left  for  the  defenders  of  the 
altar  and  of  the  ecclesiastical  privileges  but  to  fall  upon  the  wealth  accumulated  in  the 
churches  by  the  piety  of  their  fathers.  In  this  instance,  it  is  true,  the  pillage  was  sanctioned 
by  the  Mexican  archbishop  and  the  superior  clergy. 

It  was  reasonable  enough  to  suppose  that  these  ecclesiastical  treasures  would  stop  the 
gap  for  a  time,  and  give  a  moment's  peace.  Not  so  ;  about  the  middle  of  September  M. 
Miramon  called  together  a  new  assembly  of  twenty- six  capitalists — just  the  number  of 
"notables"  who  had  been  summoned  to  make  him  President — and  demanded  of  them, 
according  to  his  invariable  custom,  revolver  in  hand,  the  trifle  of  £100,000,  with  which 
he  undertook  to  dispose  of  General  Gonzalez  Ortega,  who  had  defeated  him  forty  days 
before  near  the  little  town  of  Silao. 

It  was  impossible  to  resist  so  polite  an  injunction  ;  but  even  this  sum  did  not  suffice,  so 
the  "defenders  of  order"  resolved  to  seize  a  sum  of  £132,000,  belonging  to  English 
bondholders,  and  which  was  deposited  in  the  safes  of  the  British  legation,  doubly  protected 
by  the  place  of  deposit  and  by  the  seals  of  the  legation  (bearing  the  arms  of  England) 
affixed  thereto. 

General  Leonardo  Marquez  (in  Mexico  commonly  called  Leopardo,  in  remembrance  of  the 
assassinations  of  Tacubaya — the  man  whom  the  imperial  government  of  France  has  since 
decorated  with  the  cordon  of  commander  of  the  legion  of  honor) — was  charged  with  this 
expedition  ;  and  on  November  16  the  chief  of  the  police,  Lagarde,  at  the  head  of  his  men, 
occupied  the  residence  of  the  legation,  on  the  pretext  of  searching  for  a  depot  of  arms 
alleged  to  be  concealed  there. 

Next  day,  the  17th,  Marquez  addressed  to  Mr.  Whitehead,  the  agent  of  the  English 
bondholders,  the  following  letter,  in  which  he  endeavored  to  put  a  false  color  on  the 
designs  of  the  reactionary  government,  by  representing  the  object  of  this  robbery  as  an 
act  of  caution  against  the  risks  which  the  bondholders'  money  might  be  exposed  to  in  the 
event  of  disturbances : 

NATIONAL   ARMY. — MEXICAN   REPUBLIC. — QUARTERMASTER   GENERAL. 

As  the  public  funds  deposited  in  your  hands,  and  destined  to  the  payment  of  the  English 
bondholders,  have  not  yet  been  paid  over,  and  as  under  existing  circumstances  they  might 
run  great  risk  in  case  of  disturbance  ;  and  as  the  danger  would  become  imminent  if  the 
forces  which  preserve  order  in  the  city  should  be  unprovided  for  ;  and  as  provision  cannot 
be  made  for  them  with  the  resources  at  present  at  the  disposal  of  the  government,  available 
only  in  periodical  payments,  his  excellency  the  general-in-chief  of  these  forces,  in  obedi 
ence  to  his  duty,  and  desirous  to  clear  his  responsibility,  orders  you  to  place  the  funds  deposited 
in  your  charge  at  the  disposal  of  the  commissariat  of  the  army.  It  is,  of  course,  understood  that  no 
more  than  the  sums  strictly  necessary  will  be  taken  from  the  coffers,  and  that  for  their 
reimbursement  the  proceeds  of  the  loan  subscribed  by  the  venerable  clergy  and  by  private 
persons  for  the  payment  of  the  garrison  will  be  available,  and  that  if  there  should  be  a 
deficit  at  the  departure  of  the  first  couducta,  this  deficit  will  be  covered  by  the  duties  to  be 
deducted  from  the  sums  exported. 

You  will  be  so  good  as  to  deliver  200,000  piastres  (£40,000)  this  very  day,  to  the  com 
missary  general,  who  will  deliver  you  a  receipt  for  that  amount. 

God  and  the  law. 

Headquarters  at  Mexico,  this  17th  November,  1860. 

L.  MARQUEZ. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  225 

But  it  appears  that  Mr.  Whitehead  was  not  of  opinion  that  the  interests  with  which  he 
was  charged  permitted  him  to  obey  this  peremptory  injunction,  for  the  same  day  Marquez 
addressed  to  him  another  and  still  more  peremptory  summons. 

These  two  notes,  sent  one  upon  the  other,  clearly  meant  that  the  determination  of 
the  reactionary  government  was  taken,  and  that  no  excuses  on  Mr.  Whitehead's  part  for 
declining  to  violate  a  deposit  committed  to  his  care  would  avail  against  it.  Nevertheless, 
in  order  to  clear  his  own  responsibility  in  the  matter,  Mr.  Whitehead  replied  once  more  by 
the  following  letter  to  the  terrible  quartermaster  general : 

MEXICO,  November  17,  1860. 

EXCELLENCY  :  In  reply  to  the  official  note  which  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  to  day 
from  the  hands  of  the  commissary  of  the  army,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  declare  to  you  that 
the  money  received  here  on  account  of  the  foreign  debt  contracted  at  London  was  deposited 
under  the  protection  of  the  legation  of  her  Britannic  Majesty,  in  conformity  with  the 
instructions  of  the  foreign  committee,  to  be  forwarded  as  soon  a^  circumstances  should 
permit ;  and  that  Mr.  Mathews,  before  his  departure  from  Jalapa,  placed  the  seals  of  the 
legation  and  his  private  signature  on  the  door  of  the  apartment  in  which  the  funds  were 
deposited,  the  keys  of  which  are  in  his  possession.  Consequently,  notwithstanding  the 
urgent  circumstances  which  your  excellency  justly  points  out,  I  cannot  dispose  of  these 
funds  without  the  consent  of  the  representative  of  the  British  government,  for  I  have  not 
the  keys  of  the  apartment  in  which  they  are  placed,  nor  can  I  break  the  seal  of  the  lega 
tion.  Such  is  the  answer  that  I  had  the  honor  to  give  to  the  commissary.  I  was  obliged 
to  give  him  a  verbal  reply,  because  time  pressed,  and  I  declared  to  him  that  I  found  it 
impossible  to  remit  to  him  the  200,000  piastres  which  you  demand.  I  trust  that  your 
excellency  will  be  convinced  that  it  is  not  from  want  of  deference  towards  the  govern 
ment  that  I  have  not  complied  with  your  order,  but  simply  because  I  have  not  the  power 
to  do  so.  As  regards  an  observation  which  your  excellency  has  addressed  to  me,  it  may 
not  be  superfluous  to  remark  that  although  the  funds  are  not  distributed  in  dividends, 
they  have  nevertheless  been  legally  delivered,  and  therefore  do,  in  fact,  belong  to  the 
bondholders.  Even  were  they  not  deposited  at  the  legation,  I  should  have  no  right  to 
touch  them  except  to  see  to  their  being  shipped  for  their  destination.  In  support  of  this 
assertion,  and  in  case  your  excellency  should  not  be  aware  of  the  text  of  the  law  of 
January  23,  1857, 1  take  the  liberty  to  send  him  a  copy  enclosed  herewith,  and  I  have  the 
honor  to  call  his  attention  to  the  formal  wording  of  the  first  three  articles. 
I  have  the  honor,  &c., 

CH.  WHITEHEAD, 

Agent  of  the  Bondholders  of  the  Foreign  Debt. 
His  Excellency  the  QUARTERMASTER  GENERAL,  Mexico. 

All  this  was  true — physically  and  materially  true.  But  Mr.  Whitehead  had  to  deal  with 
men  as  well  aware  of  the  facts  as  himself — with  needy  men  exasperated  by  their  wants, 
and  by  the  reiterated  defeats  of  their  party — with  men.  in  short,  who  had  made  up  their 
minds  to  listen  to  no  remonstrances.  So  Colonel  Jauregui,  at  the  head  of  a  party  of 
Marquez's  men,  broke  into  the  house,  broke  the  seal  bearing  her  Majesty's  arms  upon  the 
doors  of  the  apartments,  and,  in  spite  of  the  protest  of  the  Spanish  ambassador,  M.  J.  F. 
Pacheco,  took  away  £152,000  sterling  of  the  sum  which  had  been  deposited  there  by  the 
agent  of  the  bondholders.  The  same  day  M.  Pacheco  addressed  the  following  note  to  M. 
Teodosco  Lares,  minister  of  foreign  affairs  in  that  government  of  bandits : 

EMBASSY  OF  SPAIN  AT  MEXICO, 

November  17,  1860. 

The  undersigned,  ambassador  of  her  Christian  Majesty,  regrets  to  be  obliged  to  address 
his  excellency  M.  Teodosco  Lares,  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  concerning  a  deplorable' 
event  that  occurred  yesterday. 

By  order  of  the  quartermaster  general  of  the  army,  a  person  whom  the  undersigned  has 
not  the  honor  to  know  presented  himself,  accompanied  by  an  armed  force,  at  the  residence 
of  the  British  legation,  for  the  purpose  of  demanding  the  remittance  of  a  considerable  sum 
of  money  which  it  appears  had  been  deposited  there  for  the  payment  of  English  creditors. 
So  far  the  undersigned  had  no  right  to  interfere  in  this  matter,  the  charge"  d'affaires  of 
her  Britannic  Majesty  not  having  recommended  to  his  care  the  interests  or  the  persons  of 
his  countrymen.  But  in  proceeding  to  take  possession  of  the  sum  in  question  the  Mexican 
police  agent  must  have  burst  open  the  door  projected  by  the  seals  of  the  legation,  and  it,  is 
in  consequence  of  that  act  that  the  undersigned  deems  himself  authorized  to  repeat  in  the 
present  note  the  protest  which  he  has  already  made  verbally,  and  to  call  the  particular 
attention  of  the  minister  of  foreign  relations  to  the  case.  The  undersigned,  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  cannot  forbear  to  protest  most  strongly  against  an  act  which 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 15 


226  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

is  at  once  a  violation  of  the  immunities  which  foreign  representatives  enjoy  and  of 
international  law ;  for  such  it  is  to  break  the  seals  of  a  legation,  to  seize  property 
intrusted  to  its  protection.  Were  this  principle  liable  to  be  disregarded  with  impunity, 
the  relations  existing  between  different  countries  would  be  deprived  of  all  security  and 
dignity,  and  public  rigbt  would  be  abandoned  to  the  caprices  of  arbitrary  power  and  brute 
force.  It  is  for  these  reasons  that  the  undersigned  deplores  an  event  which  he  forbears  to 
characterize  in  more  energetic  terms ;  but  he  feels  himself  bound  to  protest  ;  and  in 
addressing  this  protest  to  his  excellency  the  minister  of  foreign  relations,  in  the  hope  that 
he  will  take  into  his  serious  consideration  the  gravity  of  the  facts  which  have  occasioned  it, 
and  of  the  consequences  it  may  lead  to,  he  begs  to  state  that  he  shall  forward  a  copy  of  it 
by  the  next  mail  to  the  government  of  her  Christian  Majesty,  and  make  a  similar  com 
munication  to  his  colleagues  residing  in  the  republic. 

He  avails  himself,  meanwhile,  of  this  opportunity  to,  &c. 

J.  F.  PACHECO. 

The  MINISTER  OF  FOREIGN  RELATIONS. 

After  the  minister  of  Spain,  the  minister  of  Prussia,  who  happened  just  then  to  be  away 
at  Jalapa,  addressed  the  above  named  Lares  a  note  on  the  same  subject,  warning  him  that 
the  government  of  Mexico  bad  entered  upon  a  course  of  action  which  would  render  it 
impossible  for  foreign  governments  to  maintain  regular  relations  with  it.  The  same  day 
Mr.  Mathews  instructed  Mr.  Whitehead  to  write,  in  his  name,  to  M  Lares,  insisting  on  the 
restitution,  accompanied  by  a  letter  of  apology,  within  twenty-four  hours,  of  the  sum 
removed  by  violence  from  his  residence  after  breaking  the  seals  of  the  legation  ;  otherwise 
that  he  should  render  M.  Miramon,  in  company  with  his  ministers,  Lares,  Diaz,  Corona, 
and  Sagaeeta,  with  General  Miramon,  and,  conjointly,  the  whole  Mexican  nation, 
responsible  for  the  attack  committed,  in  his  person,  against  the  British  nation  and  govern 
ment.  But  as  neither  the  minister  of  Prussia  nor  Mr.  Mathews  had  recognized  the  strange 
authority  of  M.  Miramon,  the  reactionary  administration  pretended  that  its  dignity  would 
not  allow  it  to  reply. 

As  to  the  ambassador  of  Spain,  M.  Miramon's  administration  did  not  even  take  the 
trouble  to  offer  any  apology  for  an  act  without  excuse  ;  it  simply  sent  him  a  copy  of  the 
report  of  the  burglarious  attack  upon  the  British  legation,  drawn  up  by  a  person  who  had 
been  sent  to  assist  at  the  operation  expressly  in  that  capacity  ;  and  without  any  anxiety 
for  the  consequences  of  an  act  which  appeared  to  it  perfectly  regular,  it  calmly  awaited  the 
effect  of  this  "report"  upon  the  temper  of  European  governments. 

And  this  was  the  last  act  of  the  administration  commonly  called  that  of  M.  Miramon. 
A  mouth  after  he  was  flying  ignominiously,  and  for  a  second  time,  before  the  liberal  forces 
commanded  by  M.  Gonzalez  Ortega,  and  was  soon  obliged  to  go  and  beg  the  protection  of 
those  very  foreigners  whom  he  had  victimized  and  plundered  incessantly  as  long  as  he  was 
in  power. 

E.  LEFEVRE. 


No.  VII. — EXPULSION  OF  M.  PACHECO — CONDUCT  OF  M.  DE  SALIGNY. 

The  constitutional  army  arrived  at  Mexico  without  striking  a  blow.  M.  Juarez  gathered 
the  fruit  of  the  battles  won  by  his  generals  at  Loma  Alta,  Penuelas,  Calderou,  Silao,  and 
Capulalpam.  He  entered  the  capital  on  the  llth  of  January,  1861 — three  years,  day  lor 
day,  after  he  had  left  it — and  immediately  afterwards  gave  notice  to  the  ambassador  of 
Spain,  to  the  Papal  Nuncio,  and  to  the  ministers  of  Ecuador  and  Guatemala,  to  quit 
•without  delay  the  territory  of  the  republic,  in  consequence  of  their  declared  hostility  to 
the  lawful  government  and  to  liberal  institutions.  This  dismissal,  necessitated  by  circum 
stances  and  justified  by  the  conduct  of  those  persons,  was  besides  entirely  conformable  to 
the  admitted  doctrine  of  international  law  in  such  a  case  ;  for  it  is  evident  that  if  govern 
ments  may  on  certain  occasions  refuse  admission  into  their  states  to  foreign  agents  simply 
on  the  ground  of  suspicion,  they  have,  a  fortiori,  the  right  to  send  them  away  when  their 
conduct  has  confirmed  the  suspicion  and  made  it  certainty.  Yet  the  Spanish  goveinment 
made  the  dismissal  of  its  ambassador  a  grievance  against  the  government  of  the  republic. 
Naturally  enough,  the  dismissal  of  the  Papal  Nuncio  and  of  the  minister  of  Ecuador  and 
Guatemala  was  scarcely  noticed  ;  but  the  expulsion  of  M.  Pacheco  was  regarded  as  a  more 
serious  matter.  rl hat  personage  protested,  not  against  tho  order  he  had  received  to  quit 
the  territory  of  the  republic  within  the  briefest  delay  necessary  to  complete  his  prepara 
tions  for  departure,  but  against  a  simple  breach  of  etiquette.  He  protested  that  "  he  had 
not  come  to  Mexico  as  a  piivate  individual,  but  in  the  capacity  of  ambassador  of  the  Queen 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  227 

of  Spain,  as  his  credentials  deposited  in  the  archives  of  the  state  attested,  and  that  there 
fore  all  communications  addressed  to  him  by  the  government  ought  to  bear,  as  a  super 
scription,  his  ambassadorial  title  and  quality."  We  should  certainly  not  have  mentioned 
so  trivial  a  matter  as  this,  had  not  M.  Pacheco  repeated  the  terms  of  his  protest  before  the 
senate  of  his  country,  and  had  not  that  protest  foreshadowed  a  question  far  more  import 
ant,  viz.,  that  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  Mexican  nation. 

Assuredly,  when  M.  Pacheco  was  sent  to  Mexico  as  ambassador  of  Spain,  he  was  accred 
ited  to  the  lawful  government  of  the  republic,  and  not  to  a  faction  which,  although  for  a 
moment  in  possession  of  the  capital,  had  no  lawful  authority  to  represent  the  country  be 
fore  foreign  powers. 

It  was  to  the  lawful  government,  sprung  from  the  constitution  of  1857,  and  established 
for  the  moment  at  Vera  Cruz,  that  M.  Pacheco  should  have  presented  his  credentials.  In 
stead  of  this,  he  preferred  to  remit  them  to  the  chief  of  an  oppressive  faction,  which  for 
three  years  had  covered  the  country  with  blood  and  ruins.  In  doing  so,  he  voluntarily 
divested  himself  of  his  ambassadorial  quality,  and  became  the  instrument  of  a  party  whose 
fortunes  he  was  bound  to  share. 

But  it  may  be  alleged  that  M.  Pacheco  had  been  accredited  to  the  authorities  which 
derived  their  sanction  from  the  Tacubaya  arrangement — authorities  recognized  by  M.  de 
Gabriac,  the  then  charge"  d'affaires  of  the  Spanish  government;  and  therefore  that  these 
authorities  represented  to  the  O'Donnell  cabinet  the  sole  lawful  government  of  the  republic. 
Was,  then,  the  recognition  of  that  factious  combination  of  Tacubaya  by  M.  de  Gabriac  suf 
ficient  to  constitute  in  its  favor  a  lawful  origin  ?  If  so,  it  follows  that  the  sovereignty  of 
any  country,  of  France,  or  of  England,  as  much  as  of  Mexico,  resides  in  the  will  of  a  few 
representatives  of  foreign  states  who  may  according  to  their  caprices  (sometimes  to  their 
interests)  transfer  that  sovereignty  to  the  party  they  may  desire  to  favor.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  equal  in  absurdity  a  doctrine  tending  to  such  a  conclusion  as  this.  Common 
sense,  not  less  than  right  usage,  teaches  us  that  before,  during,  and  after  the  success  of  the 
clerico-military  insurrection  of  December  17,  1857 — January  11,  1858,  the  government 
established  by  the  constitution  was  the  sole  lawful  government  of  the  country,  and  M.  Pa 
checo,  in  protesting,  by  his  recognition  of  a  rebellious  faction,  against  that  only  lawful 
government,  deprived  himself  of  the  rights  and  immunities  attached  to  the  office  confeired 
upon  him  by  his  own  sovereign,  and  became  a  mere  private  individual  in  the  eyes  of  the 
lawful  government  Indeed,  this  might  be  said  equally  of  the  new  minister  of  France,  M. 
Dubois  de  Saligny,  and  for  the  following  reasons.  For,  while  M.  Pacheco  was  in  receipt 
of  an  order  of  expulsion  from  the  constitutional  government,  in  reply  to  his  claims  for  ser 
vices  rendered  to  the  reactionary  party,  M.  de  Saligny,  who  had  arrived  at  Mexico  only  on 
the  12th  of  December,  1860,  and  whose  name  was  as  yet  untarnished  by  those  intrigues  which 
had  rendered  that  of  M.  Pacheco  so  unpopular,  waited  patiently  and  apart  to  see  what  was 
to  become  of  the  constitutional  government  to  which  he  also  had  been  accredited  by  in 
structions  dated  Fontainebleau,  June  28,  1860  ;  and  this  silence  on  his  part,  under  such 
circumstances,  if  not  an  actual  declaration  of  war,  was  significant  enough.  Instead  of  act 
ing  upon  M.  de  Gabriac's  theory,  that  any  government  whatsoever  established  in  the  capital 
should  be  recognized  as  the  lawful  government  of  the  state,  M.  de  Saligny  remained  stealth 
ily  silent  and  apart ;  while  the  newsmongers  attributed  his  retreat  to  various  causes,  some 
pretending  that  the  French  minister  wanted  to  be  paid  for  his  recognition  of  the  Mexican 
government,  some  that  he  was  not  in  reality  accredited  at  all  to  the  government  of  the 
republic. 

This  state  of  things  continued  until  February,  1861,  when  M.  de  Saligny  suddenly  gave 
signs  of  life  on  the  occasion  of  the  visit  paid  to  the  establishment  of  Sisters  of  Charity  by 
the  authorities.  M.  de  Saligny  claimed  to  withdraw  the  establishment  of  the  Sisters  from 
the  supervision  of  the  local  authority  altogether,  on  the  pretext  that  the  principal  founda 
tion  of  the  Sisterhood  being  in  France,  all  these  establishments  were  under  the  direct  pro 
tection  of  the  imperial  government.  From  this  strange  doctrine,  already  adopted,  in  1858, 
by  M.  de  Gabriac,  and  of  which,  probably,  neither  M.  de  Gabriac  nor  M.  de  Saligny  had 
calculated  all  the  consequences,  it  would  follow  that  any  religious  congregation  allowed  to 
establish  itself  in  any  country  divests  itself,  by  the  mere  fact  of  belonging  to  one  or  other 
of  the  monastic  or  conventual  orders,  of  its  nationality,  and  adopts  that  of  the  founder  of 
the  order.  Thus  the  king  of  Naples,  when  such  a  potentate  existed,  should  have  been  the 
protector  of  the  Benedictines  and  the  Franciscans,  simply  because,  in  the  sixth  century,  St. 
Benedict,  of  Nursia,  established  the  headquarters  of  the  order  at  Monte  Cassino,  in  the 
kingdom  of  Naples,  and  in  1208  St.  Franyois  d' Assisi  founded  his  order  at  Portiun9ala,  also 
in  the  Neapolitan  territory.  Such  a  pretension  could  hardly  have  been  admitted  by  the 
government  in  whose  name  M.  de  Gabriac  and  M.  de  Saligny  claimed  to  impose  it  upon  the 
Mexican  government,  and  unless  on  the  principle  of  denying  to  a  weak  government,  be 
cause  it  is  weak,  the  sovereignty  to  which,  as  an  independent  power,  it  is  entitled,  by  what 


228  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

right  could  the  ministers  of  France  claim  for  France  a  privilege  which  the  imperial  govern 
ment  would  never  have  conceded  to  the  Neapolitan  government? 

Nevertheless,  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  shifts  and  artifices  which  only  seemed  to  keep  alive 
the  resistance  of  the  reactionists  by  persuading  them  that  the  constitutional  government 
could  never  be  recognized  by  M.  de  Gabriac's  successor,  the  Mexican  government  desisted 
from  the  exercise  of  its  undoubted  right  and  surveillance  over  a  religious  order  of  Mexican 
origin,  and  which  had  been  established  with  the  consent  of  the  Mexican  Congress,  and  pro 
posed  to  the  French  envoy  to  refer  the  question  to  his  own  government.  Thereupon  M. 
de  Saligny  officially  recognized,  on  March  17,  1861,  the  constitutional  government.  All 
this  time  the  revolution,  which  had  begun  to  implant  reforms  in  the  institutions  of  the 
republic,  was  pursuing  its  regular  course  in  the  midst  of  difficulties  and  trials  which  proved 
more  and  more  the  strength  it  derived  from  the  support  of  the  people  who  had  hitherto 
found  no  escape  from  the  retrograde  tendencies  of  the  clergy.  In  1858,  everybody  thought 
it  would  be  impossible  for  the  constitutional  government  to  make  head  against  that  colossal 
power  which  disposed  of  the  conscience  of  the  country,  and  relied  on  the  indirect  resources 
which  it  was  in  a  condition  to  procure  from  the  recognition  of  the  coup  d'ttat  by  the  minis 
ters  of  France  and  England.  The  struggle  had  been  long  and  terrible  ;  but  it  had  termi 
nated  in  the  complete  triumph  of  the  constitutional  government,  and  there  seemed  to  be 
at  length  an  opportunity  for  the  latter  to  carry  out  the  principles  of  political,  social,  and 
administrative  reform.  But  the  reactionists,  beaten  on  every  field  of  battle,  sought  to  take 
advantage  of  the  difficulties  of  the  great  process  of  reform  which  three  years  of  fighting 
had  interrupted.  The  reactionary  party  still  in  arms  met  in  small  bands  in  parts  of  the 
country  beyond  the  reach  of  the  rapid  or  regular  action  of  authority,  and  these  miserable 
gangs  of  no  political  color  or  creed,  but  whose  anti-social  purposes  were  no  secret,  confided 
in  the  support  of  men  who  in  Mexico,  as  in  Europe,  arrogate  to  themselves  exclusively  senti 
ments  of  order  and  moderation.  Nay,  more  :  certain  of  the  diplomatists  who  had  committed 
the  error  of  recognizing  the  abominable  dictatorship  of  a  Zuloaga  and  a -Hiram on,  forgot 
themselves  again  so  far  as  to  regard  with  complacency  the  plots  of  these  malefactors,  and 
even  received  at  their  legations  individuals  most  deeply  compromised  in  the  events  of  the 
three  preceding  years. 

Meanwhile  the  champions  of  reform  relaxed  not  in  their  work  of  social  and  administrative 
reorganization,  in  spite  of  all  these  obstacles  and  dangers,  while  some  of  the  diplomatic  rep 
resentatives  of  European  governments  were  employed  in  weakening  the  authority  and  as 
sailing  the  character  of  the  government,  supporting  conspiracies,  and  fomenting  discord, 
even  in  the  very  congress.  The  administration,  supported  by  public  opinion,  pursued  the 
bands  of  malefactors  who  were  ravaging  the  country,  and  persevered  in  vindicating  the 
cause  of  the  revolution  by  undeniable  benefits.  For,  in  fact,  this  revolution  was  unlike  any 
other  that  had  yet  occurred  in  the  Mexican  republic.  It  was  a  revolution  that  had  its 
gource  in  the  heart  of  a  nation  resolved  to  submit  no  longer  to  the  lawless  caprices  of  priv 
ileged  classes,  but  to  secure  true  order  and  civilization,  by  emancipating  itself  at  once  from 
the  despotism  of  the  sabre  and  the  corrupting  influence  of  the  confessional.  But  in  Mexico, 
as  elsewhere,  a  new  structure  of  reform  could  only  be  built  upon  the  ruins  of  past  privi 
leges. 

It  was  in  the  face  of  all  these  difficulties,  inseparable  from  a  reforming  government,  that 
European  diplomacy  resolved  to  exact  the  rigorous  fulfilment  x)f  all  the  obligations  con 
tracted  by  the  government  of  the  republic  towards  foreign  powers  ;  and,  as  diplomacy  was 
in  a  hurry  to  present  its  ultimatum,  it  seized  the  occasion  of  the  law  voted  on  the  17th 
July.  And  yet  the  question  raised  by  this  law  was  simple  enough.  The  point  was,  whether 
it  could  ever  be  permitted  to  a  government  to  proceed  in  that  manner  ;  and  if  so,  whether 
the  Mexican  government  was  at  that  time  in  the  condition  prescribed  by  public  law. 

Now,  to  understand  at  a  glance  the  excessive  nature  of  these  diplomatic  demands,  it  is 
enough  to  recall  the  fact  that  all  writers  on  international  law  have  admitted,  that  whenever 
the  impossibility  of  meeting  an  engagement  arises  from  a  change  in  the  situation  of  the 
debtor,  that  impossibility  changes  also  the  nature  of  the  obligation  which  he  may  have 
contracted. 

Thus,  according  to  Grotius  and  Cocceieus,  "The  obligation  resulting  from  any  convention 
whatsoever  ceases  at  the  same  time  as  the  impossibility  of  meeting  it ;  "  and,  according  to 
\Vheaton,  "the  annulment  of  a  treaty,  even  after  ratification,  may  be  demanded,  on  the 
ground  of  the  physical  and  moral  impossibility  of  fulfilling  its  stipulations,  and  there  is 
physical  impossibility  in  all  cases  where  the  contracting  party  is  wanting  in  the  means  ne 
cessary  to  the  making  his  contract  good  "  According  to  Martens,  "The  physical  impos 
sibility  of  fulfilling  a  treaty  discharges  a  State  from  the  obligation  it  has  contracted,  but 
without  releasing  it  from  the  indemnity  which  must  be  granted  to  its  creditor,  in  case  that 
impossibility  had  been  provided  for  by  the  treaty,  or  had  occurred  through  the  fault  of  the 
debtor."  Finally,  to  omit  many  more  equally  decisive  authorities,  according  to  Hoffter, 
"  The  party  who  has  subscribed  an  obligation  may  refuse  to  execute  it  iu  cases  of  iinpossi- 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  229 

bility,  even  though  relative  only,  if  it  arose  from  the  force  of  circumstances  permanently 
beyond  his  control ;  and  he  would  be  specially  so  discharged  if  the  conflict  was  one  between 
his  duties  as  debtor  on  the  one  hand  and  the  rights  and  well-being  of  the  country  on  the  other." 

So  much  for  the  law  of  the  case.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  Mexico  was  at  that  time 
in  any  one  of  the  cases  of  extremity  mentioned  by  the  writers  quoted  above.  What,  then, 
were  the  conventions  to  which  Mexico  had  subscribed,  and  under  what  conditions  had  they 
been  accepted  by  the  government  of  the  republic  ?  These  conventions  were  two  in  number. 
They  dated  from  the  beginning  of  the  year  1857,  and  had  been  subscribed  in  order  to  pre 
vent  the  bombardment  of  Vera  Cruz — the  one  in  favor  of  certain  French  merchants,  the 
other  of  English  creditors. 

By  the  first,  the  Mexican  government  had  assigned  to  the  payment  of  the  creditors  of  the 
French  debt :  . 

1.  As  A  PERMANENT  CHARGE. 

25  per  cent,  on  all  ships  of  French  owners 25  per  cent. 

2.  AS  A  TEMPORARY  CHARGE. 

8  per  cent,  to  pay  the  arrears  of  the  said  convention...... 8  per  cent. 

This  8  per  cent,  to  be  raised  2  per  cent.,  under  certain  circumstances  provided 

for  by  the  convention _ . ....       2  per  cent. 


Total 35  per  cent. 

X 

By  the  second,  the  same  government  had  assigned  to  the  payment  of  the  English  debt 
and  convention : 

1.    BY  PERMANENT  ASSIGNMENT. 

25  per  cent,  in  favor  of  debt  contracted  in  London 25  per  cent.' 

16  per  cent,  in  favor  of  the  English  convention 16  per  cent. 

2.    BY  TEMPORARY  ASSIGNMENT. 

8  per  cent,  applicable  to  payment  of  arrears ...... ......       8  per  cent. 

To  be  raised  under  circumstances  provided  for,  2  per  cent .......       2  per  cent. 


Total _ 51  per  cent. 

Moreover,  the  expenses  of  management,  to  the  amount  of  about  30  per  cent  ,  were  charged 
upon  the  Mexican  government ;  so  that,  on  the  revenue  derived  from  customs  dues  on 
French  imports,  there  remained  to  the  Mexican  government,  after  payment  of  expenses 
and  instalments  of  debts,  35  per  cent.,  and  on  customs  dues  on  English  imports  19  per 
cent.  only.  Considering  that  the  greater  part  of  the  revenues  of  the  country  are  derived 
from  these  customs  dues,  these  demands  appear  to  leave  something  to  be  desired  in  the 
way  of  moderation  ;  and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  M.  Juarez's  administration,  far  more  un 
fortunate  than  culpable  in  that  respect,  was  at  that  time  under  a  stress  of  circumstances 
which  all  authorities  on  international  law  declare  to  be  tantamount  to  the  impossibility  of 
meeting  its  engagements. 

In  pronouncing  against  these  excessive  demands,  we  are  far  from  supposing  that  the  gov 
ernments  of  Great  Britain  and  France  had  for  a  moment  calculated  the  difficulties  which 
might  interfere  with  the  execution  of  the  engagements.  But  the  difficulties,  whether  fore 
seen  or  unforeseen,  were  not  the  less  serious;  and  the  government  of  the  republic  could  not 
be  fairly  made  liable  for  the  delay  in  payment  which  resulted  from  them.  Others  may, 
perhaps,  charge  the  Mexican  government  with  having  wilfully  entered  into  engagements 
which  it  knew  it  could  not  fulfil.  But  this  objection  is  far  more  specious  than  solid.  In 
its  struggles  against  the  reactionary  parties  after  the  coup  d'etat,  the  constitutional  govern 
ment  really  represented  the  cause  of  reform  in  the  administration  and  in  the  whole  conduct 
of  the  state.  It  was  not  a  few  isolated  individuals  that  succumbed,  but  the  cause  and  pros 
pects  of  a  better  government.  What  signified  the  momentary  suspension  of  payments,  if  the 
fall  of  the  only  Mexican  government  that  had  ever  represented  a  moral  principle  was  in  the 
balance;  ?  The  important  point  was  to  gain  time  ;  and,  as  there  was  but  one  way  of  fairly 
attaining  this  desirable  result,  the  government  was  bound  to  yield  before  a  display  of  force 
which  left  it  no  other  alternative  possible  than  to  fall  or  to  submit  to  sign  the  conventions, 
backed  by  the  guns  of  the  British  and  French  squadrons,  and  to  wait  until  after  a  victorious 
entry  into  the  capital  of  the  republic  to  demand  the  revision  of  treaties,  the  strict  execution 
of  which  was  materially  impossible. 

E.  LEFEYRE. 


230  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


No.  VIII.— THE  CONVENTION  OF  LONDON. 

The  law  of  July  17,  1861,  was,  we  have  shown,  in  strict  accordance  with  all  the  prin 
ciples  of  right  which,  according  to  the  testimony  of  all  writers  on  international  law, 
appertain  to  governments  in  such  a  situation  of  affairs.  But  when  reasons  are  wanting 
pretexts  avail,  and  those  who  were  intriguing  with  all  their  might  to  bring  about  an 
intervention  were  not  likely  to  let  slip  so  rare  an  opportunity  of  attaching  European  powers 
to  their  cause. 

It  was  Spain  that  commenced  proceedings.  Not,  as  might  be  supposed,  after  all  the 
noise  about  the  name  of  M.  Pacheco,  to  punish  the  republic  for  the  expulsion  of  that 
unfortunate  ambassador,  but  to  constrain  the  Mexican  government  to  recognize  the  treaty 
signed  in  1860,  at  Paris,  between  M.  Mon,  ambassador  of  Spain  to  the  French  court,  and 
M.  Almonte,  envoy  of  the  reactionary  rebellion. 

Now,  to  understand  the  conditions  of  this  treaty  it  must  be  observed  that  the  Mexican 
debt  is  divided  into  two  distinct  branches,  which  should  not  be  confounded  with  one 
another.  There  is  the  internal  debt  and  the  external  debt ;  the  one,  of  course,  privileged  ; 
the  other  subject  to  all  the  fluctuations  of  parties,  which  for  the  last  forty  years  have 
disputed  the  government  of  the  republic.  The  internal  debt  is  composed  of  all  the  sums 
due,  in  any  shape,  by  the  Mexican  administration  to  its  own  citizens,  and  the  government 
has  always  maintained  that  nothing  could  divest  it  of  its  quality  of  a  debt  essentially 
Mexican.  Nor  could  persons  who  might  happen  to  become  holders  of  its  stock,  change  on 
any  pretext  its  national  character. 

The  Spaniards,  on  the  contrary,  insisted  that  the  bonds  of  the  foreign  debt  bought  by 
foreigners  should  partake  in  the  privilege  accorded  by  the  law  to  those  same  foreigners ; 
BO  that  being  masters  of  a  considerable  portion  of  these  bonds,  which  they  had  bought  at 
the  lowest  prices,  they  claimed  to  have  them  treated  as  credits  of  Spanish  origin  in  the 
convention  destined  to  liquidate  by  instalments  the  Mexican  debt  to  Spain.  Thence  arose 
between  the  two  governments  a  conflict  which  had  terminated  in  1857,  under  M.  Comon- 
fort,  in  a  temporary  suspension  of  payment  of  the  Spanish  debt. 

But  the  insurgent  reaction,  in  order  to  testify  gratitude  to  Spain,  whose  subjects  sympa 
thized  with  it  on  all  occasions  and  on  all  points,  had  authorized  M.  Almonte  to  comply  for 
the  while  with  all  the  exigencies  of  the  Spanish  government  ;  and  M.  Mon,  on  his  part, 
in  order  to  respond  to  such  generous  conduct,  had  declared  that  Spain  would  henceforward 
desist  from  availing  herself  of  the  terms  of  that  treaty  to  exact  from  Mexico  concessions 
of  the  same  nature. 

Unfortunately  for  the  importance  of  that  financial  masterpiece,  the  fall  of  the  reactionary 
party  drew  with  it  the  collapse  of  the  treaty  ;  and  Spain  being  warned  that  the  constitu 
tional  government  could  not  under  any  circumstances  recognize  the  acts  of  the  reactionary 
insurgents,  had  taken  advantage  of  the  irritation  of  the  cabinets  of  London  and  Paris 
against  that  law  of  July  17  to  suggest  the  necessity  of  a  combined  military  and  naval 
demonstration  on  the  coast  of  Mexico. 

How,  then,  did  it  happen  that  this  expedition,  which  in  its  inception  was  purely  Spanish, 
became  transformed  into  an  expedition  exclusively  French  ?  This  is  a  question  which  can 
only  be  answered  satisfactorily  by  those  who  are  in  the  secret  of  the  communications 
exchanged  upon  that  occasion  between  the  governments  of  France,  England,  and  Spain. 
Indeed,  any  answer  to  the  point  is  impossible,  unless  we  take  for  granted  that  in  the 
preliminary  negotiations  of  the  three  powers  there  was  neither  as  to  the  motives  nor  as  to 
the  objects  of  the  expedition  any  clear  and  definite  understanding. 

We  must  seek  elsewhere  an  explanation  of  the  nature  and  causes  of  the  convention  of 
October  31,  1861,  and  perhaps  we  cannot  do  better  than  refer  to  the  declarations  made  by 
M.  Billault  to  the  corps  legislatif. 

On  the  27th  June,  1861,  M.  Billault,  the  minister  of  state,  replying  to  a  speech  delivered 
by  M.  Jules  Favre  the  day  before,  acknowledged,  perhaps  somewhat  involuntarily,  that  in 
the  defined  scheme  of  the  convention  there  was  no  question  of  an  expedition  into  the 
interior  of  the  country,  the  action  of  the  allied  forces  being  limited  to  the  coasts.  In 
making  this  avowal  M.  Billault  stated  only  a  part  of  the  truth.  To  have  stated  the  whole 
truth  he  should  have  added  that  the  convention  of  October  31  had  given  the  contracting 
parties  no  such  right  to  undertake  an  expedition  into  the  interior  of  the  country,  and  that 
if  the  imperial  government  exceeded  the  terms  of  the  convention,  it  was  because  that 
convention  was  nothing  but  a  pretext  to  cover  the  despatch  of  forces  destined  to  overthrow 
the  republican  institutions  in  Mexico,  and  replace  them  by  an  empire  organized  under  the 
presence  of  French  bayonets,  and  in  favor  of  the  Archduke  Maximilian  of  Austria,  or, 
failing  his  acceptance,  of  some  other  prince  at  the  Emperor's  disposal.  This,  at  least, 
would  have  been  a  clear,  a  frank,  and  a  definite  statement  of  the  question  ;  and  since  in 
this  nineteenth  century  there  is  a  majority  in  the  French  Chambers  always  ready  to  support 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  231 

the  strong,  the  corps  legislatif  would  have  had  the  opportunity  of  pronouncing  upon  the 
purely  material  question  whether  the  wrongs  suffered  by  French  subjects  were  proportionate 
to  the  penalties  exacted,  or  whether  the  military  and  naval  expedition  would  not  result  in 
taxing  French  commerce  for  the  profit  of  mostly  foreign  creditors.  But  it  was  not  so  to  be. 
The  imperial  spokesman  preferred  to  keep  silence ;  events  took  their  course ;  the  expedi 
tion  went  on :  a  French  army  entered  the  city  of  Mexico,  and  "the  Empire,"  which  had 
been  so  resolutely  denied  on  June  27,  1861,  in  the  face  of  the  corps  legislatif,  was  pro 
claimed  at  Mexico  on  July  12,  1863,  in  the  presence  of  General  Forey  and  M.  de  Saligny, 
by  a  meeting  of  215  individuals,  without  any  mandate  from  their  fellow  citizens,  convened 
by  traitors,  at  the  point  of  foreign  bayonets,  to  lend  a  varnish  of  legality  to  measures 
predetermined  in  Paris  several  months  before  the  commencement  of  the  intervention, 
among  certain  paid  dignitaries  of  the  French  empire,  and  some  famished  agents  of  the  old 
reactionary  factions  in  Mexico. 

To  appreciate  the  morality  of  the  operations  now  going  on  in  that  distant  country,  it 
might  be  desirable  to  set  out,  side  by  side,  the  original  text  of  the  convention  of  the  three 
powers,  and  the  convention  itself;  but  this  instrument  is  so  notorious  that  we  need  only 
indicate  the  changes  which  were  introduced  into  the  original  draught  of  the  scheme.  That 
scheme  defined  in  the  simplest  manner  the  objects  of  the  expedition.  It  was  "  to  obtain 
from  the  authorities  of  Mexico  a  more  efficacious  protection  of  the  persons  and  property  of 
foreigners."  It  appeared,  as  M.  Billault  himself  acknowledged  at  the  sitting  of  the  corps 
legislatif  in  June  21,  1861,  "that  the  high  contracting  parties  engaged  beforehand  not  to 
make  use  of  the  forces  which  they  might  employ  by  virtue  of  the  said  convention,  for 
objects  other  than  those  which  were  specified  in  the  preamble,  and  specially  not  to  make 
use  of  them  to  interfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of  the  republic."  But  the  instrument  added 
what  M  Billault  took  very  good  care  to  suppress — "  that  immediately  after  the  occupation 
of  Vera  Cruz,  and  of  the  adjacent  ports,  the  chiefs  of  the  allied  forces  should  address  a 
collective  note  to  the  authorities  established  in  the  republic,  in  order  to  bring  to  their  knowledge 
the  motives  for  which  the  allies  had  recourse  to  measures  of  coercion,  and  to  invite  them  to 
enter  immediately  into  negotiation." 

It  would  appear  that  in  presenting  this  handsome  document  for  Lord  Russell's  sanction, 
the  sole  object  of  the  plenipotentiaries  of  France  and  Spain  was  to  lull  the  apprehensions 
of  the  British  cabinet ;  but  when  once  the  expedition  was  resolved  upon,  and  before 
signing  the  definitive  convention,  they  referred  it  back  to  Lord  Russell,  with  a  hinted 
doubt  of  the  results  to  which,  in  that  form,  it  might  lead.  They  declared  to  the  British 
government  that  they  had  no  intention  of  compelling  the  Mexicans  to  adopt  this  or  that 
form  of  government ;  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  Mexicans  should  be  left  perfectly  free  in 
that  respect ;  all  the  more  so  that  they,  the  plenipotentiaries,  had  plausible  grounds  for 
supposing  that  the  Mexicans  would  themselves  come  forward  to  ask  for  a  moral  support 
which  could  not  be  refused  them.  And  thus  was  obtained  the  suppression  of  those  incon 
venient  paragraphs  in  the  original  draught  of  the  convention  which,  as  M.  Billault  phrased  it, 
"  might  have  discouraged  the  national  movement." 

Now,  let  no  one  pretend  that  we  are  inventing  suppositions  on  behalf  of  the  cause  we 
have  undertaken  to  plead.  Here  is  a  despatch  from  the  Spanish  minister  of  foreign  affairs, 
M.  Calderon  Collantes,  dated  Madrid,  October  22,  1861,  that  is,  eight  days  before  the  con 
vention  at  London,  to  the  Spanish  ambassadors  at  the  courts  of  St.  James  and  the 
Tuileries,  and  in  which  all  our  "suppositions"  are  officially  recorded  in  the  order  in 
which  we  have  ourselves  laid  them  before  our  readers 

M.  Calderon  Collantes,  after  declaring  that  the  preamble  clearly  defines  the  nature  of  the 
united  action  of  the  three  powers,  continues  thus : 

"Article  I  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired  by  the  government  of  her  Majesty. 

"Article  II  equally  merits  our  approval,  and  though  the  dispositions  which  it  contains  might 
perhaps  be  reserved  for  instructions  which  will  be  furnished  to  the  commanders  of  the  united  forces," 
he  (M.  Calderon  Collantes)  "  believes  that  it  is  preferable  to  define  clearly  in  the  conven 
tion  what  should  be  their  course  from  the  moment  when  they  present  themselves  on  the 
coast  of  Mexico,  and  more  particularly  after  their  occupation  of  Vera  Cruz,  and  of  other 
important  points  on  the  coast. 

"  Article  III  of  the  draught  convention  is  entirely  conformable  to  the  ideas  which  the 
Queen's  government  has  constantly  manifested.  They  have  always  thought  that  full 
liberty  should  be  left  to  the  Mexicans  to  constitute  their  government  iu  the  manner  most 
agreeable  to  their  interests,  to  their  customs,  and  to  their  beliefs  But  while  he  has 
always  held,  and  still  holds,  that  the  Mexicans  should  be  the  sole  masters  of  their  destinies, 
he  equally  believes  that  it  is  necessary  to  take  measures  to  enable  them  to  examine  (qu'tl  est  necessaire  de  ks 
mettre  en  itat  de  pouvoir  examiner)  without  passion  and  without  infatuation  the  situation  to 
which  their  errors  have  brought  them,  in  order  to  adopt  the  most  judicious  means  to 
ameliorate  it  This  result  might  be  obtained  by  intimating  to  the  Mexican  government 
and  to  the  chiefs  of  the  belligerent  forces  the  necessity  of  suspending  hostilities,  and  con- 


232  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

eluding  an  armistice  long  enough  to  discuss  or  solve  peacefully,  if  that  he  possible,  their 
domestic  differences.  Otherwise,  indeed,  far  from  the  presence  of  the  combined  forces 
suspending  the  struggle  and  arresting  bloodshed,  it  may  happen  that  the  horrors  of  which 
the  republic  has  so  long  been  the  theatre  will  even  increase.  Hence  it  might  be  impru 
dent,  and  perhaps  somewhat  hazardous,  to  renounce  absolutely  and  beforehand  a  course 
of  action  which  might  be  afterwards  necessitated  by  unforeseen  events. 

"Article  III  would  appear  equally  clear  and  equally  precise,  if  the  government  of  her 
Britannic  Majesty  would  consent  to  suppress  the  last  period  and  to  terminate  it  at  the 
word  '  preamble.'  In  this  way  the  object  of  the  convention  would  not  be  obscure,  and  it 
would  be  determined  without  limiting  their  course  of  action  (V  action  successive)  which  ulterior  circum 
stances  might  require.  For  these  reasons  her  Majesty's  government  believe  that  article  III 
may  be  drawn  up  in  the  following  manner : 

"  •  The  high  contracting  parties  mutually  engage  not  to  divert  the  forces  they  are  going  to 
make  use  of  in  virtue  of  the  present  convention,  to  employ  them  for  any  purpose  what 
ever  differing  from  that  specified  in  the  preamble. 

"  'And  as  intervention  in  the  internal  affairs  of  the  republic  is  not  comprehended  in  that 
preamble,  it  is  evident  that  any  action  executed  with  that  object  would  be  contrary  to  the 
convention. ' 

6  O  fi  O  *-  O  «  C-  *  w  O 

11  Article  IV  may  be  considered  similar  to  the  first,  &c.  But  even  if  that  article  should 
retain  the  form  given  to  it  in  the  project,  and  not  stop  at  the  words  'special  advantage,' 
which  in  the  opinion  of  the  Queen's  government  is  all  it  ought  to  contain,  its  intentions 
and  its  desires  would  be  in  no  way  in  contradiction. 

"It  is  unnecessary  to  state  that  the  Queen's  government  considers  the  monarchical 
preferable  to  any  other  form  of  government ;  but  it  will  not  put  forward  its  opinion  upon 
the  advantage  which  would  result  to  the  Mexican  people  if  they  adopted  that  form  in  order 
to  constitute  themselves  definitively.  If,  however,  such  were  their  desire  ;  if  they  made 
eiforts  to  realize  it ;  if  they  consented  to  discuss  the  election  of  a  sovereign,  Spain  could  not 
remain  indifferent  upon  such  a  grave  question,  especially  if  any  candidate  were  offered  to 
the  Mexicans  by  one  or  other  of  the  friendly  governments. 

"The  5th  article  of  the  project  is  admirably  drawn  up,  and  her  Majesty's  government 
desires  nothing  more,  &c. 

"S.  CALDERON  COLLANTES." 

Now,  what  will  the  reader  think  of  this  juggle,  by  which,  while  great  respect  is  pro 
fessed  for  the  sovereignty  of  Mexico,  they  are  nevertheless  tricked  under  the  pretence 
"  that  it  is  necessary  to  place  them  in  a  position  to  examine  without  passion  and  without 
delusion  the  situation  into  which  these  errors  have  led  them,  in  order  to  adopt  the  most 
appropriate  means  of  ameliorating  it?"  and  of  this,  in  which  we  find  "that  it  would  be 
imprudent,  and  perhaps  somewhat  hazardous,  to  renounce  in  an  absolute  manner  and 
beforehand  a  course  which  might  be  necessitated  afterwards  by  unexpected  events;"  or  of 
this  appeal,  finally,  to  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  of  the  British  government,  begging 
him  "  to  permit  the  suppression  of  the  last  period  of  Article  III?" 

Why  not  under  such  grave  circumstances  apply  to  M.  de  Thouvenel  as  well  as  to  Earl 
Russell  ?  Was  it  because  the  consent  of  the  former  was  assured  beforehand,  or  simply 
because  M.  Calderon  Collantes  hoped,  with  or  without  reason,  to  come  to  an  understanding 
with  him  more  easily  ? 

These  are  questions  upon  which  it  would  be  idle  now  to  dwell,  and  to  which  we  merely 
give  a  passing  allusion.  We  search  in  vain  through  the  numberless  despatches  written  on 
this  occasion  ;  in  vain  we  read  and  re-read  the  speeches  upon  this  question  delivered  to 
this  day  ;  we  find  nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  which  explains,  much  less  legitimatises, 
this  unusual  display  of  force  against  a  country,  the  greatest  crime  of  which  was  that  of 
not  despairing  of  its  regeneration,  and  that  of  making  a  supreme  effort  without  having 
previously  filled  its  coffers  with  the  indispensable  sums  for  satisfying  the  greed  of  all  those 
who  believed  themselves  interested  in  opposing  it. 

It  was  in  reality  merely  a  question  of  usury,  a  question  of  hard  cash,  and  that  is  why 
the  governments  of  France  and  Spain  felt  from  the  first  that  the  republic  in  that  country 
must  be  destroyed,  and  replaced  by  a  monarchy  supported  upon  foreign  bayonets,  as  this 
was  the  only  means  of  hiding  the  immorality  of  the  object  by  disguising  it  under  a  varnish 
of  conventional  legality. 

Be  it  so.  Let  us  examine  the  London  treaty  from  this  last  point  of  view,  and  let  us  see 
if  we  shall  discover  the  cause  for  which  the  Spanish  minister  appeared  thus  to  mistrust  the 
English  government. 

Let  us  imagine  some  merchant  (the  Mexican  government)  whose  affairs,  in  consequence 
of  an  important  circumstance  over  which  he  had  no  control,  (the  coup  d'etat,)  were  in  a 
desperate  position,  and  whose  creditors,  (the  governments  of  England,  Spain,  and  France,) 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  233 

instead  of  coming  to  a  friendly  understanding  with  him,  so  as  to  give  him  time,  by  means 
of  an  agreement  arranged  in  common,  to  re-establish  his  affairs,  and  to  pay  them  ultimately 
in  full,  assembled  with  a  diametrically  opposite  object,  and  came  pistol  in  hand  to  demand 
a  payment  which  their  unfortunate  creditor,  despite  his  willingness,  could  not  make  on  the 
instant,  and  we  have,  commercially  speaking,  the  exact  and  precise  sense  of  the  London, 
convention. 

Despite  the  changes  effected  in  the  original  text  of  the  project,  the  moral  value  of  this 
diplomatic  act  was  contained  in  this  disposition  of  Article  III :  "  Each  of  the  contracting 
parties  will  name  its  general  commissioner  invested  with  full  powers  to  conclude  the 
arrangements,  which  the  redivision  of  the  sums  to  be  received  in  Mexico  will  necessitate  ;" 
and  the  first  paragraph  of  Article  I,  "  The  three  powers  undertake  to  send  sufficient  forces 
to  seize  upon  the  different  fortresses  and  military  points  of  all  the  coast  of  Mexico,"  was 
only  the  ostensible  means  of  compelling  their  insolvent  debtor  to  pay  up. 

Do  not  let  us,  however,  forget  The  London  convention,  in  giving  a  positive  form  to  the 
mercantile  object  of  the  expedition,  took  care  to  declare  beforehand  that  the  contracting 
powers  prohibited  themselves  from  making  it  serve  as  the  starting  point  of  the  ambition, 
of  any  one  of  them,  from  seizing  by  armed  force  upon  any  of  the  provinces  of  the  country, 
and  from  using  it  as  a  pretext  for  interfering  in  the  internal  dissensions  of  the  republic. 
It  stipulated,  on  the  contrary,  in  the  most  formal  manner,  that  the  signatory  powers 
meant  solely  to  demand  reparation  for  the  outrages  and  injuries  inflicted  upon  English, 
Spanish,  and  French  subjects,  and  not  to  take  part  for  or  against  the  constitution — for  or 
against  the  government  of  Mexico.  Now,  however  little  one  may  know  of  the  institutions 
which  govern  the  destinies  of  England,  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  it  could  not  have  been, 
otherwise.  It  was,  in  fact,  in  order  to  remain  faithful  to  the  principle  of  non-intervention 
recognized  and  proclaimed  by  all  the  powers  of  Europe,  that  England  refused,  in  1859,  to 
mix  in  the  struggle  carried  on  at  that  period  by  the  Italian  people  to  obtain  self-govern 
ment  and  insure  their  independence.  It  was  from  respect  for  the  same  principle  that  the 
English  government  insisted  with  so  much  perseverance  upon  the  evacuation  of  Syria  by 
the  French  troops,  and  that  recently  in  a  question — we  mean  the  American  question — 
affecting  in  the  highest  degree  the  prosperity  and  the  tranquillity  of  England,  since  the 
occupation  and  consequently  the  existence  of  several  millions  of  English  citizens  were 
concerned  in  its  continuance,  it  declared  from  the  beginning  of  the  struggle  th  it  it  would 
observe  the  strictest  neutrality  between  north  and  south.  The  course  of  the  English 
negotiator  was  thus  completely  indicated  by  the  precedents  of  his  country,  and  despite  the 
facility  with  which  he  agreed  in  the  interested  observations  of  the  plenipotentiaries 
of  France  and  Spain,  by  consenting  to  the  suppressions  above  spoken  of,  it  was  impossible 
to  suppose  that  Earl  Russell  would  ever  let  the  expedition  against  Mexico  be  turned  from 
its  object,  in  order  to  serve  as  the  pedestal  for  the  ambition  of  his  allies,  or  as  a  revenge 
for  the  reactionary  parties  of  the  country. 

E.  LEFEVRE. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  February  11,  1864. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  separate  notes  of 
the  26th  and  31st  ultimo,  with  their  respective  enclosures,  containing  the  history 
of  political  occurrences  in  Mexico,  as  illustrated  in  contemporaneous  documents. 
This  government  cannot  be  indifferent  to  the  events  which  are  occurring  in 
that  republic,  and  I  assure  you  that  I  appreciate  your  courtesy  in  throwing 
additional  light  upon  those  events  from  your  own  resources. 
I  avail,  &c., 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Senor  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  Sfc. 


234  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  February  2,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  Desirous  to  communicate  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States  all  the  documents  which  may  cast  light  upon  its  opinion  on  the  conduct 
of  the  Emperor  of  the  French  in  relation  to  Mexico,  I  have  the  honor  to  enclose 
with  this  note,  translated  into  English,  an  official  extract,  published  in  France, 
of  the  trial  to  which,  by  order  of  the  imperial  government,  the  two  Mexican 
consuls,  Messrs.  Montluc  and  Manegro,  were  subjected ;  the  defence  made  by 
a  French  advocate  in  behalf  of  the  former ;  and  a  circular  issued  because  of  this 
trial  by  the  department  for  foreign  affairs  and  administration  of  the  republic. 
These  documents  of  themselves,  speak  with  sufficient  clearness  in  favor  of  the 
cause  of  my  country.  I  will  allow  myself,  however,  to  call  your  attention 
briefly  to  the  inexcusable  facts  that  the  French  police  assailed  the  consulate 
general  of  Mexico  in  Paris,  when  the  consul  was  still  in  the  exercise  of  his 
functions  under  the  guarantees  of  the  law  of  nations,  searched  his  archives, 
and  took  possession  of  various  documents,  and  subjected  the  consul  general 
himself,  and  the  consul  residing  at  Havre,  to  a  criminal  trial,  infringing  on 
treaties  in  force  which  ought  to  have  been  respected,  as  was  demonstrated  by 
the  distinguished  advocate,  M.  Hebert,  in  the  defence  which  I  enclose.  So 
manifest  became  the  injustice  of  such  proceedings,  that  the  French  tribunal, 
notwithstanding  the  influence  of  the  imperial  government,  which,  it  is  hidden 
from  none,  is  now  omnipotent  in  that  country,  absolved  the  accused  of  all 
responsibility,  although  the  administration  had  desired  they  should  pass  judg 
ment  on  these  parties  as  disturbers  of  public  order,  and  instigators  of  hatred 
and  disrespect  towards  the  government  of  the  Emperor. 

That  unjust  treatment  of  our  consuls  by  the  imperial  government  obliged 
the  Mexican  government  to  withdraw  their  commissions,  without  leaving  any 
functionary  of  their  class  in  the  French  territory,  in  order  to  avoid  what  might 
be  the  object  of  fresh  assaults.  At  the  same  time  the  government  of  the  republic 
withdrew  its  exequatur  from  the  French  consuls  resident  in  the  country  as  a 
necessary  consequence  of  the  former  measure,  and  of  the  facts  before  referred 
to,  as  may  be  noted  in  the  annexed  circular  from  the  department  for  foreign 
relations.  I  abstain  from  further  commentary,  assured,  as  I  am,  that  the  high 
criterion  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  renders  that  unnecessary ;  the 
reading  of  the  documents  I  enclose  being  sufficient,  together  with  the  others  I 
have  communicated  to  it,  and  think  of  sending,  for  understanding  on  which  side 
justice  lies,  and  which  of  the  two  belligerent  parties  proceeds  in  open  violation 
of  the  law  of  nations. 

I  avail  of  this  opportunity  to  reiterate  to  you,  sir,  the  protestation  of  my  very 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  $v.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


JUDICIAL  PROCEEDINGS  AGAINST  THE  MEXICAN  CONSULS,  JUNE  4,  1863. 

We  give  here  the  account  of  the  proceedings  in  this  case  during  the  three  days  in  which 
it  was  before  the  court. 

COURT   OF  CORRECTION   OF  PARIS. 

Sixth  Chamber.— Session  of  the  4th  of  June. — Proceedings  and  developments  within  and 
without. — Five  accused. — The  Mexican  consuls. 

Examination  of  M.  Montluc. 

The  PRESIDENT.  At  the  time  of  your  first  examination  you  held  the  position  of  consul 
general  of  Mexico  in  Paris  ? 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  235 

M.  MONTLUC.  Yes,  Mr.  President. 

Question  You  were  so  in  fact  since,  in  1861,  you  received  your  exequatur  from  the  French 
government ;  but  this  exequatur  has  since  been  revoked  ? 

Answer.  That  is  true  ;  it  has  been  revoked  since  May  3 — that  is,  three  days  after  the  first 
return  of  the  judicial  writ. 

Question.  So  you  were  consul  general  when  the  circumstances  transpired  which  now  bring 
you  before  the  court  ? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir. 

Question.  Have  you  spent  any  part  of  your  life  in  Mexico  ? 

Answer.  Yes,  bir ;  from  1831  to  1846  ;  and  whilst  I  resided  in  Mexico  I  was  consul  of 
France  for  eleven  years. 

Question.  Was  it  in  1854  that  you  came  to  Paris  and  established  a  commercial  house? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir. 

Question.  When  you  were  appointed  consul  from  Mexico  did  you  preserve  your  character 
of  a  Frenchman  ? 

Answer.  Yes,  Mr.  President ;  I  esteem  it  too  much  to  renounce  it  under  any  consider 
ation. 

Question.  At  that  period  were  there  already  difficulties  between  the  government  of  Mexico 
and  the  French  government  ? 

Answer.  Yes,  Mr.  President,  they  commenced  then. 

Question.  Was  there  in  France  any  general  agent  from  Mexico? 

Answer.  Yes ;  Senor  Don  Juan  Antonio  de  la  Fueute,  who  was  the  person  that  brought 
me  my  appointment  as  consul  general. 

Question.  Since  the  departure  of  Senor  de  la  Fuente  there  has  been  in  France  no  politi 
cal  representative  of  the  Mexican  government ;  you  alone  remained  as  consul  general  ;  you 
had  no  authority  to  interfere  with  political  affairs,  and  yet  you  have  occupied  yourself  with 
them? 

Answer.  What  I  have  done  in  political  matters  I  have  done  openly,  publicly,  as  a  good 
Frenchman  above  all,  and  likewise  as  consul  general  of  a  country  which  I  saw  unjustly 
judged,  unjustly  threatened.  I  wrote  to  M.  Billault,  minister  without  portfolio,  to  inform 
him  of  the  real  state  of  affairs  in  Mexico.  That  was  on  the  10th  of  May.  On  the  3d  of 
June  I  sought  an  audience  of  the  Emperor,  and  on  the  5th  of  July  I  sent  a  note  to  his 
Majesty  On  the  7th  of  the  same  month  I  received  a  letter  from  his  private  secretary,  in 
which  I  was  told  that  his  Majesty  had  not  time  to  receive  me.  On  the  15th  I  received 
from  the  Mexican  government  a  commission  to  address  a  note  to  the  Emperor. 

Question.  In  your  communication  you  said  that  it  was  as  a  Frenchman  that  you  had 
written  to  M.  Billault  ? 

Answer.  In  all  the  notes  and  letters  which  I  have  written  I  have  always  signed 'my  name 
as  consul  general  of  Mexico. 

Question.  No  fault  is  found  with  you  for  those  acts  which  concerned  public  relations  ; 
but  it  is  said  that  apart  from  those  public  relations,  and  independent  of  the  exercise  of  your 
functions  as  consul  general,  which  consisted  in  watching  over  the  commercial  interests  of 
the  government  which  intrusted  you  with  such  functions,  you  had  political  relations  with 
the  Mexican  authorities. 

Answer.  That  is  what  I  positively  deny.  In  all  that  I  have  done  then  and  since  I  have 
had  no  other  object  in  view  than  to  make  the  truth  known  to  both  countries,  and  by  such 
a  course  of  action,  far  from  injuring  France,  I  have,  on  the  contrary,  thought  to  do  her  a 
great  service. 

Question.  You  received  news  from  Mexico,  news  of  ill  will  and  of  threatening  import  to 
France.  You  are  charged  with  having  propagated  this  news  by  means  of  those  who  now 
stand  accused  with  you. 

Answer.  I  sometimes  communicated  news  to  Messrs.  Boue"  and  Laverriere,  recommending 
to  them,  indeed,  to  refute  the  infamous  calumnies  spread  abroad  against  the  Mexican 
government,  but  without  ever  saying  anything  that  might  hurt  or  offend  France,  always 
respecting  the  truth,  without  ever  forgetting  their  character  as  Frenchmen. 

Question.  Did  you  not  write  to  Seilor  Doblado,  Mexican  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  that 
the  advices  which  you  received  from  that  country  were  published  in  the  newspapers  of 
Mexico  ? 

Answer.  Only  those  which  I  thought  useful  to  publish  in  the  interest  of  both  govern 
ments. 

Question.  Did  you  not  give  information  to  Doblado  of  the  military  forces  sent  by  France 
to  Mexico? 

Answer.  Yes,  Mr.  President,  and  that,  too,  was  done  in  the  interest  of  both  governments. 
All  that  I  have  done  had  no  other  purpose  than  to  enlighten  both  of  them,  in  order  to  con 
duct  them  to  a  proper  appreciation  of  the  state  of  affairs,  since  I  have  never  written  either 


236  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

to  England,  or  to  Belgium,  or  to  Spain.  Far  from  arousing  angry  feelings  between  the  two 
powers,  I  only  strove  to  bring  them  to  an  agreement. 

Question.  Is  it  not  certain  that  through  you  Bou6,  Petit,  and  Laverriere  have  received 
money  from  the  Mexican  government  ? 

Answer.  Yes,  Mr.  President,  in  order  to  write  in  favor  of  Mexico,  but  not  against  France. 

Question.  The  nature  of  your  published  writings  proved  that  they  were  directed  against 
France. 

Answer.  Never,  Mr.  President. 

Question.  Nevertheless,  you  yourself  considered  your  position  so  delicate  that,  in  your 
deposition,  you  have  said  that  two  or  three  times  you  were  on  the  point  of  sending  in  your 
resignation  of  the  position  of  consul. 

Answer,  lh.it  is  true  ;  in  view  of  the  difficult  position  in  which  I  found  myself  I  had 
doubts  as  to  the  course  of  conduct  which  I  should  pursue.  I  spoke  on  the  subject  to  Gen 
eral  Forey,  to  M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys,  and  to  some  others.  What  they  told  me  set  my  mind 
at  rest,  and  I  continued  in  the  exercise  of  my  functions. 

Question.  Perhaps  you  would  have  done  well  in  resigning.  The  charges  laid  against  you 
intimate  that  you  did  not  act  by  your  own  inspiration.  In  a  letter  from  Del  Rio,  a  member 
of  the  Mexican  union,  to  Rodriguez,  the  latter  is  informed,  "  Montluc  has  all  my  instruc 
tions.  ' ' 

Answer.  Seuor  Del  Rio  had  no  instructions  to  give  me. 

Question.  I  insist  not  on  the  character  of  the  writings  published  ;  that  is  under  the  con 
trol  of  the  department  of  state.  You  have  said  in  your  deposition  that  you  approved 
neither  the  matter  nor  the  style  of  those  writings.  The  court  will  judge. 

Answer.  I  cannot  be  responsible  for  all  that  Senor  Del  Rio  may  have  written  to  me. 

Question.  So  you  deny  the  principal  fact  and  your  complicity  with  your  four  companions 
under  accusation  with  you? 

Answer.  In  what  I  have  done,  and  I  do  not  see  that  facts  can  contradict  it,  I  have  had 
no  accomplices.  As  consul  general  I  received  a  great  many  persons  in  my  office  ;  much 
conversation  was  indulged  in  ;  I  had  intercourse  with  Senor  Maneyro,  consul  at  Havre,  a 
man  of  the  highest  respectability  ;  with  Senor  Rodriguez,  who  had  been  appointed  consul 
at  Marseilles ;  with  Senor  Laverriere,  a  discreet  and  honorable  man.  I  had  no  reason  to 
conceal  my  sentiments  from  them.  But  as  complicity  presupposes  an  evil  action  delibe- 
' rated  upon  and  executed  in  common,  I  can  in  no  way  consider  them  as  my  accomplices. 

Examination  of  Stnor  Rodriguez. 

The  PRESIDENT.  Have  you  been  a  correspondent  of  the  Republican  Monitor  of  Mexico, 
edited  by  Vincent  Torres  ? 

Senor  RODRIGUEZ.  Yes,  Mr.  President. 

Question.  Did  you  send  information  to  him  ? 

Answer.  Yes,  and  he  sent  information  to  me. 

Question.  And  did  you  communicate  such  information  to  the  public  ? 

Answer.   By  no  means  to  the  public  ;  only  to  some  fellow-countrymen. 

Question.  You  said  in  your  deposition  that  you  communicated  your  information  to  every 
person  that  spoke  to  you  on  the  subject. 

Answer.  And  those  persons  were  my  friends  or  my  fellow-countrymen. 

Question.  Were  you  in  correspondence  with  Juarez,  the  President  of  the  Mexican  re 
public  ? 

Answer    I  wrote  him  one  letter  only. 

Question.  Were  you  in  correspondence  with  Doblado,  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs ; 
with  Del  Rio,  member  of  the  union  ;  with  Ordaz,  employed  in  the  department  of  justice 
in  Mexico  ;  and,  in  Paris,  were  you  in  continual  relations  with  your  four  co-accused  friends, 
Montluc,  Bone",  Laverriere,  and  RJaneyro? 

Answer.  With  the  three  Mexicans  I  have  had  only  a  very  slight  correspondence.  The 
others,  those  who  are  called  my  co-accused,  I  saw  only  rarely,  and  then  merely  for  reasons 
of  friendship. 

Question.  In  a  letter  which  you  wrote  to  Doblado,  did  you  not  place  yourself  entirely  at 
his  disposal  ? 

Answer.  He  had  offered  me  the  consulship  at  Marseilles  On  the  supposition  that  I 
accepted  that  position — that  is  to  gay,  as  consul — I  placed  myself  at  his  disposal,  but  only 
as  consul.  I  never  understood  it,  nor  seek  to  have  it  understood,  in  auy  other  way. 

Question.  You  received  a  sum  of  1,500  francs  from  Ordaz  Now,  as  Ordaz  is  no  more 
than  a  simple  employe  in  the  department  of  justice  in  Mexico,  did  not  the  Mexican  govern 
ment  nend  you  that  money  ? 

Answer.  I  have  received  nothing  from  Seuor  Ordaz  ;  I  did  receive  a  sum  of  1,500  francs 
from  Senor  de  la  Fuente  for  former  services  rendered  to  the  Mexican  liberals. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  237 

Question.  On  the  29th  of  July,  1861,  Del  Rio  gave  you  information  of  a  sum  of  2,000 
francs,  sent  to  you,  and  told  you  to  obtain  the  assistance  of  Maneyro.  In  another  letter 
appear  the  names  of  Bou6  and  Maneyro.  In  fine,  in  another  letter  of  Del  Rio  he  tells  you 
that  he  is  writing  to  Montluc,  and  that  he  hopes  from  your  patriotism  that  you  will  publish 
his  manifesto.  "They  treat  us  as  barbarians,"  he  says  to  you,  "and  it  is  necessary  to  make 
us  really  known"  And  he  concludes  thus :  "I  wished  to  send  this  to  some  newspaper, 
but  I  thought  that  no  one  could  render  us  this  service  better  than  yourself  and  Montluc . " 
Thus,  then,  you  assumed  to  yourself  the  duty  of  writing  articles,  and  of  having  an  under 
standing  with  Montluc,  Bou6,  and  Maneyro,  in  order  to  propagate  information  favorable  to 
the  Mexican  government. 

Answer.  Yes,  but  without  prejudicing  France. 

Question.  Nevertheless,  you  received  instructions,  which,  indeed,  you  did  not  always 
think  proper  to  follow,  but  which  indicate  the  path  you  pursued.  Thus,  on  the  26th  of 
July,  Del  Rio  wrote  to  you  that  Ordaz  announced  the  destruction  of  the  priests.  Did  you 
follow  those  instructions  ? 

Answer.  Partly  ;  not  entirely. 

Question.  Did  you  receive  on  that  same  day  a  letter  from  the  secretary  of  the  Mexican 
minister  of  foreign  affairs  ? 

Answer.  He  replied  to  a  letter  of  mine,  and  sent  me  some  Mexican  papers.  I  acknowledge 
all  that,  but  I  deny  that  there  is  any  illegal  information  in  that. 

Question.  You  propagated  the  news  that  the  Mexican  war  was  unpopular  in  France. 

Answer.  I  have  not  been  alone  in  asserting  that.  All  that  I  wished  to  express  was  that  the 
Emperor  had  been  deceived.  Unfortunately,  it  is  certain  that  the  war  is  not  favorably  re 
garded  in  France  ;  so  I  hear  it  said  everywhere,  in  the  streets  and  in  the  railroad  cars. 
To  say  so  is  not  to  proceed  to  acts  of  sedition,  nor  to  make  oneself  the  echo  of  the  public 
voice.  Moreover,  I  have  said  so  only  in  private  conversations. 

Question.  Was  that  letter  of  yours  to  Doblado  a  private  conversation  ?  Remember  that 
you  have  repeated  the  same  sentiments  in  the  newspapers. 

Answer.  I  have  done  no  more  than  express  opinions  with  good  intentions  towards  both 
countries. 

Question.  It  is  very  difficult  not  to  take  you  for  a  most  active  agent  and  propagandist 
•when  Del  Rio  writes  to  you  :  "Do  not  forget  that  it  may  be  useful  to  us  to  send  to  Eng 
land,  Belgium,  Spain,  or  Italy  what  cannot  be  published  ia  France." 

Answer.  I  did  in  fact  receive  that  letter,  but  I  did  not  follow  the  instructions  which  it 
gave  me. 

Question.  Among  the  papers  received  by  you  there  has  been  found  a  certain  Mexican 
journal  which  has  given  information  to  you  and  which  contains  the  most  violent  articles 
against  France. 

Answer.  In  a  journal  published  in  French  in  the  city  of  Mexico  ;  I  have  never  published 
it  ;  it  was  sent  to  all  countries. 

Question.  Resuming  the  consideration  of  the  charges  against  you,  it  is  said  that  you  have 
kept  up  relations  within  and  without  the  country,  such  as  to  disturb  the  public  peace,  and 
that  with  this  purpose  you  have  come  to  an  understanding  with  those  accused  with  you. 

Answer.  And  I  deny  all  that  in  the  most  positive  manner. 

Examination  of  Sehor  Maneyro. 

The  PRESIDENT.  Are  you  a  Mexican  ? 

Senor  MANEYRO.  Yes,  Mr.  President ;  but  I  have  been  twenty-eight  years  in  France,  as 
consul  of  Mexico  at  Havre. 

Question.  Was  it  not  in  1836  that  you  received  your  exequatur  as  consul  at  Havre? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir. 

Question.  Are  you  yet  consul  ? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir. 

Question.  Why,  then,  do  you  live  in  Paris  ? 

Answer.  The  business  of  the  consulate  is  not  of  frequent  occurrence.  Several  persons  of 
my  family  reside  in  Havre  and  apprise  me  whenever  any  business  occurs  that  demands  my 
presence. 

Question.   You  are  accused,  as  well  as  your  fellow-prisoners,  with 

Answer.  I  already  know  what  I  am  accused  of,  but  it  is  necessary  to  prove  it.  My 
fellow-prisoners !  I  do  not  know  the  meaning  of  this.  M.  de  Montluc  is  an  old  friend  of 
mine,  one  of  the  most  honorable  men  that  I  know  ;  I  see  him  about  every  fifteen  days  in 
order  to  receive  news  from  my  country.  Stfior  Boud  I  know  no  further  than  by  having  been 
in  relations  with  him  for  the  purpose  of  examining  the  qualifications  of  a  young  man  who 
had  been  recommended  to  me.  Senor  Rodriguez  is  a  worthy  Mexican  and  a  friend  of  mine. 
As  to  Senor  LaverrieTe,  I  do  not  know  him,  except  in  as  far  as  this  affair  is  concerned. 
These  are  the  men  who  are  called  my  fellow-accused,  and  this  is  what  I  do  not  understand. 


238  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

Question.  You  are  accused  of  having  had  publications  made  for  the  purpose  of  disturbing 
the  public  peace. 

Answer.   Wbere  are  those  publications  ? 

Question.  You  have  said  so. 

Answer.  Where  have  I  said  so  ? 

Question.  Del  Rio  wrote  to  you  to  have  an  agreement  with  Rodriguez  in  orler  to  make 
some  publications,  and  you  answered  him  that  you  would  do  what  he  indicated. 

Answer.  It  is  true  ;  and  what  does  that  prove  ? 

Question.  It  proves  that  you  do  something  more  than  fulfil  the  duties' of  a  consul. 

Answer.  That  is  not  my  conclusion,  but  a  very  different  one.  I  received  orders  from  my 
government  to  give  publicity  in  France  to  certain  official  acts.  I  treated  about  publishing 
them  in  France,  and  I  could  not  succeed  in  so  doing.  Then  I  turned  my  attention  to  the 
Independence  Beige.  I  have  never  been  in  communication  with  any  newspaper  writers  of 
Paris.  My  son,  a  youth  of  seventeen  years,  is  the  person  who  writes  my  correspondence 
and  corrects  my  mistakes  in  French.  I  know  no  newspaper  conductors  either  in  Paris  or  in 
Belgium,  and  with  the  exception  of  the  facts  which  I  have  just  mentioned,  I  have  applied 
neither  to  the  Independence  Beige  nor  to  any  other  periodical,  French  or  foreign.  It  it  be 
sought  to  prove  the  contrary,  let  me  be  told  where  are  my  letters,  where  is  my  corre 
spondence. 

Question.  You  know  that  there  has  been  intercepted  a  letter  from  Del  Rio  to  you, 
acknowledging  the  receipt  of  despatches  sent  to  him  by  you  ;  in.  these  letters,  then,  are  the 
illegal  acts  complained  of. 

Answer.  I  have  said  no  more  than  the  truth  with  regard  to  this  wretched  war  which 
has  cost  France  more  men  than  is  imagined,  and  in  defence  of  Mexico,  which  is  my  country, 
where  I  hold  all  my  property.  I  believe  I  have  merely  used  my  rights  as  a  private  indi 
vidual  and  as  a  consul. 

The  imperial  advocate,  Aubepin,  then  addressed  the  court  and  asked  the  enforcement  of 
the  law  against  all  the  accused  ;  he  mentioned  Messrs.  Laverriere  and  Boue  as  the  persons 
who  had  played  the  least  important  part  in  the  acts  that  constituted  the  charge. 

The  court,  after  having  heard  the  defence  of  Sfnor  Moritluc,  presented  by  the  advocate 
Senart,  adjourned  the  further  hearing  of  the  case  to  the  following  day. 
» 

SESSION  OF  JUNE  5. 

The  court  of  correction,  (sixth  Chamber,)  presided  over  by  M.  Rohault  de  Floury,  devoted 
the  whole  day  to  the  continuation  of  the  argument  in  the  case  of  thy  Mexican  consuls  and 
others  accused  of  evil  practices  and  illegal  communications  within  and  without  the  empire, 
with  the  puipose  of  disturbing  th*e  public  peace,  and  of  bringing  hatred  and  contempt  on 
the  Emperor's  government. 

M.  Emanuel  Arago  presented  the  defence  of  M.  Bone  ;  MM.  Gambetta,  Leblonde,  and 
Hebert  spoke  in  defence  of  Rodriguez,  Laverriere,  and  Maneyro. 

SESSION  or  JUNE  6. 
The  court  pronounced  its  judgment  in  the  following  terms  : 

Considering  that  the  five  persons  accused,  who  all  had  relations  with  Mexico,  or  with 
Mexican  public  men,  and  of  them  that  two  were  agents  and  one  now  is  an  agent  of  the 
Mexican  government,  have  maintained  to  the  last  moment  communications  with  men 
engaged  in  the  government  and  with  other  persons  of  said  country ;  that  some  received 
instructions,  others  news  of  which  they  made  use  in  France  and  abroad  to  publish  and 
spread  the  contents  of  their  instructions  and  periodicals  ; 

Considering  that  if  the  accused  knew  each  other,  it  is  not  established  that  they  concerted 
with  each  other  a  common  purpose  ;  that  it  does  not  appear  that  their  intentions  were 
hostile,  nor  that  they  sought  to  bring  hatred  and  contempt  on  the  Emperor 's  government, 
nor  to  disturb  the  public  peace  ; 

As  far  as  regards  Montluc  : 

Considering  that  he  was  consul  general  of  Mexico  in  France  ;  that  in  that  quality  he  re 
ceived  despatches  from  his  government,  wrote  letters,  and  made  communications,  of  which 
copies  have  been  presented  in  court,  and  prove  his  desire  to  serve  France,  by  bringing  to 
the  knowledge  of  his  Majesty,  as  well  as  of  his  ministers,  what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth  < 

As  far  as  regards  Bou6  : 

Considering  that  in  the  articles  which  he  published  in  the  French  periodicals,  he  mani 
fested  no  feeling  hostile  to  France,  and  that  it  does  not  appear  proved  against  him  that  he 
visited  Montluc,  and  received  foreign  periodicals  ; 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  239 

As  far  as  regards  Rodriguez  : 

Considering  that,  in  his  quality  of  Mexican  citizen  and  of  attache  to  the  Mexican  lega 
tion,  he  kept  up  a  continuous  correspondence  with  the  public  men  of  his  country  ;  that  the 
letters  and  papers  which  he  received  breathed  great  animosity  against  the  French  govern 
ment  ;  that  he  confesses  to  have  permitted  various  persons  to  read  those  documents  ;  but 
that  he  pretends  to  have  acted  in  this  way  only  with  the  view  of  making  known  the  public 
characters  and  the  condition  of  his  country  from  their  true  stand- point,  and  that  it  is  not 
proved  that  he  had  any  other  views  ; 

As  far  as  regards  Laverriere  : 

Considering  that  having  spent  a  long  time  in  Mexico,  and  having  returned  in  the  month 
of  June,  1862,  bis  first  step  was  to  present  himself  before  the  French  authorities  in  order 
to  inform  them  of  the  documents  which  he  had  in  his  possession ;  that  he  has  produced 
before  the  court  copies  of  the  communications  written  by  him  ;  that  this  course  of  conduct 
lasted  until  the  month  of  April,  1863  ;  and  that  he  always  professes  a  desire  of  making 
the  truth  known,  such  as  he  understood  it,  to  the  French  government ; 

That  what  proves  the  good  intentions  both  of  Laverriere  and  Montluc  is  a  letter  from 
the  latter  to  the  former,  dated  the  10th  of  December,  1862,  and  post-marked  on  the  same 
day,  in  which  Ve  read  :  "  Under  these  circumstances,  you  and  I  should  publish  nothing 
that  might  bring  suspicion  upon  us ;  since,  if  we  sincerely  desire  that  the  just  demands 
of  France  should  be  complied  with,  it  is  necessary  to  keep  within  the  limits  of  truth.  Let 
us  always  labor,  then,  uprightly  and  honestly  in  the  consciousness  of  performing  a  duty, 
and  let  us  not  fear  to  have  a  bad  interpretation  put  upon  our  efforts  in  favor  of  an  arrange 
ment  that  might  re-establish  peace,  so  desirable  for  all ;  " 

That  no  more  than  this  purpose  can  be  discovered  in  the  articles  published  by  Laverriere 
in  France  and  in  his  letters  ; 

As  far  as  regards  Maneyro  : 

Considering  that  as  a  Mexican,  as  consul  from  Mexico  in  France,  he  has  done  no  more 
than  follow  the  instructions  of  his  government,  and  that  neither  his  action  in  receiving 
papers  and  the  correspondence  directed  to  him,  nor  any  other  action  on  his  part,  constitutes 
the  crime  for  which  he  has  been  brought  to  trial ; 

For  these  reasons  the  court  orders  the  release  of  Montluc,  Boue,  Rodriguez,  Laverriere, 
and  Maneyro,  and  the  restoration  to  them  of  the  documents  seized  upon,  except  the  periodi 
cals  fraudulently  introduced,  which  are  to  be  destroyed. 

Defence  of  the,  Mexican  Consul,  Senor  Maneyro,  by  M.  Bebert. 

As  soon  as  the  court  was  opened  M.  Hebert  was  permitted  to  speak,  and  expressed  him 
self  in  the  following  terms  : 

I  have  the  honor  of  appearing  for  Senor  Maneyro,  consul  of  Mexico  at  Havre,  and  I  ask, 
as  well  on  account  of  his  official  character,  as  in  view  that  there  is  no  act  of  his  capable  of 
sustaining  the  charges  brought  against  him,  that  the  court  be  pleased  to  dismiss  the  case. 

Gentlemen,  in  order  to  defend  my  client  I  shall  examine  three  things  :  his  personal  po 
sition,  that  is  to  say,  the  general  tenor  of  his  conduct  throughout  his  life  ;  his  legal  and 
judicial  character  before  this  court,  and  the  nature  and  character  of  the  acts  with  which  he 
now  stands  charged.  As  to  the  first  point,  what  I  have  to  say  of  this  foreigner,  of  this 
agent  of  a  foreign  government,  is  so  honorable,  so  satisfactory,  that  I  would  wish  with  all 
my  heart,  as  a  good  Frenchman,  that  wherever,  in  any  quarter  of  the  world  they  exert  their 
intelligence  and  their  activity,  they  could  without  exception  receive  and  take  to  themselves 
the  same  testimony. 

Senor  Maneyro  is  of  an  excellent  family  in  Mexico  On  the  3d  of  July,  1835,  he  was 
appointed  consul  of  the  United  States  of  Mexico  at  Havre.  On  the  18th  of  March,  1836, 
he  received  his  exequatur  from  the  late  King  Louis  Philippe.  From  that  time  he  has  always 
represented,  and  now  actually  represents,  the  Mexican  nation  in  that  character.  It  is  un 
necessary  to  state  that,  in  the  exercise  of  his  functions  in  one  of  our  great  commercial  em 
poriums,  which  has  very  frequent  relations  with  Mexico,  he  has  had  occasion  to  watch  over 
important,  numerous,  and  various  interests ;  but  what  I  have  to  prove  is,  that  he  always 
performed  his  duties,  very  difficult  at  times,  with  zeal,  rectitude,  and  gratifying  success. 

It  is  well  known  that  in  those  countries  in  which  the  republican  form  of  government 
appears  to  be  the  most  suitable  to  the  customs  arid  character  of  the  inhabitants — in  those 
countries  which  are  striving  to  raise  themselves  from  a  chaotic  condition  to  a  stable  consti 
tution,  and  in  the  attainment  of  that  object  have  to  pass  through  a  period  of  anarchical 
interregnum — it  is  known,  I  say,  how  frequent  have  been  the  changes  since  1836  in  the 
personal  heads  of  the  government.  Under  all  these  administrations  Senor  Maneyro  never 
ceased  to  be  consul  at  Havre  ;  he  retained  his  powers  and  the  confidence  of  his  country. 
And  in  order  to  serve  those  different  governments,  variously  and  widely  divergent  in  their 


240  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

political  character,  Senor  Maneyro  had  but  one  rule  to  follow,  and  that  was  to  remain 
within  the  limits  of  his  functions,  to  obey  the  orders  given  to  him  according  to  law  and  by 
law — I  mean  the  law  of  nations,  treaties,  the  course  of  legislation  of  his  own  country  and 
of  ours. 

We  likewise,  since  1836,  have  had  many  political  changes,  which  have  not  only  affected 
persons,  but  have  been  deep,  radical,  overthrowing  men  and  institutions  in  succession. 
Now,  then,  under  all  the  governments  which  have  succeeded  each  other  in  France  during 
the  last  thirty  years  Senor  Maneyro  has  always  been  consul  of  Mexico— under  the  govern 
ment  of  King  Louis  Philippe  ;  under  the  republic  of  1548  ;  under  General  Cavaignac ; 
under  the  presidency  which  followed,  as  now  under  the  empire. 

From  all  this  I  seek  merely  to  deduce  two  consequences:  first,  that  Seiior  Maneyro  is  not  the 
agent  of  a  Mexican  party  ;  that  he  has  not  embraced  the  cause  of  such  and  such  a  faction, 
or  the  interests  of  such  and  such  an  individual  in  his  country  ;  that  being  consular  agent 
of  Mexico  at  Havre  for  thirty  years,  he  has  never  been  nor  sought  to  be  anything  else  ;  and, 
secondly,  that  Senor  Maneyro  is  likewise  no  party  man  in  France.  A  stranger  to  our  country, 
totally  indifferent,  as  he  has  the  right  to  be,  to  the  various  mutations  and  agitations  of 
politics,  he  never  espoused  any  party  among  us,  or  participated  either  in  the  fierceness  of 
political  polemics,  foreign  to  his  character,  or  in  the  unmeasured  laudations,  of  which  he 
knew  how  to  appreciate  the  dangers  and  utter  insincerity.  He  lived  in  peace  with  all  our 
governments  and  all  our  administrations  ;  and  when,  at  a  former  period,  a  conflict  arose 
between  the  two  countries— a  conflict  in  which  France  and  her  government  equally  showed 
that  they  were  not  insensible  to  the  glory  of  arms — when  these  last  performed  their  func 
tions  and  just  reparation  was  offered,  Sefior  Maneyro  was  one  of  those  who  merited  well  of 
both  countries  by  having  done  all  in  his  power  that  might  contribute  to  the  re-establish- 
ment  of  peace. 

And,  indeed,  a  course  of  action  like  this  enters  into  the  scope  of  consular  duties,  even 
under  the  restrictions  and  limitations  imposed  upon  them  by  governmental  policy.  And 
is  it  not,  in  fact,  a  matter  of  interest  to  these  same  consuls  that  they  should  identify  them 
selves  with  the  interests  of  those  whom  they  find  themselves  specially  charged  to  represent  ? 
Is  it  not  clear  that  it  would  be  an  act  of  folly  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  invested  with 
the  confidence  of  their  government  to  consult  in  their  conduct  only  their  political  predi 
lections  or  their  personal  friendships  or  enmities  ?  Senior  Maneyro  knew  how  to  avoid  all 
these  dangers ;  he  did  at  all  times  whatever  he  could  to  maintain  friendly  relations— all 
that  he  could  do  within  the  limits  of  his  official  position. 

This  course  of  conduct  gained  him  universal  approval ;  I  have  the  best  and  most  honorable 
testimonials  of  it.  I  have  here  that  of  the  municipality  of  Havre,  dated  May  25,  1863  : 

"OFFICE  OF  THE  MAYORALTY  OF  PARIS,  May  25,  1863. 

"We,  the  mayor  of  the  city  of  Havre,  officer  of  the  legion  of  honor,  certify,  to 
whomsoever  it  concerns,  that  Senor  Maneyro,  consul  of  Mex.co  at  Havre  since  1836,  is  a 
man  of  excellent  moral  character,  and  that  he  has  known,  as  well  in  private  life  as  in  the 
exercise  of  his  official  functions,  how  to  gain  for  himself  the  esteem  and  consideration  of 
all ;  that,  during  the  period  of  his  residence  in  this  city,  he  has  never  ceased  to  be  received 
with  distinction  in  the  most  honorable  houses  ;  that,  in  fine,  in  a  political  point  of  view, 
he  has  never  by  word  or  deed  attacked  any  of  the  governments  that  have  succeeded  each 
other  since  that  epoch.  In  proof  of  which  we  have  written  these  presents  and  attached  to 
them  the  seal  of  this  city. 

"JUST  VIEL." 

To  this  first  testimonial,  so  honotable  to  Senor  Maneyro,  I  add  another,  which  is  no  less 
BO,  given  by  all  the  consuls  resident  at  Havre  : 

"HAVRE,  May  25,  1863. 

"The  undersigned,  consuls  of  the  foreign  powers  at  Havre  de  Grace,  certify  that  Senor 
Don  Lui?  Maneyro,  consul  of  Mexico,  has  constantly  enjoyed  the  general  appreciation  and 
esteem  of  all  during  his  stay  in  this  city,  as  likewise  the  confidence  of  all  in  the  relations 
which  they  have  cultivated  with  him  ;  and  that  his  political  opinions  have  always  appeared 
to  them  marked  with  moderation  and  justice." 

Here  follow  the  seals  and  signatures  of  the  consuls  of  Prussia,  Wurtemburg,  Hesse,  Baden, 
Oldenburg,  Hanover,  Bavaria,the  Hanse  Towns,  Switzerland,  Brazil,  Spain,  Belgium,  Nether 
lands,  Portugal,  Sweden,  and  Great  Britain.0 

*  It  is  to  be  remarked  that  though  the  Austrian  consul  knew  Sefior  Maneyro  in  times  past,  he  refused  to 
sign  the  teHtirnonial.  Five  other  consult),  of  modern  date,  could  not  sign  it,  but  they  attested  their  sympathy 
with  Senor  Maneyro. — Note  by  the  Editors. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.         ,  241 

With  the*e,  and  superior  to  them,  I  have  another  testimonial  emanating  from  our  own 
government.  This  testimonial  is  found  in  the  fact  of  the  retention  of  Seiior  Maneyro  up 
to  this  time  in  his  functions  as  consul  at  Havre.  However,  I  draw  no  legal  consequence 
from  that ;  but  I  have  the  right  morally  to  say  that  he  has 'not  been  considered  an  upholder 
of  disorder,  an  inventor  of  conspiracies  ;  because  here  we  see  him  consul,  here  we  see  him 
a  man  of  moderation,  snch  as  he  has  been  throughout  his  whole  life.  The  indictment 
against  him  tells  us  that,  since  1861,  he  has  been  guilty  of  evil  practices  detrimental  to 
France  and  her  government.  Now,  if  this  is  so,  how  is  it  that  the  French  government 
has,  since  1861,  permitted  an  enemy  of  France  to  perform  the  duties  of  a  public  employ 
ment,  when  it  could  have  very  easily  disarmed  him,  by  withdrawing  his  exequatur,  and  even 
expelling  him  as  a  dangerous  foreigner? 

Such  is  the  personal  character  of  Seiior  Maneyro.  Let  us  now  see  what  has  been  his 
conduct  since  the  commencement  of  the  war.  Has  it  changed,  perhaps?  Has  it  belied 
his  spotless  antecedents?  No,  gentlemen  ;  there  is  not  a  shadow  of  guilt  upon  him.  A 
great  error  was  committed  in  this  case  when  it  was  sought  to  explain  his  coming  to  Paris, 
his  determination  of  fixing  the  residence  of  his  family  in  this  city,  as  an  evidence  of  his 
desire  to  mingle  in  intrigues  and  to  aggregate  himself  with  his  pretended  accomplices.  This 
error  not  having  been  reproduced  by  the  counsel  for  the  government,  I  might  have  been 
content  with  this  silent  reparation  of  it  if  it  had  not  become  a  duty  for  me  to  explain  it  all, 
in  order  to  establish  in  the  most  incontestable  manner  the  constant  rectitude  of  my  client. 

In  the.  month  of  September,  1858,  it  was  that  Senor  Maneyro  took  a  residence  in  Paris, 
long  befcv-e  the  war  with  Mexico,  before  it  was  even  thought  of,  and  before  any  new  or 
serious  cause  of  dissension  had  arisen  between  the  two  countries.  Seiior  Maneyro,  then, 
came  to  Paris  in  1858,  and  rented  a  residence  in  the  Eue  de  1' Arcade,  in  a  house  of  well- 
known  character,  whose  proprietor,  were  it  necessary,  would  give  me  most  satisfactory  cer 
tificates.  That  proprietor  is  M.  the  Baron  de  Cormenin  ;  on  the  supposition  that  I  refer  to 
the  one  of  to-day,  [the  audience  smiles,*]  one  of  the  most  faithful  servants  of  the  empire, 
and  who  would  not  have  given  an  asylum  to  a  man  that  came  to  Paris  to  intrigue  against 
the  government. 

Two  reasons  brought  Seiior  Maneyro  to  Paris,  both  of  them  serious,  both  of  them  satis 
factory.  He  came  principally  for  the  education  of  his  son,  who  is  pursuing  his  course  of 
studies  at  the  Lyceum  Napoleon,  and  I  have  here  the  proof  of  what  I  say.  [M.  Hebert 
turned  around,  and,  smiling,  pointed  out  to  the  court,  with  his  finger,  the  son  of  Senor  Ma 
neyro,  a  fine  youth  of  seventeen  years,  who  stood  up  and  blushed  somewhat  on  seeing  him 
self  the  object  of  the  gaze  of  the  spectators.]  The  second  reason  for  the  coming  of  Senor 
Maneyro  to  Paris  was  the  change  in  the  condition  of  his  private  fortune.  Indeed,  even 
before  the  war,  pecuniary  difficulties,  of  frequent  occurrence  in  his  country,  had  occasioned 
the  failure  of  the  payment  of  his  salary  as  consul.  I  have  heard  the  counsel  for  the  gov 
ernment  censure  some  of  the  accused  for  what  he  calls  salaried  services.  I  have  the  satis 
faction  of  being  able  to  say  of  Senor  Maneyro  that  for  several  years  he  has  served  his  country, 
and  watched  over  the  interests  of  his  countrymen,  without  receiving  anything,  without 
asking  anything  of  his  salary,  without  complaint,  and  without  the  least  diminution  of  zeal 
or  efficiency. 

But  if  this  abnegation  is  honorable,  the  consequences  which  it  produces  may  prove  inju 
rious  to  other  feelings.  During  a  space  of  twenty-five  years  Senor  Maneyro  kept,  in  Havre, 
what  may  be  called  a  good  house  and  respectable  social  relations.  It  is  hard  to  descend, 
even  \vith  honor.  The  worth  of  the  sacrifice,  the  thought  of  gratuitously  serving  our  coun 
try,  does  not  prevent  the  grief  of  feeling  obliged,  perhaps,  to  undergo,  if  not  privations,  at 
least  necessary  changes  of  life  and  habits. 

Such,  gentlemen,  are  the  two  motives  which  brought  Seflor  Maneyro  to  Paris  ;  not  to  fix 
there  his  personal  residence,  but  to  locate  his  wife  and  son  modestly  and  temporarily,  and 
likewise  to  superintend  the  education  of  the  latter.  For  the  rest,  his  domicile  always  remains 
in  Havre  ;  he  is  consul  there  all  the  time,  and  whenever  his  business  calls  him  thither  he  goes 
immediately  ;  he  has  his  office  there,  his  papers,  and  his  secretary,  who  performs  the  part 
of  chancellor. 

In  view  of  these  explanations,  either  I  deceive  myself  much,  or  the  accused,  whom  I 
defend,  is  now  a  very  different  person  from  what  prejudice  may  have  considered  him  ;  he 
now  stands  absolved  from  all  suspicion  of  clandestine  practices,  from  a  species  of  treason 
which,  I  do  not  deny,  would  assume  the  greatest  gravity,  on  account  of  his  character  as  a 
consul,  in  the  exercise  of  his  functions,  because,  I  repeat  it,  he  is  still  consul  at  Havre  ;  his 
exequatur  has  not  been  withdrawn  ;  it  is  not  two  months  since  he  signed  manifests  and  bills 
of  health  for  two  vessels  bound  for  the  coasts  of  Mexico  in  search  of  a  cargo  of  dyewoods. 

*  This  is  satirical.  The  late  Baron  de  Cormenin,  likewise  known  by  the  name  of  Timon,  and  who  published 
.  a  biography  of  the  orators  of  France  of  the  time  of  Louis  Philippe,  was  an  ardent  liberal ;  but  his  son  is,  on 
the  contrary,  devoted  to  the  imperial  policy. 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 16 


242  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  must  examine  the  subject  in  another  light.  I  say  that  Mr.  Maneyro 
is  yet  consul  of  the  Mexican  government  at  Havre,  and  I  maintain  that,  in  that  character, 
he  is  protected  by  the  law  of  nations,  and  clothed  with  certain  immunities,  so  far  that  I 
might  even  question  the  competency  of  courts  of  correction  to  assume  cognizance  of  his 
case.  But  this  I  shall  not  do;  so  great  is  the  confidence  which  I  have  in  truth,  in  the 
potency  of  the  justification  which  I  propose  to  lay  before  the  court,  extracted  from  the 
essence  of  the  case  itself,  and  which  I  do  not  desire  to  weaken  by  taking  exceptions. 

Gentlemen,  this  is  the  first  time  that  judicial  cognizance  has  been  taken  of  a  matter  like 
this ;  the  first  time  that  a  criminal  prosecution  has  been  commenced  against  consuls  and 
for  political  reasons.  I  believe  I  am  not  mistaken  when  I  siy  that  it  would  be  well  to  be 
more  careful  in  a  second  attempt  of  the  kind.  Let  us  examine  the  case  attentively  and  we 
will  derive  profit  from  it,  for  the  present  as  well  as  for  the  future. 

Two  classes  of  privileges  are  united  with  the  functions  of  a  consul,  general  privileges  and 
special  privileges.  The  first  apply  to  the  consuls  of  all  nations,  and  are  founded  on  the  law 
of  nations ;  the  second  result  from  particular  stipulations  inserted  in  the  treaties  negotiated 
with  each  nation. 

The  first  document  which  I  have  to  consult,  relative  to  the  relations  between  France  and 
Mexico,  is  the  treaty  of  March  13,  1769,  which  was  for  a  long  time  binding  upon  France 
and  Spain,  then  mistress  of  all  that  part  of  America.  In  it  we  find  a  clause  intended  to 
settle  the  privileges  of  the  consuls  of  both  countries,  which  is  as  follows  : 

"Consuls,  being  subjects  of  the  prince  who  appoints  them,  shall  "enjoy  personal  immu 
nity,  without  being  liable  to  arrest  or  imprisonment,  except  in  case  of  atrocious  crimes,  or  when  the  con 
suls  are  also  traders.  Their  papers,  or  those  belonging  to  their  office,  can  be  touched  under  no  pretext 
whatever,  unless  the  consul  be  also  a  trader,  in  which  case,  as  far  as  regards  his  commercial 
affairs,  he  shall  be  proceeded  with  according  to  the  regulations  in  the  treaties  concerning 
foreign  merchants." 

I  find  another  treaty  negotiated  between  the  government  of  the  Restoration  and  Mexico, 
which  was  then  an  independent  power  ;  it  is  an  almost  verbal  repetition  of  the  treaty  of 
1769. 

On  the  llth  of  August,  1839,  a  new  agreement  was  entered  into  between  Mexico  and 
King  Louis  Philippe  ;  I  call  the  attention  of  the  court  to  Article  3,  the  terms  of  which  are 
these : 

"  Until  the  two  nations  can  conclude  a  treaty  of  commerce  and  navigation,  to  settle  in  a 
definitive  manner,  and  to  their  mutual  advantage,  the  future  relations  of  France  and  Mex 
ico,  diplomatic  agents  and  consuls,  citizens  of  every  class,  vessels  and  merchandise  of  both 
countries,  shall  each  continue  to  enjoy  in  the  other  whatever  franchises,  privileges,  and  immunities  they 
have  had,  or  may  be  granted,  by  treaty  or  by  custom,  to  the  most  favored  foreign  nation.11 

Now,  if  I  search  in  the  various  international  treaties  what  the  privileges  are  of  the  most 
favored  nation,  I  find,  in  a  great  number  of  them,  the  most  absolute  personal  immunity 
for  consuls. 

I  have  here  one  made  between  the  present  government  and  the  republic  of  Salvador,  and 
I  presently  find,  in  its  23d  article,  the  general  clause  which  follows  : 

"  The  consuls-general,  consuls,  and  vice-consuls,  as  well  as  consular  attaches,  chancellors, 
and  secretaries,  in  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  their  mission,  shall  enjoy,  in  both  coun 
tries,  all  the  privileges,  exemptions,  and  immunities  that  may  be  conceded,  at  their  place 
of  residence,  to  the  agents  of  the  same  rank  of  the  most  favored  nation,"  &c. 

And  afterwards  more  particularly  :  "Those  agents  shall  enjoy  personal  immunity  in  all 
cases  ;  they  shall  not  be  arrested,  brought  to  trial,  or  put  in  prison,  except  in  case  of  atrocious  crime." 
By  what  I  have  specified,  it  is  evident  that  this  Article  23  is  no  more  than  the  treaty  of 
1769  more  elaborated.  Except  in  case  of  atrocious  crime,  consuls  can  neither  be  arrested 
nor  brought  to  trial.  80  that,  in  this  point  of  view,  we  might  have  been  able  to  maintain, 
in  regard  to  two  of  the  accused,  that  no  proceedings  could  legally  have  been  instituted 
against  them,  and,  with  still  greater  reason,  that  no  judgment  could  have  been  pronounced 
against  them.  And  then,  as  far  as  complicity  is  concerned,  what  would  have  become  of 
the  charge  against  the  others?  Thus,  then,  there  is  no  distinction,  in  this  respect,  between 
consuls  and  diplomatic  agents.  In  view  of  these  immunities,  conceded  to  them  by  treaties, 
their  standing  is  the  same,  since  there  is  rio  question  now  with  regard  to  the  simple  rule  of 
the  law  of  nations,  whence  a  distinction  might  be  deduced.  Here  treaties  constitute  the 
law,  and  they  make  no  distinction. 

But  I  will,  perhaps,  be  met  with  the  objection  that  war  dissolves  all  treaties,  and  that 
there  is  now  a  war  with  Mexico.  I  reply,  that  this  would  be  to  fall  into  a  new  confusion, 
which  it  is  important  that  we  should  avoid. 

If  war  dissolves  treaties  as  far  as  they  relate  to  diplomatic  relations,  it  does  not  annul 
them  totally  as  far  as  they  regard  maritime  and  commercial  arrangements.  Why  this  dif 
ference  ?  Why  continue  the  relations  of  nation  to  nation,  which  ought  to  continue  not 
withstanding  a  state  of  war,  unless  they  be  dissolved  by  express  declaration  to  that  effect 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  243 

and  by  stipulations  specially  opposite  ?  The  reason  is  because,  if  the  governments,  if  their 
flags  are  at  war,  at  least  their  real  national  interests — their  commercial  interests  especially — 
are  not  I  repeat  it,  they  are  not,  unless  it  be  by  means  of  blockades  and  absence  of  com 
munication,  means  which  begin  to  be  considered  more  and  more  barbarous  every  day,  and 
which  already,  in  fact,  no  longer  exist  in  the  greater  part  of  the  wars  of  our  times. 

Commerce  is  the  life  of  nations,  and  governments  cannot  seek  or  act  to  destroy  that  life. 
Now,  if  the  consul  is  the  essential  agent  of  commerce,  its  protector,  its  safeguard,  it  is  clear 
that,  differently  from  the  diplomatic  agent,  he  does  not  disappear  for  the  simple  reason  that 
peace  has  ceased. 

Suppose,  in  fact,  that  war  does  break  out ;  what  is  proposed  to  be  done  with  the  consul, 
to  whom  treaties  have  granted  reciprocal  immunities  ?  Can  he,  perhaps,  be  transformed 
into  a  consul  despoiled  of  his  stipulated  immunities,  and,  so  to  speak,  into  a  half-consul  ? 
No  ;  he  is  either  nothing  or  he  remains  what  he  is  according  to  treaties  ;  he  remains  con 
sul  on  the  same  conditions  in  which  the  two  contracting  parties  have  placed  him.  Is  there 
sought  a  proof  of  this?  I  do  not  pretend  to  intimate  that  we  should  receive  exemplifica 
tions  from  foreign  governments;  we  can  at  least  derive  some  instruction  from  them.  I 
have  here  a  proclamation  issued  by  the  military  commandant  of  Puebla,  under  date  of 
March  10,  1863,  and  addressed  to  the  inhabitants  : 

"ART.  1.  All  the  French,  resident  in  this  city,  shall,  three  hours  after  the  publication 
of  this  decree,  present  themselves  before  the  general,  second  in  command  of  the  military 
department  embracing  this  State,  in  order  to  obtain  letters  to  secure  their  personal  safety, 
after  which  they  will  pass  to  the  residence  of  the  consul  or  vice-consul  ivho  represents  them,  and  shall 
remain  there  during  the  attack  on  this  place,  or  during  the  time  that  the  invading  army  remains 
in  the  neighborhood,"  &c.,  &c.,  &c. 

"  ART.  2.  As  the  object  of  the  preceding  regulations  is  no  other  than  to  insure  all  possible 
security  to  French  citizens  resident  in  Puebla,  the  authorities  will  not  be  responsible  for 
any  misfortunes  or  accidents  that  may  happen  to  the  persons  of  such  Frenchmen  as  refuse 
to  conform  to  them." 

There  follows  a  notice  from  General  Ortega  to  the  consuls  of  foreign  nations,  under  date 
of  March  14,  1863,  and  couched  in  the  following  terms  : 

"This  position  has  been  very  promptly  assaulted  by  the  French  army,  and,  in  view  of 
the  disastrous  accidents  that  often  ensue  in  such  cases,  1  advise  you  to  place  in  a  secure  position 
whatever  object*  of  value  your  government  may  have  confided  to  you,  as  well  as  the  interests  of  your  con 
sulate,  and  of  the  subjects  of  the  nation  which  you  represent. 

"  Having,  on  my  part,  complied  with  what  I  consider  my  duty  as  commanding  officer  of 
this  department,  you  will  strive,  for  your  part,  in  the  way  that  seems  mott  prudent  and  con 
venient  to  you,  for  the  interests  which  you  represent." 

Such  is,  gentlemen,  even  in  war,  the  position  of  the  consul.  If  he  is  consul  in  virtue  of 
the  law  of  nations,  he  remains  consul  in  virtue  of  the  law  of  nations  ;  if  he  is  consul  in 
virtue  of  treaties,  he  remains  consul  in  virtue  of  treaties. 

But,  then,  it  will  be  objected  to  me,  a  consul  can  do  anything  he  pleases — disturb,  agitate, 
insult  with  impunity,  the  nation  to  which  he  is  accredited.  No,  nothing  of  the  kind  is  to 
be  feared ;  because  the  government  has  a  very  simple  remedy  at  its  disposal,  of  which  it 
can  always  make  use.  It  can  withdraw  his  exequatur  from  the  consul  whom  it  considers 
dangerous,  and  even  expel  him  if  he  be  a  foreigner,  and  if  he  has  really  failed  in  his  duty, 
by  the  abuse  of  his  official  character  and  of  his  immunities.  There  now  remains  the  case  of 
atrocious  crime,  which  destroys  those  immunities  entirely  ;  and  doubtless  it  is  on  this  ground 
that  the  commissary  of  police,  who  evidently  strives  to  support  his  case  on  this  notion,  who 
has  studied  the  treaties  but  misapplied  them,  acted  in  the  beginning  in  virtue  of  Article 
78  of  the  Penal  Code.  By  reading  that  article,  it  will  be  seen,  gentlemen,  that  the  crime 
which  it  provides  for  and  punishes  is  really  an  atrocious  crime  ;  but  it  will  likewise  be  seen 
with  what  reason  the  government  has  since  recognized  that  it  was  neither  proper  nor  sen 
sible  to  apply  such  a  qualification  to  the  acts  involved  in  these  proceedings,  even  should 
they  succeed  in  being  proved.  Doubtless  for  this  reason  it  was  that  the  severe  process  of 
the  examination  was  not  resorted  to  in  regard  to  Seiior  Maneyro,  who  was  accused  after  the 
others,  and  when  the  78th  article  of  the  aforesaid  code  was  no  longer  held  in  view.  Thus 
one  of  his  personal  immunities  was  recognized,  but  that  does  not  suffice  ;  we  must  go 
further  and  acknowledge  that  the  two  consuls,  in  this  case,  are  both  regarded  as  under  the 
shield  and  protection  of  the  immunities  so  expressly  inserted  in  the  treaties. 

And  when  I  defend  here  the  rights  of  a  foreign  consul,  I  am  not  inspired  only  by  the 
interests  of  that  foreigner  ;  I  am  also  inspired  by  the  regard  due  to  justice  and  the  honor 
of  our  country,  which  should  give  an  example  of  respect  for  treaties  and  for  the  rights 
accruing  from  them  to  all  nations,  to  the  end  that  they  should  in  their  turn  observe  them 
in  regard  to  us.  I  maintain,  equally,  that  the  two  consuls  accused  are  wider  the  protection 
of  the  same  immunities  ;  I  maintain  it  upon  general  principles,  and  for  the  sake  of  the 
observance  of  those  general  principles,  which  may  not  be  violated  without  danger ;  and  I 


244  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

consider  it  fortunate  that,  at  the  same  time,  those  principles  .should  bo  tho  safeguard  of 
the  fate,  of  the  liberty,  and  of  the  honor  of  a  venerable  sire,  whose  merited  discharge  will, 
I  tiope,  be  decreed  by  the  court. 

But,  independently  of  those  general  immunities,  there  is  another  entirely  i-p-cial,  and 
even  more  powerful,  if  possible,  for  the  protection  of  SeBor  Maneyro.  This  immunity 
results  from  the  fact  that  he  acted  only  under  express  orders  from  his  government.  Here 
I  have  no  need  of  citing  treaties  ;  I  may  refer  to  the  law  of  nations,  which,  I  have  already 
sai^,  does  not  place  consuls  on  the  same  footing  with  diplomatic  agents.  On  the  principles 
established  by  the  law  of  nations,  when  consuls  have  acted  under  the  orders  of  their  govern 
ment,  they  can  never  be  prosecuted  individually  nor  prosecuted  before  the  courts. 

Here  is  what  Dalloz  says  on  the  subject,  (General  Jurisprudence  ;  word,  Foreign  Consuls  :) 

"The  jurisdiction  of  the  French  tribunals  cannot  extend  so  far  as  to  investigate  the 
acts  of  foreign  consuls  in  France  honestly  performed  in  accordance  with  orders  from  their 
government.  (Deeree  of  13th  Vendemiaire,  year  9  ;  approved  by  official  circulars  from  the 
department  of  foreign  affairs  and  justice,  April  18,  1818,  and  May  29,  1819.) 

"  The  acts  in  question  are  considered  as  the  acts  of  the  foreign  government,  and  conse 
quently  are  in  the  category  of  political  acts  treated  of  between  government  and  government. 
The  ministerial  letter  of  the  19th  Florgal,  of  the  year  8,  is  conceived  in  the  same  spirit." 

Merlin  (Repertory  of  Jurisprudence;  title,  Foreign  Consuls,)  adopts  the  same  opinion, 
as  also  does  Faslix,  (Treatise  on  International  Law,)  as  well  as  Goujet  and  Merget,  (Dic 
tionary  ;  word,  Consuls,)  who  say  likewise  : 

"Consuls  who  have  no  treaties  analogous  to  those  which  we  have  'mentioned  are  treated 
in  France  like  other  individuals  of  the  same  nations.  Nevertheless,  consuls  cannot  be 
prosecuted  before  the  courts  of  the  country  in  which  they  reside  for  acts  done  in  their 
consular  capacity  and  by  order  of  their  government." 

It  is  true  that  Dalloz,  in  the  passage  which  I  have  cited  from  him,  adds  these  words : 
"  and  with  the  approbation  of  the  French  authorities."  But  it  is  evident  that  he  is  mistaken 
in  the  law,  and  gives  to  the  documents  which  he  quotes  a  signification  which  they  do  not 
bear,  since  it  cannot  rationally  be  supposed  that  the  government  should  cause  the  prosecu 
tion  of  an  act  previously  known  to  and  approved  by  it.  For  the  rest,  and  of  this  I  hope 
to  convince  the  court,  it  matters  little,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  official  documents 
received  by  Seuor  Maneyro,  and  communicated  by  him  according  to  orders  of  his  government, 
had  been  previously  presented  to  the  French  government  and  had  not  been  disapproved  by 
it.  M.  Senart  established  this  point  for  my  client  as  well  as  for  his  own. 
.  From  this  the  court  sees  that  the  legal  status  of  Seuor  Maneyro  is  as  strong  as  his  personal 
status  is  interesting.  I  might  stop  here,  but  this  would  not  suffice  for  the  defence  of  a  man 
of  so  much  probity  as  my  client,  of  so  much  consideration  for  thirty  years  at  Havre,  and 
one  who  stakes  his  honor  on  proving  that  he  has  not  been  unworthy  of  this  good  reputation. 
He  has  the  right  of  being  entirely  justified,  of  proving  that  he  ought  not  to  have  been 
prosecuted,  not  only  on  account  of  the  letter  of  the  law,  but  likewise  on  account  of  the 
relation  of  the  facts  themselves  of  which  he  is  accused. 

Let  us  see,  then,  what  Seuor  Maneyrojas  blamed  for  doing,  and  let  us  see  especially  what 
he  has  really  done. 

The  court  knows  that  he  is  charged  with  having,  in  the  course  of  the  present  year  and  of 
1862,  committed  himself  to  evil  practices  and  communications  within  and  without  the 
empire,  for  the  purpose  of  disturbing  the  public  peace  and  exciting  contempt  and  odium 
against  the  government  of  the  Emperor. 

What  I  have  read  is  the  text  of  the  law,  and  tha  summons  to  the  accused  was  couched  in 
the  same  terms.  I  do  not  wish  to  say  anything  of  that  law  itself,  provoked  as  it  was  by  a 
criminal  and  lamentable  act.4-  But  that  law  does  not  appear,  either  to  those  who  proposed  it 
or  to  those  who  voted  for  it,  to  have  for  its  object  to  punish  and  frustrate  conspiracies  against 
the  warlike  or  diplomatic  policy  of  France ;  it  was  made  at  a  time  when  the  motto,  the 
empire  is  peace,  already  enjoyed  all  its  prestige.  More  stringent  laws  were  sought  for  the 
security  of  the  empire  ;  the  78th  article  of  the  penal  code  had  provided  for  crimes  against 
the  security  or  the  external  power  of  France,  and  that  was  not  what  was  then  thought  of; 
what  was  wanted  was  to  protect  a  life  which  was  believed  to  ba  conspired  against  by  enemies 
who  had  correspondence  both  within  and  without. 

Such  was  the  intention  of  the  law  ;  it  had  no  other,  as  I  understand.  Nevertheless,  by 
implication  it  has  been  extended  to  correspondence  with  hostile  journals,  by  the  sentence 
of  November  30,  1861,  given  by  the  court  of  Paris.  Let  us  read  that  sentence  : 

"Considering  that  article  2  of  the  law  of  the  27th  of  February,  1858,  in  decreeing 
penalties  against  malpractices  and  conspiracies  abroad,  entered  into  for  the  purpose  of  dis 
turbing  the  public  peace  or  of  exciting  contempt  and  odium  against  the  government,  has 
necessarily  had  in  view  such  correspondence  and  communications  as  feed  the  foreign  press 

*  The  attempt  of  Orsini. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  245 

with  calumnies  against  the  government  of  the  Emperor  ;  that  it  would  even  be  very  difficult 
to  find  any  other  means  of  propagating  contempt  and  odium  against  the  government,  out 
side  of  France  ;  that  in  view  of  the  nature  of  the  punishment  and  the  similarity  of  the 
expressions  employed,  "it  is  evident  that  the  law  of  1858  seeks  to  repress  the  custom  of  fomenting  the 
injurious  attacks  of  the  foreign  press,  as  the  ordinary  legislation  punishes  those  of  the  home  press,"  &c. ,  &c. 

Gentlemen,  I  have  laid  a  stress  on  these  last  words  because — a  notable  fact — if  the  pub 
lication  be  made  in  France  it  will  be  prosecuted,  as  the  judgment  of  the  court  with  reason 
remarks,  only  in  virtue  of  the  ordinary  legislation  in  regard  to  the  press,  and  for  this  same 
reason  the  communications  made  will  be  culpable  only  in  so  far  as  that  which  constitutes 
the  object  of  them  is  of  such  ft  character  as  should  be  prosecuted  in  case  of  publication  in 
France.  And  how  can  it  be  otherwise  with  publications  and  communications,  when  there 
is  question  of  foreign  periodicals  ? 

"  Considering,"  thus  proceeds  the  judgment  of  the  court  already  quoted,  "that,  in  fact, 

J has  maintained  for  several  years  a  correspondence  with  periodicals  whose  animosity  towards 

France  is  very  notorious ;  that  the  documents  previous  to  the  22d  of  July,  1858,  if  they  afford  . 
no  occasion  for  a  prosecution,  constitute  an  element  for  the  moral  appreciation  of  the  political  spirit 
and  of 'the  general  tendency  of  the  correspondence  of  the  accused,  and  that  they  ought,  under  this 
view,  be  retained  in  the  case  : 

"Considering  that  the  acts  not  prescribed  and  relative  to  the  journals  of  Dresden  and 
of  Geneva  manifest  a  positive  and  continued  intention  to  propagate  odium  and  contempt  against  the 
imperial  government  ;  that  the  sole  knowledge  of  the  systematic  ill-will  of  the  journals  in  question 
should  make  known  to  J  that  he  was  contributing  to  a  work  of  enmity  and  slander  directed  against 

the  government  of  his  country;  that  the  articles  which  form  part  of  the  correspondence  which 
he  maintained  with  them,  and  principally  the  tetters  confiscated  upon  the  institution  of  judicial  pro 
ceedings,  demonstrate  that  the  accused  had  wholly  associated  himself  to  the  purposes  of  those  journals  : 

' '  Considering  that  he  has  thus  maintained  correspondence  calculated  to  draw  odium  and  contempt 
on  the  government  of  the  Emperor,"  &C./&C. 

This  shows,  gentlemen,  how  far  it  was  thought,  in  November,  1861,  possible  to  proceed 
in  the  application  of  the  law  of  1858.  But,  although  it  widens  the  range  of  its  application, 
I  shall  say  no  more  of  what  that  law  permitted,  but  more  of  what  was  then  thought.  The 
court  will  notice  that  the  court  of  Paris  traced  out  the  essential  characteristics  that  must 
constitute  the  crime,  and  these  characteristics  were  :  first,  the  sending  to  foreign  journals 
systematically  hostile  to  France  of  calumnious  writings  against  the  government  of  the  Emperor ; 
secondly,  the  object,  in  such  writings,  of  exciting  odium  and  contempt  against  the  governmerd,  and  of 
disturbing  the  public  peace  ;  thirdly,  the  habitual  employment  of  malpractices  with  the  constant 
and  clearly  proved  intention  of  entering  upon  a  culpable  course  of  communications,  as  well 
at  home  as  abroad,  against  the  government  of  the  Emperor. 

Now  let  us  see  whether  anything  of  all  this  can  be,  I  shall  not  say  established,  but  even 
alleged  against  Senor  Maneyro. 

The  counsel  for  the  government  has  founded  the  prejudice  against  him  and  against  the 
other  accused  on  the  following  four  inductions  : 

Their  presumed  sentiments  in  regard  to  the  politics  of  France  and  the  war  with  Mexico  ; 
their  relations  with  each  other  and  with  Mexico  ;  the  publications  that  have  been  sent  to 
them  by  the  Mexican  government,  and  which  they  have  communicated  or  transmitted ; 
the  extracts  from  newspapers  and  pamphlets  that  have  been  directed  to  them  under  their 
names. 

To  arrive  at  these  inductions,  the  prosecuting  officer  presently  took  up,  not  the  first  of 
the  accused — M.  Monti uc,  the  consul  general— but  a  simple  Mexican,  Senor  Rodriguez. 
Taking  his  position  and  his  sentiments  into  mature  consideration,  it  was  inferred  that  he 
must  be  hostile  to  France  and  devoted  to  Mexico,  and  therefore  that  everything  that  he 
might  say,  do,  or  write,  everything  that  he  might  receive  or  send,  would  be  undertaken 
or  conceived  in  a  spirit  of  hostility  and  with  a  purpose  of  causing  disturbance,  in  which 
those  would  be  participators  who  would  hold  relations  with  him,  and  who  are  now  his 
co- accused. 

Against  the  first  mode  of  induction  I  protest  forthwith,  not  only  as  a  lawyer  but  as  a 
citizen,  in  the  name  of  the  liberty  of  human  opinions.  And  have  I  not  the  right  of  doing 
so,  particularly  in  the  name  of  Sefior  Maneyro  ?  Should  we  not  .excuse  him  for  loving 
Mexico?  It  is  certainly  allowed  to  a  man  born  at  Puebla,  who  has  yet  his  home  there, 
as  he  himself  told  the  court,  to  be  afflicted  at  seeing  that  city  besieged,  to  endeavor  to 
remove  the  horrors  of  war,  to  be  deeply  affected  at  considering  his  native  city  taken  by 
assault,  his  home  ensanguined  with  the  blood  of  his  fellow-countrymen,  perhaps  with  that 
of  his  relatives. 

Let  us  not  seek,  then,  inductions  so  far  out  of  the  way.  Sentiments  so  natural  can  never 
serve  as  a  pretext,  for  making  accusations,  if  they  have  led  to  nothing  culpable  in  itself  ; 
because,  if  the  prosecuting  agents  of  the  government  should  take  as  a  mark  of  culpability 
the  disapproval  of  this  war  with  Mexico,  and  the  ardent  desire  of  seeing  it  concluded,  this 


246  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

palace  so  vast  could  not  contain  all  the  accused.  How !  when  the  most  cherished  inter 
ests  of  numerous  families  are  found  involved  in  a  distant  war,  whose  causes  and  purposes 
are,  to  say  the  least' of  them,  difficult  to  be  understood,  shall  it  not  be  permitted  to  those 
•who  suffer  from  it  to  deplore  its  existence,  to  express  their  opinions  upon  it,  to  use  their 
endeavors  to  ward  it  off  or  bring  it  to  a  termination  ?  When  the  heart  is  ready  to  burst 
must  it  remain  dumb  ?  Would  it  not  be  a  tyrannical  law  that  would  seek  to  restrain  the 
manifestations  of  thought  and  of  the  most  irresistible  emotions  ?  Can  we  not  speak  of 
peace,  complain  of  the  war,  without  being  punished  for  it  ?  Ah,  such  rigors  cannot  be 
proposed  to  the  justice  of  men  ;  such  maxims  cannot  be  adopted  ;  for  myself,  indeed,  the 
very  mention  of  them  makes  me  shudder.  • 

Oftentimes  have  I  heard  and  read,  outside  of  these  sacred  precincts,  such  charges  an  1 
admonitions  as  were  repeated  yesterday.  We  are  told,  "  Restrain  your  pacific  sentiments 
at  the  bottom  of  your  heart ;  it  is  culpable  to  manifest  them  when  our  banner  is  unfurled  ; 
let  your  thoughts,  let  your  reason  humble  themselves  and  be  silent  before  the  uniform  of 
the  grenadier  and  the  red  jacket  of  the  zouave  !"  Gentlemen,  this  is  a  very  commonplace 
idea,  which  can  doubtlessly  be  worked  up  by  means  of  brilliant  words  ;  but  it  is  a  com 
monplace  to  which  recourse  is  frequently  had,  and,  for  all  the  sense  it  contains,  it  is  no 
more  than  commonplace. 

At  what  time,  it  may  be  asked,  then,  shall  we  be  allowed  to  talk  of  peace,  to  take  counsel 
with  each  other,  to  show  that  it  is  possible  ?  Before  the  war  ?  But  the  existence  of  war 
is  not  known  until  the  vessels  have  sailed  to  convey  the  army,  until  that  army  is  already 
on  march ;  and  sometimes,  only  by  the  roar  of  the  cannon  is  it  known  that  it  has  been 
declared.  Shall  it  be  perchance  after  the  war  ?  After  the  war,  alas  !  we  are  only  left  to 
mourn  over  the  ruins.  Thus,  then,  during  the  war,  and  before  its  evils  have  appeared  or 
have  come  to  be  irreparable,  is  it  permitted^ then  only  can  it  be  patriotic  to  exclaim,  in  the 
name  of  reason,  of  humanity,  and  of  peace  :'"  Avoid  blood  and  the  hostile  conflict  of  two 
countries  that  can  yet  be  conciliated  and  understand  each  other." 

These  are  sentiments  which  it  is  always  good  to  propagate — means  which  it  is  always  good 
to  try.  As  to  me,  I  never  consider  them  premature  or  out  of  season  ;  I  should  fear  much 
more  lest  they  should  come  too  late.  Sero  medidna  paratur  quum  mala  per  longas  invaluere 
moras. 

Let  us  derive  instruction,  gentlemen,  from  a  passage  of  which  we  are  permitted  to  speak, 
inasmuch  as  it  has  passed  into  the  domain  of  history. 

A  half  century  ago  France  left  on  the  battle-fields  of  Spain  200,000  men  ;  on  those  of 
Russia  400,000  ;  and  hundreds  of  millions  of  money,  and  whole  provinces  separated  from  her 
territory,  paid  the  penalty  of  her  gigantic  rashness.  Were  the  wars  of  those  times,  now 
judged  and  condemned,  perhaps,  merely  due  to  the  eccentricities  of  a  great  genius?  No  ; 
they  should  be  attributed  to  the  muteness,  to  the  forced  silence  of  such  opinions  as  could 
prevent  them  ;  to  the  spirit  of  adulation  and  servilism  which  flattered  every  propensity, 
urged  on  every  excessive  trait  of  character,  and  especially  to  that  commonplace  notion  which 
I  assail,  and  which  I  shall  continue  to  assail,  that  prudence  and  moderation  should  no 
longer  seek  to  be  heard  as  soon  as  the  cannon  has  spoken  in  its  thunder  tones. 

Let  us  assert  it  loudly  :  reflections,  friendly  counsels,  censures  even,  provided  they  be 
"dictated  by  good  faith  and  expressed  in  temperate  terms,  whether  they  come  from  a  Fretach- 
man  or  from  a  foreigner,  can  always  be  uttered  with  freedom  and  honor.  Let  us  not  reject 
them  ;  on  the  contrary,  let  us  take  charge  of  them.  Oftentimes  and  ever  is  flattery  ready 
to  do  its  work  ;  let  us  leave  room  for  honest,  well-rneaQt  contradiction,  and,  above  all,  let 
us  not  renew  for  our  time,  to  which  it  is  not  suitable,  that  maxim  of  a  period  of  despotism 
and  degeneracy  :  "  Whoever  is  not  of  the  opinion  of  Omar  is  the  enemy  of  Cresar." 

After  this  first  induction,  the  merits  of  which  I  have  just  examined,  Senor  Maneyro  is 
charged  with  his  personal  relations.  And  what  were  his  personal  relations  with  the  four 
persons  associated  with  him  in  this  accusation  ?  Senor  Maneyro  went  to  see  M.  Montluc, 
his  consul  general,  twice  a  month  ;  was  this  too  frequent  an  intercourse  with  his  superior, 
from  whom  he  was  to  receive  his  directions  and  official  communications?  M.  Boue?  He 
only  saw  him  twice,  and  he  himself  has  told  you  with  what  motive  :  he  wished  to  request 
M.  Boue,  a  professor,  to  interest  himself  for  a  youth  who  was  to  pass  his  examination  as  a 
bachelor  of  arts.  My  client  is  not  acquainted  with  M.  Laverri^re  ;  and  as  to  Senor  Rodri 
guez,  who  has  been  appointed  consul  at  Marseilles,  and  has  consequently  come  to  be  his 
colleague,  he  saw  him  twice  only  in  the  house  of  Senor  La  Fuente,  minister  of  Mexico  in 
Paris 

To  this  were  the  relations  BO  much  censured  in  Seiior  Maneyro  limited.  Evidently  such 
a  species  of  accusation  does  not  deserve  discussion.  Let  us  pass  to  the  third  induction. 

The  prosecuting  agent  of  the  government  says  to  Seuor  Maneyro :  You  have  received 
letters  from  the  President  of  the  republic  of  Mexico,  from  his  secretary,  from  his  ministers, 
and  you  have  communicated  their  contents  to  others,  and  you  have  even  transmitted  them 
to  the  newspapers,  so  that  you  hav6  committed  the  crime  sought  to  be  prevented  by  the 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  247 

law  of  1858,  a  crime  which  consists  in  malpractices  and  maintaining  secret  relations  against 
the  government. 

It  is  to  be  remarked,  that  Senor  Maneyro  might  have  denied  these  communications,  as 
there  was  nothing  established  to.prove  them  against  him ;  but,  being  one  of  those  men 
who  never  deny  their  acts,  he  declared  them  without  hesitation.  To  whom  did  he  com 
municate  those  documents  ?  To  a  foreign  journal,  the  Independence  Beige.  He  himself 
says  that  he  might  equally  have  communicated  them  to  the  newspapers  of  France— for 
example,  to  the  political  director  of  the  Sie'cle.  Had  he  done  so,  what  would  have  been 
the  conclusion  that  could  have  been  drawn  from  it  ?  This  :  that  he  would  have  been  con 
sidered  more  of  a  partisan  of  the  politics  of  that  journal ;  somewhat  more  of  those  of  the 
18,000  votes  which  its  director  obtained  at  a  recent  election.  [The  audience  smiles.*]  He 
might  also  have  communicated  them  to  the  editor  of  the  Opinion  Nationale,  which  does 
not  seem  to  approve  of  the  war  with  Mexico,  and  which  would  have  dealt  in  severe  terms 
with  it.  But  Senor  Maneyro  did  not  turn  his  attention  to  any  French  functionary,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  he  had  no  relations  with  them  ;  and  if  he  sent  two  communications  to 
the  Independence  Beige,  it  was  simply  because  he  had,  at  a  former  period,  had  some  acci 
dental  intercourse  with  one  of  its  editors. 

But  here  there  are  two  observations  to  be  made.  First  of  all,  in  making  these  commu 
nications  Senor  Maneyro  obeyed  an  order  of  his  government.  I  have  here  a  letter  written 
to  him,  under  date  of  February  27,  1861  : 

"  NATIONAL  PALACE. 

"It  being  necessary  for  this  government  to  have  frequent  advices  of  the  political  condition 
of  France,  and  the  order  being  yet  in  effect  which  requires  consuls  to  transmit  to  this  de 
partment  a  monthly  review  of  such  political  events  as  transpire  in  the  respective  countries 
in  which  they  reside,  I  recommend  to  you,  very  strongly,  a  strict  compliance  with  its  re 
quisitions.  His  excellency  the  president  moreover  orders  that  you  should  transmit  every 
month  to  this  department  an  account  of  the  mercantile  movements  of  that  empire,  show 
ing,  in  general,  the  condition  of  it  with  other  powers,  and  especially  in  regard  to  its  com 
merce  with  Mexico, 

"  Whilst  bringing  this  subject  to  your  notice,  I  desire  to  renew  tho  expression  of  my 
esteem  and  consideration. 

"•ZARCO. 

' '  The  MEXICAN  CONSUL  at  Havre. ' ' 

Now  there  follows  another  despatch,  dated  April  28,  1862  : 

"  The  President  of  the  republic  recommends  to  you  to  give  the  greatest  possible  publicity 
to  the  printed  documents  annexed  to  this  communication  ;  and  this  I  desire  to  state  for 
your  information. 

"TERAN. 

"The  MEXICAN  CONSUL  at  Havre." 

Afterwards  we  find  a  letter  from  Sefior  Doblado,  minister  of  foreign  affairs  of  the  Mexican 
republic,  under  date  of  May  24,  1862,  and  couched  in  the  following  terms  : 

"  The  supreme  government  has  received  with  much  interest  the  information  which  you 
communicate  in  your  note  of  13th  ultimo,  with  reference  to  what  has  passed  in  virtue  of 
the  preliminaries  signed  at  La  Soledad,  and  I  hope  you  will  continue  to  communicate  what 
ever  information  you  may  be  able  to  acquire  on  this  particular  point ;  for  which  purpose 
you  will  lose  no  occasion  or  opportunity  to  make  investigations. 

"DOBLADO. 

"The  MEXICAN  CONSUL  at  Havre." 

Such  are  the  orders  received  by  Sefior  Maneyro 'from  his  government ;  and  in  obeying 
them  he  certainly  did  nothing  that  was  not  legitimate.  Following  those  same  instructions, 
M.  Montluc,  the  consul  general,  imparted,  not  only  to  the  public  but,  above  all,  to  the 
French  ministers  and  to  the  Emperor  himself,  the  official  communications  of  his  government 
and  his  own  observations — documents  so  notable,  so  worthy  to  be  taken  into  consideration, 
and  which  one  of  the  honorable  counsel  for  the  defence  read  here  yesterday.  All  these 
efforts  for  good  having  proved  fruitless,  there  came  another  order,  addressed  to  the  Mexican 
consuls,  under  date  of  April  23,  1863.  This  order  was  sent  by  Senor  La  Fuente,  the  pre 
sent  minister  of  foreign  affairs  of  Mexico,  and  is  as  follows  : 

*  Allusion  is  made  to  the  election  of  M.  Havin,  director  of  the  Sie'cle,  to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies. 


248  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 


"  DEPARTMENT  OF  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS  AND  GOVERNMENT, 

"National  Palace,  Mexico,  March  23,  1863. 

"The  supreme  government  justly  acknowledges  your  efforts  to  \vard  off,  or  at  least  to 
diminish,  the  evils  of  the  war  which  the  Emperor  has  brought  upon  us.  But  your  efforts 
have  proved  vain,  before  the  blind  resolution  of  attacking  us,  not  to  obtain  justice,  which 
we  have  never  denied,  but  to  interfere  by  force  of  arms  in  our  politics  and  our  national 
affairs.  Blood  has  already  flowed,  arid  much  more  will  yet  flow.  I  do  not  understand  the 
satisfaction  which  is  had  in  shedding  it,  nor  the  benefits  which  France  has  to  gain  in  kind 
ling  a  war  without  any  hope  of  terminating  it  other  than  by  the  dishonorable  peace  which 
is  proposed  to  us,  on  condition  of  sacrificing  the  government  which  we  have  selected.  As 
it  is  desirable  to  take  another  step,  I  have  to  tell  you  to  suspend  absolutely  all  proceedings 
that  may  have  for  their  object  to  inform  or  persuade  that  government,  which  is  so  unwill 
ing  to  listen  to  the  truth  and  to  the  dictates  of  justice. 

"FUENTE." 

These  are,  gentlemen,  the  correspondences  of  Sefior  Maueyro  with  his  government  And 
what  were  the  printed  documents  sent  to  him  by  it  ?  They  were  the  proclamations  of  con 
gress,  the  speeches  of  President  Juarez  and  his  ministers  ;  there  was  also  the  letter  of  Gen 
eral  Ortega,  which  was  read  here  in  court  yesterday,  and  which  did  not  suffer  by  comparison 
with  that  of  General  Forey.  On  these  documents  only,  in  this  part,  are  the  judicial  pro 
ceedings  against  Seiior  Maneyro  founded  ;  and  I  maintain  that  here  there  is  nothing  serious 
in  the  proceedings,  and  that,  by  saying  that  he  had  acted  by  order  of  his  government,  and 
proving  it,  aB  he  does  prove,  Seiior  Maneyro  says  enough  to  insure  him  from  any  further 
vexation. 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  the  prosecuting  agent  of  the  government  is  not  willing  that 
the  case  should  rest  here.  You  should,  says  he,  obey  your  government  in  all  that  concerns 
a  consular  agent  ;  but  that  government  has  no  right  to  tell  you  to  occupy  yourself  with 
politics,  and  you  have  transcended  the  powers  which  your  official  position  gives  you,  by 
occupying  yourself  with  politics. 

Gentlemen,  I  fear  that  a  line  of  conduct  in  accordance  with  these  principles  would  be 
open  to  the  charge  of  serious  disobedience.  Let  us  figure  to  ourselves  a  functionary  who 
would  reply  to  his  government,  "  No,  no  !  I  do  not  wish  to  obey  such  orders.  I  divide 
them,  and  only  reply  to  what  I  please.  If  they  ask  me  the  price  of  sugars  and  of  cochineal, 
very  well ;  I  will  communicate  all  information  on  the  subject ;  but  I  do  not  wish  to  mingle 
in  politics — on  this  point  I  remain  deaf  and  dumb."  Would  not  such  a  man  be  a  very 
stupid  agent  ?  And  what  would  we  think  of  the  government  that  would  employ  him,  and 
retain  him  in  his  position  ? 

Now,  i  proceed  further  :  How  could  that  agent,  in  time  of  war  especially,  distinguish 
between  political  interests  and  commercial  interests  ?  He  would  be  a  very  able  man,  in 
deed,  who  could  trace  the  line  which  separates  the  two,  and  very  secure  of  his  pen  the  one 
who  could  speak  of  the  latter  without  saying  anything  of  the  former.  Let  us  remark,  more 
over,  gentlemen,  that  this  should  have  its  direct  and  necessary  application,  as  well  in  regard 
to  our  own  interests  as  to  those  of  foreign  nations.  The  theory  which  I  maintain  iH  as  much 
for  our  own  consuls  as  for  those  of  other  nations.  And  now  the  counsel  for  the  prosecution 
will  allow  me,  not  to  give  advice,  but  merely  to  make  an  intimation.  I  consider  it  proper 
to  ask  the  ministers  of  foreign  affairs  and  of  the  marine  from  whom  they  receive  their  in 
formation  in  regard  to  Mexico  since  the  rupture  of  diplomatic  relations,  and  they  will 
reply  that  they  receive  them  from  the  consuls,  and  almost  solely  from  the  consuls. 

There  is  certainly  in  that  country  a  commander-in-chief  of  our  army,  with  other  gen 
erals  and  a  number  of  staff  officers.  If  you  ask  them  for  information  in  regard  to  the 
military  forces,  the  state  of  the  fortified  positions,  most  assuredly  they  will  give  it  to  you  ; 
but  if  you  interrogate  them  with  regard  to  the  state  of  feeling,  the  desires  of  the  people, 
the  condition  of  parties,  or,  in  fine,  with  regard  to  public  opinion,  that  moral  power  which 
judges  definitively  and  without  appeal  of  triumphs  and  disasters  and  of  their  consequences, 
they  will  say  nothing  of  all  these,  because  they  know  nothing  about  them,  and  are  not  in 
a  condition  to  know  ;  these  are  matters  of  which  nothing  can  be  known  except  by  means 
of  consuls.  Let  us,  then,  let  alone  those  men  who  instruct  and  serve  their  governments, 
because  if  we  hinder  them  we  may  expect  reprisals.  Foreign  governments  will  use  against 
us  the  arms  which  we  think  we  have  forged  against  them,  and  we  will  remain  in  the  de 
plorable  condition  of  knowing  nothing  certain  in  regard  to  those  countries  into  which  our 
armies  go  to  maintain  our  most  important  interests.  Consuls,  in  such  cases,  will  keep 
silence,  as  well  about  what  is  favorable  as  about  what  is  adverse  ;  and  if  we  proclaim  the 
reign  of  silence  over  all  that  most  imperiously  demands  the  exercise  of  thought  and  of 
word,  we  will  extinguish  all  the  intelligence  of  our  agents.  For  what  purpose,  then,  are 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS,  249 

those  schools,  those  alumni  for  consulates,  those  examinations,  and  those  degrees  ?  If  there 
is  only  question  of  watching  the  mercantile  movement,  let  us  take  simple  bookkeepers, 
whose  functions  are  limited  to  keeping  account  of  the  arrival  and  departure  of  vessels, 
signing  invoices  and  general  manifests,  and  taking  note  of  the  component  articles  and  the 
importance  of  cargoes. 

Another  charge  made  against  Senor  Maneyro  by  the  prosecution  is  his  correspondence 
with  the  newspapers.  He  is  thus  addressed  :  "  You  have  received  extracts  from  newspa 
pers  hostile  to  France,  and  you  have  communicated  them  to  other  newspapers." 

In  order  to  repel  this  charge  I  have  to  repeat  somewhat.  Let  us  remark  immediately, 
in  regard  to  Senor  Maneyro,  that  he  has  not  asked,  sent,  or  received  any  money,  nor  has 
he  been  remunerated  with  any  pleasure,  nor  has  he  manifested  any  exceptional  zeal.  If 
there  existed  anything  of  all  this,  as  far  as  he  is  concerned  it  would,  in  my  opinion,  be  a 
very  trifling  affair  ;  but  to  be  brief,  it  is  less  than  this,  because  nothing  of  the  kind  exists. 
Let  us  remark,  moreover,  that  he  has  had  no  intercourse  with  any  French  journal,  nor 
with  those  of  Dresden  and  Geneva,  characterized  by  the  edict  of  1861  as  hostile  to  the 
government  of  France.  The  Independence  Beige  alone  received  two  communications  from, 
him,  and  these  merely,  I  request  the  court  to  remember  it  well,  on  official  documents  sent 
by  his  government.  *The  imperial  advocate  appears  to  have  extended  to  other  communi 
cations  the  fact  acknowledged  by  Senor  Maneyro ;  I  desire  to  call  his  attention  to  this  in 
voluntary  error,  and  I  have  no  doubt  his  sense  of  justice  will  correct  it.  [Sign  of  assent 
from  the  imperial  advocate.]  But  even  if  Seuor  Maneyro  had  sent  extracts  of  newspapers 
and  other  communications,  he  had  the  right  to  do  so,  unless  they  were  defamatory  or  cul 
pable,  in  which  case  alone  they  could  ba  prosecuted.  Let  us  cite  our  precedents. 

In  1857  and  1858  there  was  a  judicial  proceeding  in  England.  Some  French  politicians 
had  sent  various  political  articles  to  English. newspapers.  A  lawsuit  was  instituted  to 
recover  the  money  for  inserting  those  articles,  and  the  pleadings  were  commenced  by  affi 
davit,  according  to  the  custom  of  England.  The  incompetency  of  the  English  tribunals 
to  decide  the  case  was  pleaded,  and  they  declared  themselves  competent.  The  case  was 
prosecuted  no  further,  as  it  appears.  I  presume  that  this  was  not  on  account  of  the  aban 
donment  by  the  plaintiffs  of  the  considerable  sums  which  they  claimed  ;  it  is  more  likely 
that  satisfaction  was  made  to  them. 

This,  however,  is  a  matter  of  little  importance,  because  from  this  instance  I  infer  merely 
that  individuals,  Frenchmen  or  foreigners,  may  send  articles  to  foreign  periodicals  in  regard 
to  the  affairs  of  France  without  thereby  incurring  the  charge  of  having  committed  any  fault. 
And  the  example  comes  from  high  quarters,  since  there  was  then  question  of  the  minister 
of  the  interior  and  the  ambassador  then  in  actual  service.  I  find  these  details,  on  which 
I  wish  to  insist  no  otherwise,  in  the  Times  of  November  26,  1862. 

Finally,  gentlemen,  I  come  to  the  last  induction  of  the  prosecuting  agent  for  the  govern 
ment  in  reference  to  Senor  Maneyro,  and  deducted  from  his  correspondence  with  Senor  Del 
Bio. 

I  may  forthwith  make  an  observation  as  simple  as  it  is  important  A.  correspondence 
supposes  two  persons  writing  to  each  other.  Now,  if  Seuor  Del  Bio  has  written  to  Seuor 
Maneyro,  Senor  Maneyro  is  accused  of  the  receipt  of  the  letters  of  Senor  Del  Bio.  What 
has  really  passed?  Senor  Del  Bio,  an  able  and  influential  patriot,  remained  some  time  in 
France,  where  he  had  dealings  with  various  persons  to  whom  he  wrote  ;  he  did  not  write 
only  to  Senor  Maneyro,  but  to  a  number  of  persons,  and  I  am  surprised  that  there  are  only 
five  accused  included  in  this  indictment,  if  it  suffices  to  have  received  a  letter  from  Senor 
Del  Bio  in  order  to  be  a  promoter  of  disorders  and  of  public  disturbances ;  he  not  only 
wrote  to  Messrs.  Montluc,  Rodriguez,  and  Maneyro — he  wrote  also  to  M.  Demontel,  to  a 
brother  of  Seuor  Maneyro,  who  is  consul  at  Bordeaux,  to  the  principal  editor  of  the  Chari 
vari,  for  the  mention  of  which  here  I  ask  to  be  excused  ;  it  is  by  no  means  my  intention 
to  accuse  it.  Senor  Del  Bio  likewise  wrote  to  the  editor  of  Le  Nord  newspaper  ;  what  is 
more,  he  wrote  to  Don  Joaquin  de  Errazu.  Whence,  it  appears  that  he  wrote  to  any  per 
son  he  thought  proper,  that  was  a  Mexican,  only  because  Senor  Del  Bio  thought  it  patriotic 
to  distribute  his  wiitings.  Wherefore,  if  Senor  Maneyro  has  received  documents  from  that 
indefatigable  citizen,  others  have  likewise  received  them,  and  in  greater  number.  Why, 
ihen,  has  not  Seiior  de  Errazu  been  called  up,  who,  being  rich,  would  have  been  in  a  state, 
had  he  so  wished,  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  circulation  of  these  documents  ?  It  has 
not  been  done,  and  very  important  reasons  are  found  for  not  doing  so.  I  shall  not,  there 
fore,  say  that  there  are  two  sorts  of  weights  and  measures  used ;  but  I  shall  say  that  by 
this  very  fact  it  is  recognized  that  such  missives  (which  did  not  even  reach  their  destina 
tion,  as  they  were  confiscated  on  the  way)  cannot,  whatever  be  their  contents,  interest 
those  who  neither  kept  them  nor  sought  for  them.  If  it  has  'been  thought  proper  to  act 
in  a  decided  way  in  regard  to  Senor  Maneyro,  it  is  doubtless  because  he  is  a  consul,  and 
because  he  received  and  sent  official  documents  appertaining  to  his  government.  But  the 
conjunction  of  three  actions,  innocent  in  themselves,  as  I  have  already  demonstrated,  can- 


250  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

not_constitute  a  culpable  action.  Then  it  is  proper  to  acknowledge  that,  in  regard  to  Sefior 
Maneyro,  the  prosecuting  officer  has  gone  entirely  astray. 

Now,  when  I  reflect,  in  general,  on  these  judicial  proceedings,  after  having,  as  I  hope, 
cleared  away  the  whole  charge  against  my  client,  I  confess  I  feel  two  causes  for  serious 
apprehension  :  one  is  the  new  extension  given  to  that  law  of  1858,  already  so  much  enlarged 
by  the  interpretations  which  it  has  received.  In  presence  of  this  new  weapon  in  the  hands 
of  power. which  menaces  the  safety  of  every  individual,!  ask  myself  who  will  venture  in 
future— I  shall  not  say  to  publish  his  dissenting  opinions  by  means  of  speech,  of  the  news 
papers,  or  any  other  way  of  writing,  but  even  to  consign  them  to  private  correspondence  ? 
Who  will  venture  to  express  his. intimate  thoughts  to  a  friend,  and  abandon  himself  in  his 
letters  to  that  unrestrained  freedom,  the  sweetest  and  most  consoling  of  the  necessities  of 
the  heart  ?  I  can  no  more  communicate  my  ideas-  to  a  cherished  relative,  to  a  distant 
friend,  and  make  them  participators  in  my  hopes  and  fears.  Shall  it  be  necessary,  then, 
that  a  person  should  confine  his  sentiments,  his  life,  within  a  prescribed  circle?  And  if  one 
passes  that  in  his  correspondence,  if  two  letters  from  my  friend  are  found  in  my  hands,  or 
two  of  mine  in  his,  censuring  and  criticising  what  seems  deserving  of  disapprobation,  shall 
it  be  said  that  we  have  sought  to  disturb  the  public  peace,  and  to  excite  odium  and  con 
tempt  against  the  government  of  the  Emperor  ? 

What  gives  me  less  concern  is  the  example  which  we  would  give  to  the  governments 
themselves  against  which  we  were  thinking  we  only  secured  ourselves.  Reference  has 
been  made  to  our  consuls  abroad  ;  I  speak  of  our  hundred  thousand  compatriots  residing  in 
Mexico,  who  have  gone  thither  in  search  of  an  establishment,  temporary  or  definitive,  and 
who  have  there  interests  of  importance.  If  they  are  harassed  and  disturbed,  they  cannot 
rely  upon  their  consuls,  upon  their  fellow  countrymen,  upon  their  government,  without 
fear  of  offending  the  Mexican  government.  If,  on  the  contrary,  they  are  treated  with 
humanity,  they  cannot  then  rejoice  at  it  or  speak  highly  of  it  without  passing  for  traitors 
to  their  country. 

I  know  that  there  are  men  who  give  themselves  very  little  concern  about  these  matters. 
We  have  the  power,  say  they  ;  our  fellow-countrymen  will  be  protected  by  our  valiant  army. 

Gentlemen,  let  us  predicate  nothing  upon  force.  Moreover,  that  never  suffices  to  justify 
and  purify  ;  what  it  establishes  has  its  vicissitudes  and  its  terrible  instabilities.  Let  us 
base  everything  on  right,  on  truth,  on  reason,  on  moderation  ;  let  us  be  persuaded  that  this 
is  at  the  same  time  justice  and  good  policy.  In  this  way,  gentlemen,  there  is  no  reason 
to  fear  disastrous  retaliations  ;  good  examples  are  given  ;  they  are  what  we  ought  to  give, 
and  thence  we  shall  derive  honor  and  profit.  It  behooves  France  to  take  the  initiative  in 
everything ;  she  is  great  enough,  sympathetic  enough  in  the  world  to  have  her  example 
generally  imitated  and  followed. 

(Warm  manifestations  of  applause  followed  this  defence,  and  were  received  by  the  court 
and  audience  without  any  attempt  to  restrain  them.) 

The  case  was  adjourned  to  the  following  day,  the  6th,  for  final  decision. 

NOTE. — On  the  6th  of  June,  on  the  opening  of  the  court,  a  decision  was  rendered 
releasing  the  five  persons  accused  from  all  the  charges  against  them. 


Circular  from  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  regarding  the  arrest  of  Mexican  consuls  in  France. 

DEPARTMENT  or  FOREIGN  RELATIONS  AND  OF  GOVERNMENT, 

San  Luis  Potosi,  August  15,  1863. 

In  addition  to  the  grave  and  repeated  outrages  committed  by  the  government  of  Napo 
leon  IIJ  against  the  rights  of  the  republic  and  the  law  of  nations,  he  himself  has  just 
authorized  still  further  indignities,  most  unworthy  in  their  petty  malice,  against  the  con 
suls,  Messrs.  Montluc  and  Maneyro — the  one  a  general  of  France,  the  other  a  private  indi 
vidual  of  the  port  of  Havre — both  appointed  by  the  government  of  Mexico,  and  in  the  per 
fect  exercise  of  their  functions,  by  virtue  of  the  which  ewquatur  had  been  given  to  them  by 
the  imperial  government. 

In  clear  infraction  of  the  modern  code  of  public  law,  of  universal  practice,  and  of  the* 
treaties  which  have  been  celebrated  between  Mexico  and  France,  (which,  in  so  far  as  relates 
to  consuls,  must  be  considered  as  binding,  so  long  as  on  the  one  side  and  on  the  other 
these  agents  are  maintained,)  the  government  of  the  Emperor  caused  the  agents  of  the 
police  to  enter  into  the  office  of  the  consul  general,  to  violate  his  archives,  to  read  his 
books  and  official  papers,  to  take  from  all  of  them  such  notes  as  they  pleased,  making  a 
mockery  and  a  jest  of  the  consul,  of  his  exequatur,  and  of  his  protests.  To  such  exploits  of 
force  there  was  added  a  wicked  and  unjust  trial,  commenced  and  sustained  against  both 
consular  agents  by  a  public  prosecutor,  who  accused  them  of  maintaining  a  correspondence 
hostile  to  the  government  of  the  Emperor. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  251 

The  accusation  was  an  outrage  against  consular  privileges,  because  the  acts  with  which 
our  consuls  were  principally  charged  had  been  done  by  them  in  compliance  with  the  orders 
of  the  federal  government,  and,  far  from  involving  any  crime  or  offence,  were,  as  was 
declared  with  truth  b.y  the  sentence  which  closed  this  unqualifiable  proceeding,  entirely 
inoffensive  and  in  good  faith. 

I  desire,  on  this  occasion,  to  leave  on  one  side  all  consideration  of  what  the  French 
government,  with  its  prodigious  invention  when  searching  oiit  causes  of  insult  and  of 
reclamation  against  Mexico,  would  have  said  and  would  have  demanded  of  this  country  if 
this  government  had  sanctioned  such  a  violence  and  such  an  outrage. 

The  President  has  rightly  refused  to  take  as  the  regulating  principle  of  his  conduct  that 
of  a  government  which,  in  everything  relative  to  the  affairs  of  Mexico,  has  only  in  its 
words  manifested  any  respect  for  the  prescriptions  of  justice  and  of  civilization.  Although 
we  have  been  terribly  outraged,  we  still  desire  to  leave  to  our  aggressors  their  precedence 
in  the  path  of  crime. 

This  time,  for  example,  we  could  well  exercise  the  right  of  national  reprisal,  and  pro 
ceed  with  the  consular  agents  of  France  in  Mexico  as  they  have  proceeded  in  France*with 
ours. 

But  such  a  course  would  be  repugnant  to  us,  and  would  besides  lead  to  an  absurdity, 
because  the  Mexican  consuls  in  France,  and  vice  versa,  should  not  be  retained  from  the 
moment  that,  through  the  outrage  of  the  imperial  government,  this  respectable  officer 
has  been  subjected  to  so  profound  a  degradation. 

It  is,  in  fact,  much  more  convenient  and  decorous  to  direct  that  our  consuls  in  France 
cease  to  exercise  their  functions,  since  they  can  no  longer  continue  them  without  insult, 
and  that  the  exequatur  of  the  consuls  whom  the  French  government  has  named  in  the  ports 
and  commercial  cities  of  the  republic  be  retired.  Certainly  a  government  which  treats 
consular  officers  in  this  manner  is  neither  worthy  of  appointing  them  or  receiving  them. 

We  had  maintained  these  agents  in  conformity  with  the  least  rigorous  usages,  although 
the  Emperor  and  his  generals  have  made  public  the  real  and  positive  end  to  which  this 
war  is  to  lead,  and  that  it  is  the  destruction  of  our  government  and  of  our  republican 
institutions  which  is  sought. 

To  make  this  revelation  until  the  last  hope  of  peace  had  disappeared  is  to  violate  all  the 
laws  of  war,  and  we  are  therefore  free  from  any  obligation  to  respect  them  oa  our  part. 
Besides,  as  the  government  of  France  ignores  the  federal  government,  it  cannot  respect, 
as  in  fact  it  does  not  respect,  any  of  its  rights  ;  but  by  this  very  act  it  declares  it  free  of 
all  obligations  towards  Franee,  its  government  and  its  citizens. 

To  this  extreme  would  the  conduct  of  the  Emperor  lead  us  if  we  listened  only  to  the 
voice  of  our  great  injuries,  and  if  we  sought  to  prove  to  our  enemies  the  precise  and  logi 
cal  consequences  of  their  insane  proceedings.  But  we  abstain  from  adopting  this  course, 
because  we  have  a  respect  for  public  law  and  our  own  dignity,  not  from  fear  of  our  invaders, 
whom  we  are  resisting  with  arms,  and  shall  resist  to  the  end. 

In  one  word,  if  in  this  affair  it  is  not  advisable  that  we  should  violate  our  traditional 
policy  to  initiate  proceedings  as  unjust  and  as  insulting  as  those  of  the  French  government, 
it  is  still  proper  to  take  others  of  such  efficiency  and  energy  as  shall  justly  protect  the 
honor  of  the  republic. 

And  as  this  determination  can  be  realized,  as  I  have  already  intimated,  by  terminating 
the  commissions  of  our  consuls  in  France,  and  by  withdrawing  from  the  French  consuls 
in  Mexico  the  exequatur  which  has  been  obtained  from  the  federal  government,  the  Presi 
dent  has  been  pleased  to  direct  the  adoption  of  this  course. 

And  by  his  order  I  have  the  honor  to  communicate  the  same  to  you,  in  order  that  you- 
may  be  pleased  to  cause  the  French  consuls  and  vice-consuls  residing  in  your  state  to  be 
immediately  notified  of  the  said  supreme  resolution,  the  exact  compliance  with  which  you 
will  be  pleased  to  opportunely  advise. 

Liberty  and  reform  ! 

FUENTE. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward., 
[Translation.  ] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  February  20,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY:  With  the  object  of  communicating  to  the  government  of 
the  United  States  authentic  information  upon  the  important  political  events  of 
which  the  Mexican  republic  is  at  this  time  the  theatre,  I  have  the  honor  to  send 


252  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

to  you  a  copy  in  English  of  the  documents  mentioned  in  the  index  annexed,  and 
which  relate  to  what  has  been  called  the  establishment  of  monarchy  in  Mexico. 

In  the  report  which  Mr.  Saligny,  minister  of  France  in  Mexico,  gave  to 
General  Forey,  the  16th  June,  1863,  upon  the  organization  of  a  provisional  gov 
ernment  in  that  country,  it  i£  declared  in  the  face  of  the  world  that  the  city  of 
Mexico,  which  only  contains  two  hundred  thousand  (200,000)  inhabitants,  is  of 
more  importance  than  the  entire  republic,  which  contains  a  population  of  more 
than  eight  millions,  and  that  what  should  be  determined  upon  in  that  city 
(supposing  it  to  be  the  spontaneous  voice  of  its  inhabitants)  should  be  con 
sidered  as  obligatory  on  the  whole  nation.  The  no  less  strange  declaration  is 
also  made  that  the  indigenous  population  of  Mexico — that  is,  almost  two-thirds 
of  the  inhabitants  there  are  in  the  republic — cannot  have  any  political  rights, 
and  to  this  time  are  refused  the  character  of  men  and  Mexicans. 

In* conformity  with  the  report  of  Mr.  Saligny,  General  Forey  issued,  on  the 
said  16th  June,  that  is,  only  six  days  after  the  French  army  entered  the  city  of 
Mexico,  a  decree  which  provided  that  a  junta  of  thirty-five  persons  named  by 
him,  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Saligny,  should  elect  other  three*  persons,  who 
should  constitute  the  executive  authority;  and  that,  subsequently,  this  should 
associate  to  itself  other  two  hundred  and  fifteen  individuals,  also  named  by 
General  Forey,  to  form  the  Assembly  of  Notables,  for  the  purpose  of  designating 
the  form  of  government  which  should  be  adopted. 

On  the  18th  of  said  month  of  June  General  Forey  issued  another  decree,  in 
which  he  appointed  the  so-called  members  of  what  was  called  the  Superior 
Junta  of  government,  selecting  them  from  among  the  persons  most  addicted  to 
ultra  conservative  principles. 

These  individuals  designated  the  traitors  Juan  Nepomuseno  Almonte,  Pelagio 
Antonio  de  Sabaslida,  and  Jose  Mariano  de  Salos,  to  exercise  the  executive 
power,  and  afterwards  took  up  the  organization  of  the  Junta  of  Notables. 
Although  only  two  hundred  and  fifteen  persons  were  needed  to  fill  up  that 
body,  there  was  great  difficulty,  and  several  days  were  passed  in  completing 
the  number,  which  was  at  last  not  completed.  The  so-called  Assembly  of 
Notables  appointed  a  committee  that  should  decide  upon  the  form  of  government 
which  should  be  adopted  in  Mexico ;  and  the  individuals  who  constituted  it, 
who  knew  beforehand  what  they  were  to  propose,  after  lowering  their  country 
to  such  a  degree  as  to  picture  it  as  in  worse  condition  than  the,  tribes  of  Caffres, 
in  a  report  which  was  written  in  disparagement  of  the  Mexican  name,  and  of 
lasting  reproach  to  its  authors,  proposed,  for  instance,  that  which  it  was  well 
known,  from  the  time  the  expedition  left  the  shores  of  France,  they  were  to 
propose — that  is,  the  monarchy  and  the  Archduke  Maximilian  of  Austria. 

The  assembly,  which  had  no  will  of-  its  own,  did  not  know  how  to  act,  not 
even  with  the  precautions  necessary  to  gloss  over  appearances,  and  almost  with 
out  discussion  adopted  unanimously,  on  the  same  day,  the  dictation  of  the  com 
mittee,  by  determining,  so  that  there  should  be  no  doubt  that  the  will  of  the 
Emperor  of  the  French  controlled  it,  that  if  the  archduke  did  not  accept  the 
crown,  his  Majesty  should  name  the  prince  who  should  occupy  the  throne. 

It  was  by  this  farce,  then,  that  the  French  government  accomplished  what  it 
had  so  repeatedly  declared  to  that  of  the  United  States  on  the  score  of  its  pre 
tended  wish  not  to  force  the  Mexicans  to  accept  any  government,  but  leave  them 
to  establish  that  which  they  should  think  most  suitable.  So  illy  played  was 
the  farce  which  the  French  agents  presented  to  the  city  of  Mexico  that,  even, 
neither  the  French  government  nor  the  Grand  Duke  Maximilian  considered  it 
as  satisfactory;  and  in  degree,  as  they  could  do  no  less  than  recognize  the  plain 
fact  that  the  decision  of  the  so-called  notables  did  not  express  the  will  of  the 
country,  they  thought  it  necessary,  merely  to  save  appearances,  to  require  other 
formalities,  which  cannot  but  be  farces  as  transparent  as  the  election  by  the 
notables.  The  French  government  has  assured  that  of  the  United  States  at  a 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  253 

recent  period  that  the  popular  suffrage  would  be  required  throughout  the 
republic  on  the  question  of  the  form  of  government  to  be  established,  at  the 
same  time  that  it  was  giving  out  that  the  monarchy  was  solidly  and  perma 
nently  established,  as  is  deducible  from  the  discourses  pronounced  by  the  organs 
of  that  government  in  the  legislative  body  in  the  discussion  of  the  affairs  of 
Mexico  that  took  place  in  that  assembly  at  the  close  of  January  last  past. 
This  would,  however,  be  a  point  of  less  importance,  because  the  assurances 
given  by  the  French  government  fall  short  of  fulfilment.  The  measure  which 
it  is  intended  to  substitute  for  universal  suffrage,  in  order  to  discover  what  is 
public  opinion,  is  to  do  so  in  places  occupied  by  the  French  troops ;  it  is  true 
they  carry  acts  which  persons  under  intimidation  affirm,  or,  by  filling  up  with 
fictitious  names,  declarations  in  favor  of  monarchy  and  of  the  Archduke  Maxi 
milian.  The  French  government  makes  believe  that  the  occupation  of  the 
Mexican  villages  by  the  French  army  is  necessary  to  the  free  expression  of 
their  votes;  therefore,  on  the  occupation  of  such  villages  by  French  bayonets,  it 
calls  it  "  freeing  them  from  the  tyranny  of  Juarez,"  and  forgets  that  at  the  same 
instant  it  is  declaring  in  the  face  of  the  world,  and  its  agents  are  proclaiming, 
that  the  constitutional  President  of  the  Mexican  republic  is  a  wandering  fugitive, 
that  the  national  army  has  been  entirely  destroyed,  and  that  there  no  longer 
remains  a  shadow  even  of  the  national  government. 

In  a  separate  note  I  will  explain  to  you  in  what  manner  this  intrigue  of  the 
French  government  has  been  received  by  the  Mexican  nation,  and  what  are  the 
demonstrations  to  which  it  has  given  place.  I  will  here  only  indicate  that  the 
national  government  and  permanent  deputation  of  the  Mexican  congress,  the 
genuine  representation  of  the  nation,  protested  against  that  intrigue  in  the  man 
ner  you  will  see  in  the  documents  annexed,  (Nos.  11  and  12.) 

I  avail  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  most 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


Index,  to  the  documents  which  the  Mexican  legation  in  Washington  remits  to  the  Department  of  State  of 
the  United  States,  annexed  to  its  note  of  this  date. 

1.  Report  bf  Mr.  Saligny  to  General  Forey  on  the  organization  of  a  junta  of  government 

and  an  assembly  of  notables,  June  16. 

2.  Decree  of  General  Forey,  in  conformity  with  the  preceding  report,  June  16. 

3.  Decree  of  General  Forey,  in  which  he  appoints  the  members  of  the  superior  junta  of 

government,  June  18. 

4.  Decree  of  the  junta  of  government  apon  the  appointment  of  the  so-called  executive 

power,  June  22. 

5.  Proclamation  of  General  Forey  upon  the  selection  of  the  executive  power,  June  23. 

6.  Manifesto  of  the  members  of  the  so-called  executive  power,  June  24. 

7.  Decree  of  the  so-called  assembly  of  notables  on  the  establishment  of  monarchy  in 

Mexico,  July  11. 

8.  Decree  of  the-junta  of  government  providing  that  the  so-called  executive  power  con 

tinue  in  function,  in  the  character  of  regency,  until  the  arrival  of  Archduke  Maxi 
milian  in  Mexico,  July  11. 

9.  Discourse  of  D.  Manuel  Gutierrez  Estrada  to  the  Archduke  Maximilian,  offering  him 

the  crown  of  Mexico,  October  5. 

10.  Reply  of  the  archduke,  October  5. 

11.  Circular  of  the  national  government  of  Mexico  to  the  governments  of  friendly  nations 

upon  the  attempted  establishment  of  monarchy  in  Mexico,  July  22. 

12.  Protest  of  the  permanent  deputation  of  the  national  congress  of  Mexico  against  the 

monarchy  which  the  French  agents  have  sought  to  establish  in  the  city  of  Mexico, 
July  22. 

IGNO.  MARISCAL. 
WASHINGTON,  February  20,  1864. 


254  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


No.  1. 

SUPERIOR  JUNTA  OF  GOVERNMENT  AND  ASSEMBLY  OF  NOTABLES. 

CciHiuunicaticn  from  the  Emperor's  mini&ttr. 

MEXICO,  June  1C,  1863. 

GENERAL  :  The  successive  advantages  gained  by  tie  French  army  over  the  troops  of  the 
enemy  have  definitively  decided  the^fate  of  the  Mexican  nation.  The  government,  which 
a  few  days  ago  occupied  the  capital  of  the  republic,  has  not  awaited  the  arrival  before  this 
city  of  the  soldiers  who  have  overthrown  the  strongest  bulwark  of  its  despotism.  Your 
columns  had  scarcely  commenced  their  movements  to  march  from  Puebla  upon  Mexico, 
when  the  government  of  Juarez,  understanding  that  all  resistance  was  useless,  evacuated 
the  capital  with  the  remnants  of  its  vanquished  and  demoralized  army,  leaving  behind,  as 
records  of  its  stay,  the  traces  of  those  shameful  spoliations  and  of  that  abominable  tyranny 
which  constituted  its  sole  rule  of  conduct. 

Providence,  which  has  so  often  made  use  of  the  flag  of  France  to  deliver  and  regenerate 
nations  humbled  by  despotism,  reserved  to  it  also  the  glory  of  arresting  Mexico  in  the 
headlong  career  which  was  rapidly  conducting  her  to  utter  ruin  by  the  dilapidation  of  her 
resources  and  the  sale  of  her  richest  states  to  strangers.  A  few  years  more  of  this  unex 
ampled  disorder,  which  has  caused  the  intervention  of  the  armies  of  the  old  continent,  and 
there  would  remain  of  this  country,  thrice  the  size  of  France,  but  some  few  precincts  that 
might  have  resisted  the  dissolving  action  of  this  corrupt  and  corrupting  government :  the 
Mexican  republic  would  have  lost  its  nationality. 

The  eagles  of  France  have  brought  to  this  land,  abysm ed  in  the  revolutionary  whirlpool, 
the  kindly  sentiments  of  the  Emperor  towards  this  unfortunate  people,  and  hope  has  been 
reborn  in  all  hearts.  Alone  among  all,  an  infamous  faction,  which,  under  a  name  of  which 
it  was  unworthy,  domineered  over  Mexico  by  means  of  terror,  has  in  its  turn  trembled 
before  the  intervention.  It  has  fled  before  that  banner  which  is  the  symbol  of  civilization 
and  justice. 

Shall  I  consider  it  necessary,  general,  to  prove  what  I  have  asserted  ?  The  sympathizing 
acclamations  which  have  saluted  your  entry  into  the  capital  of  Mexico,  that  triumphal 
march  of  our  valiant  army  beneath  an  abundant  shower  of  flowers,  those  crowns  thrown 
in  profusion  to  the  conquerors  of  San  Lorenzo,  Puebla,  and  other  well-known  fields  of 
combat — are  not  all  these  sufficient  to  testify  the  sentiments  of  the  immense  majority  of 
the  people  towards  the  deliverers  of  Mexico  ?  The  perfect  order  which  has  ceased  at  no 
time  for  a  single  moment  to  reign  in  the  capital  since  the  flight  of  the  fallen  government — 
does  not  it  say  with  more  force  than  any  possible  amount  of  reasoning,  that  this  people,  so 
long  fatigued  and  weary,  is  now  in  need  of  repose  to  heal  the  wounds  inflicted  upon  its 
industry  and  prosperity  ?  Now,  from  the  generous  initiative  of  France,  Mexico  hopes  for 
the  means  to  secure  the  first  steps  in  her  social  regeneration  and  to  prepare  the  way  for  the 
permanent  establishment  that  is  to  dry  up  the  sources  of  the  evils  which  she  has  suffered 
up  to  this  time. 

These  aspirations  of  a  whole  people,  general,  cannot  be  ignored,  and  it  is  to  give  them 
the  satisfaction  which  they  demand,  and  at  the  same  time  to  carry  out  the  benevolent 
intentions  of  the  Emperor  towards  the  Mexican  nation,  that  I  lay  before  you  the  results  of 
the  deep  study  which  I  have  made  of  the  situation  of  the  country,  of  its  necessities,  and 
of  the  means  which  appear  to  me  proper  to  attain  the  object  which  France  proposes  to 
herself — that  is  to  say,  the  reorganization  of  the  government — to  the  end  that  the  nation, 
reflecting  upon  itself,  may,  in  all  freedom  and  by  the  organ  of  its  most  intelligent  citizens 
and  those  who  enjoy  the  most  consideration,  make  known  the  form  of  government  most 
suitable  to  it. 

It  is  not  possible  to  convoke  a  general  congress  to  deliberate  on  the  grave  questions  now 
pending.  The  state  of  the  country  does  not  yet  permit  the  representatives  of  the  great 
cities  and  of  the  distant  states  to  receive  any  call  made  to  them  for  this  purpose. 

Neither  could  we  think  of  making  the  Indian  population  participate  in  this  act,  so 
important  for  the  Mexican  nation.  That  part  of  the  people,  so  worthy  of  interest  in  every 
respect,  has  been  hitherto  excluded  from  public  affairs,  and  would  not  understand  either 
its  gravity  or  its  consequences. 

The  capital,  in  which  there  is  not  a  single  state  not  represented  by  its  most  illustrious 
citizens,  reckons  about  200,000  inhabitants.  It  contains  a  considerable  number  of  men 
distinguished  for  their  intelligence,  and  accustomed  to  political  life  and  public  affairs. 
Moreover,  it  is  in  the  capital  that  that  government  has  weighed  most  heavily  which  has 
just  fallen.  On  this  great  population,  then,  it  is  incumbent,  under  present  circumstances, 
to  know  the  best  way  to  conclude  the  era  of  periodic  revolutions,  of  which  Mexico  has  been 
the  theatre  for  more  than  half  a  century. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  255 

I  propose  to  you,  then,  general,  to  decree  that  a  Superior  Junta,  composed  of  thirty-five 
citizens,  chosen  from  among  the  most  honorable  of  this  great  city,  should  be  charged  with 
the  following  powers  : 

1.  To  nominate  three  Mexican  citizens,  who  should  constitute  the  executive  power,  and 
two  substitutes  for  those  high  functions  in  case  of  the  absence  or  impediment  of  the  proper 
incumbents. 

2.  To  elect  two  hundred  and  fifteen  members  chosen  from  among  the  citizens  of  Mexico, 
to  form,  in  conjunction  with  the  members  of  the  Superior  Junta,  the  Assembly  of  the 
Notables,  to  whom  shall  be  intrusted  the  duty  of  determining  upon  the  permanent  form 
of  the  government  of  Mexico,  and  deliberating  upon  such  other  questions  as  may  be  sub 
mitted  to  them. 

3.  To  settle  the  salaries  to  be  paid  to  the  members  of  the  executive  department  of  the 
government. 

The  Superior  Junta  shall  be  divided  into  various  committees  to  deliberate  on  the  affairs 
of  the  different  ministers.  A  general  meeting  will  be  called  by  its  president,  as  often  as 
the  questions  presented  to  it  demand  such  a  step. 

The  presidents  and  secretaries  of  the  Superior  Junta  and  of  the  committees,  as  well  as 
those  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables,  shall  be  named  by  those  bodies  in  their  first  meeting 
after  organization.  This  first  duty  shall  be  directed  by  the  president,  who  shall  be  the 
oldest  member  in  each  assembly  or  committee,  accompanied  by  the  two  youngest  members, 
is  the  quality  of  secretaries.  \ 

The  members  of  the  Superior  Junta  and  those  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables  shall  have  no 
salary. 

The  duration  of  the  first  session  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables  shall  be  five  days.  It  may 
b'e  prorogued  by  the  executive  power. 

Such  are,  general,  the  provisions  contained  in  the  constitutional  decree,  which  is  annexed, 
and  which  I  request  you  to  sign  if  you  see  proper  to  approve  of  it. 

Accept,  general,  the  assurance  of  my  high  consideration. 

A.  DE  SALIGNY. 

General  FOREY, 

General  of  Division,  Senator  of  Prance,  Commander-in-chief  of  the  expeditionary  army  in  Mexico' 


No.  2. 

Decree  in  reference  to  the  formation  of  a  Superior  Junta  of  government  and  of  an  Assembly  of  Notables. 

THE   GENERAL  OF    DIVISION,    SENATOR   OF    FRANCE,    COMMANDER-IN  CHIEF  OF    THE   EXPEDITIONARY 

CORPS  IN  MEXICO. 

Considering  that  it  is  expedient  to  organize  the  public  authorities  that  are  to  replace  the 
intervention  in  the  direction  of  the  affairs  of  Mexico,  I  have  thought  it  proper,  in  accord 
ance  with  the  communication  made  to  me  by  the  Emperor's  minister,  to  decree  as  follows  : 

ART.  1.  A  special  decree  shall  designate,  according  to  the  recommendation  of  the 
Emperor's  minister,  thirty-five  Mexican  citizens  to  constitute  a  Superior  Junta  of  govern 
ment. 

ART.  2.  This  Superior  Junta  shall  assemble  in  the  place  that  shall  be  designated  for  it 
two  days  after  the  publication  of  the  decree  announcing  the  names  of  its  members. 

ART.  3.  The  opening  session  of  the  Junta  shall  be  presided  over  by  the  oldest  member, 
assisted  by  the  two  youngest  members  in  the  quality  of  secretaries. 

ART.  4.  The  Superior  Junta  shall  proceed  in  this  first  session  to  the  nomination  of  its 
president  and  of  his  two  secretaries.  The  election  shall  be  valid  only  on  condition  that 
the  elected  candidates  shall  have  obtained  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  cast. 

ART.  5.  The  inauguration  of  the  dignitaries  elected  shall  take  place  on  the  same  day. 

ART.  6.  The  Junta  shall  subsequently  proceed  to  the  nomination  of  three  Mexican  citi 
zens,  who  shall  be  charged  with  the  executive  power,  and  of  two  substitutes  for  those  high 
functions.  A  majority  of  the  votes  cast  shall  ba  necessary  to  a  valid  election. 

ART.  7.  The  members  of  the  executive  department  shall,  as  soon  as  elected,  assume  the 
direction  of  the  affairs  of  Mexico. 

^  ART.  8.  The  Superior  Junta  shall  settle  the  salary  to  be  paid  to  the  members  of  the  pro 
visional  government. 

ART.  9.  The  Junta  shall  resolve  itself  into  various  committees  in  order  to  deliberate  on 
the  questions  relating  to  the  different  ministers. 

It  shall  convoke  itself  into  general  assembly  by  means  of  its  president,  for  the  discussion 
of  business  of  greater  importance,  whenever  the  executive  requests  it. 


256  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 


OF   TUB   ASSEMBLY    OF   NOTABLES. 

ART.  10.  The  Superior  Junta  shall  associate  themselves,  in  order  to  constitute  the  Assem 
bly  of  Notables,  with  245  members  chosen  from  among  the  citizens  of  Mexico,  without 
distinction  of  rank  or  class. 

ART.  11.  In  order  to  he  qualified  to  join  the  Assembly  of  Notables,  a  person  must  be 
fully  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  not  disqualified  for  any  office,  political  or  civil. 

ART.  12.  The  opening  of  the  sessions  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables  shall  take  place  imme 
diately  after  the  formation  of  that  body. 

ART.  13.  The  first  session  shall  be  devoted  to  the  election  of  a  president,  and  of  two  sec 
retaries,  who  shall  be  immediately  installed  by  the  provisional  organization  of  the  eldest 
and  the  two  youngest  members. 

ART.  14.  The  Assembly  of  Notables  shall  occupy  itself  especially  with  the  form  of  the 
permanent  government  of  Mexico.  The  vote  on  this  question  must  be  such  that  two-thirds 
of  the  ballots  cast,  at  least,  shall  be  necessary  for  a  decision. 

ART.  15.  In  case  this  majority  of  two-thirds  of  the  votes  cast  cannot  be  obtained,  after 
three  days  of  balloting,  the  executive  shall  dissolve  the  Assembly  of  Notables,  and  the  Su 
perior  Junta  shall  proceed,  without  delay,  to  the  formation  of  a  new  assembly. 

ART.  16.  The  members  of  the  preceding  assembly  may  be  re-elected. 

ART.  17.  The  Assembly  of  Notables  shall  occupy  themselves,  after  having  determined  on  the 
form  of  the  permanent  government,  with  such  questions  as  may  be  laid  before  them  by  or 
der  of  the  executive  department.  The  first  session  shall  last  five  days  ;  it  may  be  prorogued 
by  the  executive. 

GENERAL   REGULATIONS   COMMON   TO   ALL   THE   DELIBERATING    BODIES. 

ART.  18.  The  secretaries  of  the  Superior  Junta,  and  of  its  various  committees,  as  also  those 
of  the  Assembly  of  Notables,  shall  take  down,  in  writing,  the  proceedings  of  the  commit 
tees.  They  shall,  together  with  the  presidents,  sign  all  the  resolutions  passed  by  those  bodies. 

ART.  19.  The  sessions  of  the  Superior  Junta,  and  of  its  committees,  as  also  those  of 
the  Assembly  of  Notables,  shall  not  be  public.  Official  acts  may  be  published  in  the  news 
papers,  provided  they  be  transmitted  to  them  by  the  secretaries,  under  the  authority  of 
the  respective  presidents. 

ART.  20.  The  members  of  the  Superior  Junta,  and  those  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables, 
shall  receive  no  salary. 

OF   THE   EXECUTIVE  POWER. 

ART.  21.  The  members  of  the  executive  department  shall  divide  among  themselves  the 
six  ministries  ;  they  shall  nominate  individually  to  all  the  employments  dependent  on  their 
respective  offices  ;  they  shall  also  have  the  power  of  dispensing  with  such  employments. 

ART.  22.  The  executive  power  shall  receive  for  promulgation,  as  decrees,  the  resolutions 
of  the  Assembly  of  Notables.  It  shall  have  the  absolute  right  of  vetoing  such  resolutions. 
Bills  prepared  by  the  Superior  Junta  shall  pass  to  the  executive  for  transmission  to  the 
Assembly  of  Notables. 

ART.  23.  The  functions  of  the  executive  shall  cease  from  the  moment  of  the  inauguration 
of  the  permanent  government,  proclaimed  by  the  Assembly  of  Notables. 

ART.  24.  The  Emperor's  minister  is  charged  with  the  execution  of  the  present  decree, 
which  shall  be  inserted  in  the  bulletin  of  the  acts  of  the  intervention,  and  shall  be  posted 
up  in  the  streets  of  the  capital. 

Given  at  Mexico,  June  16,  1863. 

FOEEY, 
General  of  Division,  $r.,  Sfc. 


No.  3. 

Decree  nonnnaLing  (he  members  of  the  Superior  Junta  of  government. 

THE  GENERAL   OF   DIVISION   AKD   SENATOR   OF   FRANCE,  COMMANDING-IN-CIIIEF  THE  EXPEDITIONARY- 
CORPS   IN   MEXICO. 

In  view  of  the  decree  issued  on  the  16th  of  June,  relative  to  the  establishment  of  a  Su 
perior  Junta  of  government,  and  in  accordance  with  the  proposal  of  the  Emperor's  minis 
ter,  it  has  seemed  proper  to  me  to  decree  as  follows : 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  257 

ART.  1.  The  following  persons  are  named  members  of  the  Superior  Junta  of  government  : 
D  J.  Ignacio  Pavon,  Manuel  Diaz  de  Bonilla,  Dr.  J.  Basilio  Arellaga,  Teodosio  Lares,  Dr. 
Francisco  Javier  Miranda,  Ignacio  Aguilar  y  Marocho,  Dr.  Jose  Sollano,  Joaquin  Velazquez 
de  Leon,  Antonio  Fernandez  Monjardin,  General  Mora  y  Villamil,  Ignacio  Sepiilveda,  Jose 
M.  Andrade,  Joaquin  Castillo  Lanzas,  Mariano  Dominquez,  Jose'  Guadalupe  Arriola,  General 
Adrian  Woll,  Fernando  Maugino,  Agapito  Munoz,  Jose  Miguel  Arroyo,  Teofilo  Marin,  Gen 
eral  Miguel  Cervantes  Velasco,  Crispiniano  del  Castillo,  Alejandro  Arango  y  Escandon,  Juan 
Hierro  Maldonado,  J  Ildefonso  Araable,  Gerardo  Garcias  Rojas,  Manuel  Miranda,  Jose"  Lo 
pez  Ortigosa,  General  Santiago  Blanco,  Pablo  Vergara,  General  Cayetano  Montolla,  Manuel 
Tejada,  Urbano  Tovar,  Antonio  Moran,  Miguel  Jimenez. 

ART.  2.  The  members  of  the  Superior  Junta,  just  named,  shall  enter  upon  the  exercise 
of  their  functions  immediately. 

ART.  3.  The  Emperor's  minister  is  charged  with  the  execution  of  this  decree. 

Given  at  Mexico,  June  18,  18i3. 

FOREY, 
General  of  Division,  Sfc.,  Sfc.,  8fc. 


No.   4. 

Dccite  of  the  Junti  of  Government  niming  the  persons  who  are  to  constitute  the  Executive 

MANUEL  G    AGUIRRE,   POLITICAL  CHIEF  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  MEXICO,  TO   THE  INHABITANTS 

THEREOF,  GREETING  : 

The  Superior  Junta  of  government  has  communicated  to  me  the  following  decree  : 

"  The  Superior  Junta  of  government,  installed  in  conformity  with  the  decree  of  the  13th 
of  the  present  month,  proceeded,  in  its  session  of  yesterday,  to  the  election  of  the  executive 
power  provided  for  in  the  sixth  article  of  the  said  decree,  and  the  following  persons  were 
chosen  : 

"  First.  His  Excellency  Seilor  Don  Juan  N.  Almonte,  general  of  division. 

"Second.  The  most  illustrious  Seilor  Don  Pelagio  Antonio  de  Labastida,  archbishop  of 
Mexico. 

"  Third.  His  Excellency  Don  Mariano  Salas,  general  of  division. 

"  First  substitute,  the  most  illustrious  Sefior  Dr.  D.  Juan  B.  de  Ormaechea,  bishop  eleet 
of  Tulacingo 

"Second  substitute,  his  honor  Don  Ignacio  Pavon,  president  of  the  supreme  court  of 
justice.  . 

."This  election  shall  be  published  by  national  edict. 

"  Given  in  the  hall  of  the  Junta  at  Mexico,  June  22,  1863. 

"TEODOSIO  LARES,  President. 

"  ALEJANDRO  AIIANGO  Y  ESCANDON,  Secretary. 

"  JOSE  MARIA  ANDRADK,  Secretary." 

Wherefore,  I  order  that  it  be  printed,  published,  circulated,  and  have  full  authority  given 
to  it. 

MANUEL  G.  AGUIRRE. 
MANUEL  AGUILAR  Y  LOPEZ,  Mayor. 
PALACE  OF  THE  POLITICAL  GOVERNMENT, 

Mexico,  June  24,  1863. 


No.  5. 
Proclamation  of  General  Forty  in  regard  to  the  election  of  the  Executive. 

MEXICANS  :  The  nation  has  declared  its  will  by  means  of  its  repi\  sentatives  chosen  accord 
ing  to  my  decree  of  June  16. 

General  Almonte,  the  venerable  archbishop  of  Mexico,  and  General  Salas,  were  elected, 
the  day  before  yesterday,  by  the  Superior  Junta,  to  take  upon  themselves  the  executive 
authority,  and  to  direct  the  destinies  of  the  country  until  the  establishment  of  a  permanent 
government.  The  names  which  I  have  mentioned  are  well  known  to  you  :  they  enjoy  the 
public  esteem  and  all  the  consideration  due  to  distinguished  services  and  high-toned  char- 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 17 


258  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

acter.  You  can,  then,  rest  satisfied,  as  I  now  do,  with  regard  to  the  future  which  is  to  be 
prepared  for  you  by  this  triumvirate,  which  will  assume  the  reins  of  government  from  the 
24th  of  June. 

Mexicans :  In  placing  in  the  bauds  «  f  these  three  provisional  chiefs  of  the  nation  tin- 
powers  which  circumstances  have  given  me,  in  order  to  exercise  them  for  your  benefit,  I 
desire  to  render  you  my  thanks  for  the  active  and  intelligent  co-operation  which  I  have 
met  in  you.  I  shall  ever  preserve  a  grateful  remembrance  of  those  relations  which  have 
caused  me  to  appreciate,  at  their  ju.it  value,  your  patriotism  and  your  respect  for  order, 
which  have  made  you  FO  worthy  of  the  interest  of  France  and  of  the  Emperor. 

FOREY, 
General  of  Division,  &fc. ,  Sfc. ,  Sfc 

MEXICO,  June  23,  1863. 


No    6. 

Manifesto  of  the  Supreme  Executive  Power  to  the  nation. 

:  Having  been  appointed,  by  the  superior  committee  of  government,  to  exer 
cise  the  supreme  powers  of  the  nation,  it  is  right  that  we  should  instruct  you  of  the  very 
grave  situation  in  which  we  find  ourselves,  and  of  our  designs  in  fulfilling  the  mighty  charge 
that  we  have  received. 

Never  was  the  Mexican  nation  seen  with  mote  misfortunes  nor  with  more  solid  hopes. 
A  disciplined  and  courageous  army,  a  great  and  civilized  power,  have  undertaken  to  save 
us  from  the  unfathomable  abyss  of  evils  to  which,  as  blindly  as  impiously,  a  misled  minor 
ity  of  our  countrymen  have  brought  us.  They  labor  for  our  national  restoration  not  by 
the  terror  of  arms,  nor  by  anti-social  principles. 

The  force  that  comes  to  protect  us  will  only  be  used  to  conquer  that  which  persists  in 
destroying  us  ;  to  the  errors  which  have  perverted  us  there  will  be  opposed  the  truths  that 
regenerate  nations  ;  to  the  demoralization  which  has  overturned  everything  there  will  be 
applied  the  justice  which  maintains  the  order  of  nations. 

We  know  how  many  sophisms  and  calumnies  those  who  have  persisted  in  our  ruin  have 
employed  and  employ  to  diffuse  among  you  aversion  or  mistrust  with  respect  to  the  inter 
vention  Compare  their  gophiMus  with  the  f.tcts  which  you  behold  ;  their  calumnies  with 
the  conduct  which  is  observed  ;  their  insidious  promises  with  the  evidence  of  the  disasters 
and  desolation  that  you  contemplate.  Compare  the  d^eds  with  the  words  of  the  magnani 
mous  and  enlightened  Emperor  :  No  hostility  to  the  nation,  and  sufficient  mildness  even 
toward  those  who  compromise  it  and  tyrannize  over  it. 

Driving  from  the  capital  the  power  which  the  pretended  constitution  of  1857  systematized 
in  evil,  by  evil,  and  for  evil,  the  representatives  of  the  Emperor  have  made  no  delay  in 
establi.-hing  the  provisional  Mexican  government,  which  will  govern  until  the  nation,  more 
amply  represented,  shall  fix  freely  and  definitively  the  form  of  government  which  Mexicans 
ought  to  have  permanently.  The  chimeras  of  conquest  with  which  it  was  attempted  to 
alarm  the  thoughtless  are  made  evident  and  vanish.  Mexico  has  again  self  government, 
and  is  able  and  at  libeity  to  choose,  among  all  the  political  institutions,  that  which  suits  it 
best,  aad  has  the  most  glorious  titles  and  firmest  guarantees  of  stability. 

In  the  mean  time  it  is  incumbent  upon  us  to  govern  ad  interim  this  suffering  and  dis 
organized  nation  ;  a  tagk  immensely  arduous  and  complicated,  and  much  superior  to  our 
strength  Can  we,  in  our  transitory  administration,  repair  the  disorders  and  injuries  of  half 
a  century  ?  That  which  was  founded  by  three  centuries  of  peace,  and  a  gradual  progress,  is 
not  restored  in  a  few  days  ;  we  can  only  aspire  to  take  the  road  and  guide  you  in  the  first 
steps.  No  doubt  Divine  Providence  reserves  to  more  competent  persons  the  consummating 
all  the  moral,  social,  political,  and  industrial  restoration  of  Mexico. 

The  work  is  grand,  and  will  be  the  sooner  icalized  according  as  your  co-operation  is  de- 
ciilad/ wad' general.  We  shall  do  very  little  if  just  men  of  all  classes,  parties,  and  ranks  of 
our  soc  fety  do  not  aid  our  intentions  in  their  respective  spheres. 

We  behold  you  vacillating  and  uncertain  about  the  future  of  our  beloved  country,  as  de 
jected  with  cares  and  anxieties,  as  fearful  of  new  misfortunes,  anxious  for  peace,  and  dis 
trustful  of  provoking  new  wars  ;  ruined  and  panting  for  tranquillity  to  restore  your  fortunes, 
with  aversion  for  the  political  and  administrative  theories  which  we  have  tried,  and  jealous 
of  trying  other  new  ones.  Order  and  disorder,  misery  and  prosperity,  conciliation  and 
*  discord,  are  at  your  choice .  You  have  two  powers  in  view — one  whose  long  tyranny  and  bad 
pasbions  you  have  so  wofully  experienced,  and  another  whose  measured  and  just  behavior 
you  are  able  to  observe  :  the  one  which  is  not  satisfied  with  all  your  treasures,  nor  with 
your  most  necessary  furniture,  and  the  other  which  commences  by  relieving  you  of  taxes, 
and  introducing  the  severest  economy  :  the  one  which  fled  from  this  city  without  any  other 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  259 

support  than  the  faction  whose  illegitimate  interests  it  foments,  and  the  other  which,  solidly 
fixed  in  Europe,  will  iest  upon  the  legitimate  interest  and  cardinal  principles  of  society  : 
that,  in  short,  which,  sacrificing  to  personal  interest,  or  that  of  party,  all  that  was  orderly, 
just,  useful,  respectable,  and  sacred,  hronght  our  country  to  wars,  and  this,  which,  by  the 
light  and  unconquered  force  of  Catholicism,  according  to  the  invincible  rules  of  good  gov 
ernment,  and  supported  by  the  bountiful  protection  of  France,  omitted  nothing,  that  Mex 
ico  may  rise  in  the  New  World  as  vigorous,  enlightened,  and  improved  as  corresponds  to 
the  admirable  abundance  of  her  elements  of  prosperity. 

Very  grave  affairs  are  about  to  occupy  our  attention.  Peace,  which  has  its  roots  only  in 
justice  and  well-defined  liberty  ;•  agriculture,  now  so  decayed,  the  basis  of  every  kind  of 
industry,  and  which  for  so  long  has  been  the  common  prey  of  revolutionists  and  highway 
men  ;  commerce,  so  paralyzed  and  fallen,  from  the  public  insecurity  in  the  country  ;  mining, 
a  first-rate  branch  of  industry,  in  decay  from  the  prejudices  and  special  burden  which  it  has 
suffered  ;  the  unmeasured  exactions  in  the  towns  and  the  demoralization  in  agreements  ; 
the  arts  either  destroyed  or  impoverished  ;  the  administration  of  justice,  with  some  honor 
able  exceptions,  so  corrupt  and  tardy  ;  security  on  the  highways  or  in  the  inhabited  places 
altogether  lost ;  the  vagrancy  of  all  classes  and  ranks  serving  as  a  food  for  disorder  and 
national  depravation  ;  finally^  the  reparation  of  the  moral  and  physical  disasters  made  by 
the  so  called  system  of  liberty  and  reform,  for  which  the  two  powers  will  co-operate  together 
as  far  as  concerns  them,  united  or  separate,  and  the  tribunals  in  cases  within  their  com 
petency. 

The  well-deserving  nrrny  will  likewise  merit  a  preferable  attention,  and  their  sufferings 
will  be  taken  into  consideration,  proceeding,  without  delay,  to  its  reorganization.  The 
worthy  mutilated  of  the  national  independence  will  not  be  forgotten,  nor  less  the  suffering 
widows  of  the  honored  soldiers  who  have  died  in  defence  of  their  country. 

The  Catholic  religion  is  re-established  and  free.  The  church  will  exercise  its  authority 
without  having  an  enemy  in  the  government,  and  the  state  will  concert  with  it  the  man 
ner  of  resolving  the  grave  questions  which  are  pendant. 

The  atheism  which  has  been  planted  in  the  establishmeRts  of  instruction,  and  the  infa 
mous  propaganda  of  immoral  doctrines  which  have  ruined  us,  must  cease.  Catholic  instruc 
tion,  solid  and  of  the  greatest  possible  extent,  and  new  literary  careers  and  guarantees  for 
good  teachers,  will  be  the  object  of  our  labors. 

We  have  still  to  get  rid  of  the  so-called  constitutional  government,  which  is  only  able 
and  only  knows  to  do  evil,  which  courts  no  good  in  its  career  of  innovations  and  destruc 
tion.  Whilst  it  exists,  we  Mexicans  shall  have  no  peace,  nor  our  fortunes  security,  nor 
commerce  increase  The  Franco-Mexican  army  will,  as  the  first  act  they  perform,  pursue 
it  until  it  surrenders  or  is  driven  from  the  national  territory,  and,  in  proportion  as  the 
towns  shake  off  their  intolerable  yoke,  they  will  begin  to  feel  the  repose  and  prosperity 
which  the  people  already  liberated  enjoy.  At  the  same  time  suitable  measures  will  be  dic 
tated  to  expedite  the  pacification  of  the  departments,  and  diminish  the  ruin  which  the 
agents  of  demagogism  still  occasion  them. 

Our  misdeeds,  and  the  acts  committed  by  terrorists  against  friendly  nations,  have  dis 
credited  us  in  the  Old  World.  Good  and  dignified  relations  will  be  opened  again  with  in 
jured  governments  and  with  the  Sovereign  Pontiff;  every  effort  will  be  made  to  ratify  the 
obligations  of  Mexico  with  friendly  powers,  and  with  the  protection  of  France  and  the  other 
nations  that  shall  support  the  new  government,  we  shall  be  respected  abroad,  and  the  honor 
and  credit  of  the  nation  will  be  repaired. 

We  have  told  you  frankly  what  we  think  of  the  new  situation,  and  what  we  intend  to  do 
in  the  difficult  commission  which  we  have  received,  in  spite  of  our  insufficiency.  Much 
will  be  done  if  eminent  men  of  all  kinds  assist.  Let  our  disgraceful  discord  at  last  end. 
Let  the  scandal  which  we  have  given  to  the  world  cease.  Let  there  be  concord,  union, 
peace,  and  public  spirit  among  us.  Let  the  sordid  speculations  at  public  misfortunes  be 
extirpated,  and  let  those  riches  be  turned  to  great  and  lucrative  industrial  enterprises.  Let 
honest  labor  be  the  foundation  of  fortunes  ;  let  functionaries  have  no  power  over  the  laws, 
nor  the  laws  over  morality.  Let  religion  and  authority,  property  and  liberty,  order  and 
peace,  be  at  last  precious  realities  for  Mexicans.  May  the  God  of  armies,  who  has  so  di 
rectly  favored  our  cause,  reward  the  generosity  and  sincere  intervention  of  France,  and  the 
patriotic  intention  with  which  we  good  Mexicans  have  accepted  it,  with  the  speedy  gran 
deur  and  prosperity  of  the  nation. 

Palace  of  the  supreme  executive  power  in  Mexico,  the  24th  of  June,  1863. 

JUAN  N.  ALMONTE. 
JOSE  MARIANO  SALASi 
JUAN  B.  ORMAECHEA. 


260  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 


No.   7. 

SECRETARYSHIP  OF  STATE  AND  OF  THK  OFFICE  OF  FOREIGN  RELATIONS, 

PALACE  OF  THE  SUPREME  EXECUTIVE  POWER, 

Mexico,  July  11,  1863. 

The  provisional  supreme  executive  power  has  been  pleased  to  address  me  the  following 
decree  : 

"The  piovisional  supreme  executive  power  of  the  nation  to  the  inhabitants  thereof. 
Know  ye,  that  the  Assembly  of  Notables  has  thought  fit  to  decree  as  follows  : 

"  'The  Assembly  of  Notables,  in  virtue  of  the  decree  of  the  16th  ultimo,  that  it  should 
make  known  the  form  of  government  which  best  suited  the  nation,  in  use  of  the  full  right 
which  the  nation  has  to  constitute  itself,  and  as  its  organ  and  interpreter,  declares,  with 
absolute  liberty  and  independence,  as  follows  : 

"  '  1.  The  Mexican  nation  adopts  as  its  form  of  government  a  limited  hereditary  mon 
archy,  with  a  Catholic  prince. 

"  '  2.  The  sovereign  shall  take  the  title  of  Emperor  of  Mexico. 

"  '  3.  The  imperial  crown  of  Mexico  is  offered  to  his  imperial  and  royal  highness  the 
Prince  Ferdinand  Maximilian,  Archduke  of  Austria,  for  himself  and  his  descendants. 

"  '  4.  If,  under  circumstances  which  cannot  be  foreseen,  the  Archduke  of  Austria,  Ferdinand 
Maximilian,  should  not  take  possession  of  the  throne  which  is  offered  to  him,  the  Mexican 
nation  relies  on  the  good  will  of  his  Majesty  Napoleon  III,  Emperor  of  the  French,  to  indi 
cate  for  it  another  Catholic  prince. 

"  '  Given  in  the  Hall  of  Sessions  of  the  Assembly,  on  the  10th  of  July,  1863. 

"TEODOSIO  LARES,  President. 

"  'ALEJANDRO  ARANGO  Y  ESCANDON,  Secretary. 

"  '  JOSE  MARIA  ANDRADE,  Secretary.' 

"Therefore,  let  it  be  printed,  published  by  national  edict,  and  circulated,  and  let  due 
fulfilment  be  given  thereto. 

' '  Given  at  the  palace  of  the  supreme  executive  power  in  Mexico,  on  the  1  Ith  of  July,  1863. 

"JUAN  N.  ALMONTE. 

"  JOSE"  MARIANO  SAL  AS. 

"JUAN  B.  ORMAECHEA. 
"To  the  UNDER  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  AND  OF  THE  OFFICE  OF  FOREIGN  RELATIONS." 

And  I  communicate  it  to  you  for  your  knowledge  and  consequent  purposes. 

J.  M.  ARROYO, 
Under  Secretary  of  Slate  and  of  the  Office  of  Foreign  Relations. 


No.  8. 

SECRETARYSHIP  OF  STATE  AND  o»  THE  OFFICE  OF  FOREIGN  RELATIONS, 

PALACE  OF  THE  SUPREME  EXECUTIVE  POWER, 

Mexico,  July  11,  1863. 

The  provisional  supreme  executive  power  has  been  pleased  to  address  me  the  following 
decree : 

"The  provisional  supreme  executive  power  of  the  nation  to  the  inhabitants  thereof: 
Know  ye  that  the  Assembly  of  Notables  has  thought  fit  to  decree  as  follows  : 

"  '  The  Assembly  of  Notables,  in  view  of  the  decree  of  this  date,  has  thought  fit  to  decree  : 
"  'Until  the  arrival  of  the  sovereign  the  persons  appointed,  by  decree  of  22d  of  June 
last,  to  form  the  provisional  government,  shall  exercise  the  power  in  the  very  terms  estab 
lished  by  the  decree  referred  to,  with  the  character  of  regency  of  the  Mexican  empire. 
"  '  Given  in  the  Hall  of  Sessions  of  the  Assembly  on  the  llth  of  July,  1863. 

'•  TEODOSIO  LARES,  President. 
"  •  ALEJANDRO  ARANGO  Y  ESCANDON,  Secretary. 
'  '  JOSE  MARIA  ANDRADE,  Secretary. ' 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  261 

"Therefore,  let  it  be  printed,  published,  and  circulated,  and  let  due  fulfilment  be  given 
thereto. 

"  Given  at  the  palace  of  the  supreme  executive  power  in  Mexico,  on  the  llth  of  July,  1863. 

"JUAN.N.  ALMONTE. 

"  JOSE"  MARIANO  DE  SALA.S. 

"JUAN  B.  ORMAEOHEA. 
"To  the  Under  Secretary  of  State  and  Foreign  Relations,  Don  Josfe  MIGUEL  ARROYO." 

And  I  communicate  it  to  you  for  your  knowledge  and  consequent  purposes. 

J.  M.  ARROYO, 
Under  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Relations. 


No.  9. 
The  offer  of  the  crown. — Sthor  Estrada's  address  to  Maximilian. 

PRINCE  :  The  powerful  hand  of  a  generous  monarch  had  hardly  restored  liberty  to  the 
Mexican  nation  when  he  despatched  us  to  your  imperial  highness,  cherishing  the  sincerest 
wishes  and  warmest  hopes  for  our  mission.  We  shall  not  dwell  upon  the  visitations 
Mexico  has  had  to  undergo,  and  which,  as  they  are  notorious,  have  reduced  our  country  to 
the  verge  of  despair  and  ruin.  There  is  no  means  we  have  not  employed,  no  way  we  have 
not  tried,  to  escape  a  situation  full  of  misery  for  the  present  and  foreboding  catastrophes 
for  the  future  We  have  long  endeavored  to  extricate  ourselves  from  the  fatal  and  ruinous 
position  into  which  the  country  had  fallen  on  adopting,  with  credulous  inexperience, 
republican  institutions,  at  variance  with  its  natural  arrangements,  its  customs  and  tradi 
tions  ;  institutions  which,  though  they  resulted  in  the  greatness  and  prosperity  of  a 
neighboring  nation,  have  only  become  a  source  of  trials  and  desperate  disappointments  in 
our  case.  Nearly  half  a  century,  Prince,  has  elapsed,  carrying  with  it  for  Mexico  barren 
tortures  and  intolerable  humiliation,  but  without  deadening  the  spark  of  hope  and 
indomitable  vitality  in  our  breast.  Full  of  unshakable  confidence  in  the  Ruler  of  human 
destinies,  we  never  ceased  to  look  out  for  a  cure  of  our  ever-growing  national  malady.  We 
may  say  we  awaited  its  advent  true  to  ourselves.  Our  faith  was  not  in  vain.  The  ways 
of  Providence  have  become  manifest,  openin  gup  a  new  era,  and  exciting  the  admiration 
of  the  greatest  minds  by  an  unexpected  turn  of  fortune. 

Once  again  master  of  her  destinies,  Mexico,  taught  by  experience,  is  at  this  moment 
making  a  last  effort  to  correct  her  faults.  She  is  changing  her  institutions,  being  firmly 
persuaded  that  those  now  selected  will  be  even  more  salutary  than  the  analogous  arrange 
ments  which  existed  at  the  time  she  was  the  colony  of  a  European  state.  This  will  be  all 
the  more  certain  if  we  should  be  destined  to  see  at  our  head  a  Catholic  Prince,  who,  with 
the  high  and  recognized  worth  of  his  character,  with  the  nobility  of  his  feelings,  knows 
how  to  couple  that  firmness  of  will  and  self-sacrificing  devotion  which  are  the  inheritance 
of  those  only  who  have  been  selected  by  God  Almighty  in  decisive  moments  of  public 
danger  and  social  ruin,  to  save  sinking  peoples  and  restore  them  to  a  new  life.  Mexico 
expects  much  from  the  spirit  of  those  institutions  which  have  governed  it  for  three 
centuries,  and  which,  when  they  fell,  left  us  a  brilliant,  but,  alas  !  now  spoiled  inheritance. 
The  democratic  republic  endeavored  to  do  away  with  the  traces  of  former  grandeur.  But 
whatever  may  be  our  confidence  in  such  institutions,  their  efficiency  will  be  only  perfect 
when  crowned  in  the  person  of  your  imperial  highness.  A'  king,  the  heir  of  an  old 
monarchy,  and  representing  solid  institutions,  may  render  his  people  happy,  even  in  the 
absence  of  distinguished  qualities  of  mind  and  character  ;  but  very  different  and  excep 
tional  qualities  are  required  in'  a  prince  who  intends  to  become  the  founder  of  a  new1 
dynasty  and  the  heir  of  a  republic. 

Without  you,  Prince — believe  it  from  these  lips  which  have  never  served  the  purposes 
of  flattery — without  you,  all  our  efforts  to  save  the  country  will'be  in  vain.  Without  you 
will  not  be  realized  the  generous  intentions  of  a  great  sovereign,  whose  sword  restored  us 
to  liberty  and  whose  powerful  arm  now  supports  us  in  this  decisive  hour.  With  you, 
however,  experienced  in  the  difficult  art  of  government,  our  institutions  would  become 
what  they  ought  to  be,  if  the,  happiness  and  prosperity  of  our  country  are  to  be  guaranteed. 
With  you  they  would  have  for  their  foundation  that  genuine  liberty  which  is  coupled  with 
justice  and  moderation — not  the  spurious  counterfeit  we  have  become  conversant  with 
during  half  a  century's  ruinous  wars  and  quarrels.  Such  institutions,  equally  as  they  are 
in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  will  also  become  the  unshakable  corner-stone  of  our 
national  independence.  These  sentiments,  these  hopes,  which  have  been  long  entertained 
by  all  true  friends  of  Mexico,  are  now  in  the  hearts  of  all  in  our  country.  In  Europe,  too, 
whatever  sympathies  or  antipathies  may  have  been  roused  on  the  occasion  of  our  present 


262  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

step,  there  is  only  one  voice  in  regard  to  your  imperial  highness  and  your  noble  consort, 
who.  shining  by  personal  worth  and  high  virtues,  will  share  your  throne  and  rule  over 
our  hearts.  The  Mexicans  require  only  to  see  you  in  order  to  love  you 

Faithful  interpreters  of  the  longing  desire  and  the  wishes  of  our  country,  in  its  name  we 
offer  to  your  imperial  highness  the  crown  of  Mexico — that  crown  which  a  solemn  resolution 
of  the  Assembly  of  Notables  has  of  its  free  will  and  accord  handed  over  to  your  imperial 
highness.  Even  now  that  resolution  has  been  confirmed  by  the  assent  of  many  provinces, 
and  will  soon  be  sanctioned  by  the  entire  nation.  Nor  can  we  forget,  Prince,  that  by  a 
fortunate  coincidence  of  circumstances  this  great  national  act  is  taking  place  on  the  day 
on  which  Mexico  celebrates  the  anniversary  of  the  victorious  appearance  of  the  national 
army,  carrying  high  the  banner  of  independence  and  monarchy.  May  it  please  your 
imperial  highness  to  fulfil  our  prayers  and  accept  our  choice.  May  we  be  enabled  to  carry 
the  joyous  tidings  to  a  country  awaiting  them  in  longing  anxiety  ;  joyous  tidings  not  only 
for  us  Mexicans,  but  also  for  France,  whose  name  is  now  indissolubly  bound  up  with  our 
history,  and  gratitude  for'England  and  Spain  who  began  the  work  of  revival,  and  for  the 
illustrious  house  of  Austria,  connected  by  time-honored  and  glorious  memories  with  a  new 
continent. 

We  do  not  undervalue  the  sacrifice  to  be  mtide  by  your  imperial  highness  in  entering 
upon  so  great  a  task  with  all  its  consequences,  aod  in  severing  yourself  from  your  friend* 
in  Europe — that  quarter  of  the  globe  which,  from  its  centre,  diffuses  civilization  over  the 
world.  Yes,  Prince,  this  crown  which  our  love  offers  you  is  but  a  heavy  burden  to-day, 
but  it  will  soon  be  made  enviable  by  your  virtues,  our  z-alous  cooperation,  our  loyal 
devotion  and  inextinguishable  gratitude.  Whatever  may  be  our  f.iults,  however  deep  our 
fall,  we  are  still  the  sons  of  those  who,  inspired  by  the  sacred  names  of  religion,  king,  and 
country,  hesitated  not  to  run  the  greatest  risks,  engage  in  the  grandest  enterprises,  combat 
and  suffer  in  their  course.  These  are  the  sentiments  which,  in  the  name  of  our  grateful 
country,  we  lay  at  the  feet  of  your  imperial  highness.  We  offer  them  to  the  worthy  scion 
of  that  powerful  dynasty  which  planted  Christianity  on  our  native  soil.  On  that  soil, 
Prince,  we  hope  to  see  you  fulfil  a  high  task,  to  mature  the  choicest  fruits  of  culture, 
which  are  order  and  true  liberty.  The  task  is  great,  but  greater  is  our  confidence  in 
Providence,  which  has  led  us  thus  far. 


No.  10. 
Rtply  of  the  Archduke  Maximilian,  on,  the  3d  of  October,  1863,  to  the  Mexican  deputation. 

"  I  am  profoundly  grateful  for  the  wishes  expressed  by  the  Assembly  of  Notables. 

"  It  cannot  be  other  than  flattering  to  our  house  that  the  thoughts  of  your  countrymen 
turn  to  the  descendants  of  Charles  V. 

"  It  is  a  proud  t;»sk  to  assure  the  independence  and  the  prosperity  of  Mexico  under  the 
protection  of  free  and  lasting  institutions.  I  must,  however,  recognize  the  fact — and  in 
this  I  entirely  agree  with  the  Emperor  of  the  French,  whose  glorious  undertaking  makes 
the  regeneration  of  Mexico  possible— that  the  monarchy  cannot  be  re  established  in  your 
country  on  a  firm  and  legitimate  basis  unless  the  whole  nation  shall  confirm  by  a  free  man 
ifestation  of  its  will  the  wishes  of  the  capital. 

"My  acceptance  of  the  offered  throne  must,  therefore,  depend  upon  the  result  of  the 
vote  of  the  whole  country. 

"  Further,  a  sentiment  of  the  most  sacred  of  the  duties  of  the  sovereign  requires  that  he 
should  demand  for  the  proposed  empire  every  necessary  guarantee  to  secure  it  against  the 
dangers  which  threaten  its  integrity  and  its  independence 

"If  substantial  guarantees  for  the  future  can  be  obtained,  and  if  the  universal  suffrage 
of  the  noble  Mexican  people  select  me  as  its  choice,  I  shall  be  ready,  with  the  consent  of 
the  illustrious  chief  of  my  family,  and  trusting  to  the  protection  of  the  Almighty,  to  accept 
the  throne. 

"  It  is  my  duty  to  announce  to  you  now,  gentlemen,  that  in  case  Providence  shall  call 
me  to  the  high  mission  of  civilization  which  is  attached  to  this  crown,  it  is  my  fixed  in 
tention  to  open  to  your  country,  by  means  of  a  constitutional  government,  a  path  to  a 
progress  based  on  order  and  civilization,  and,  as  soon  as  the  empiie  shall  be  completely 
pacified,  to  seal  with  my  oath  the  fundamental  agreement  concluded  with  the  nation. 

"It  is  only  in  this  manner  that  a  truly  national  policy  can  be  established,  in  which  all 
parties,  forgetting  their  ancient  quarrels,  will  unite  to  raise  Mexico  to  the  high  rank  which 
she  should  attain  under  a  government  whose  first  principle  will  be  law  based  on  equity. 

"I  beg  of  you  to  communicate  these  my  intentions,  frankly  expressed,  to  your  country 
men,  and  to  take  measures  to  obtain  from  the  nation  an  expression  of  its  will  as  to  the 
form  of  government  it  intends  to  adopt." 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  263 


No.  11. 

Note  addressed  by  the  government  of  the  republic  to  the  governments  of  friendly  powers. 

NATIONAL  PALACE,  SAN  Luis  PoTOSf,  July  22,  1863. 
To  His  Excellency  the  MINISTER  OF  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS  OF : 

The  undersigned,  minister  of  foreign  affairs  of  the  republic  of  Mexico,  has  the  honor  of 
addressing  himself  to  his  excellency  the  minister  of  foreigu  affairs  of ,  with  refer 
ence  to  the  events  which  have  lately  taken  place  in  the  city  of  Mexico. 

The  undersigned  has  to  commence  by  stating  to  his  excellency  the  minister  that  the 
president,  having  become  convinced  that  policy  did  not  dictate  a  resistance  to  the  invader 
in  the  former  capital,  ordered  that  the  supreme  powers  of  the  federation  should  be  trans 
ferred  to  this  city.  This  decree  was  executed  a  few  days  after  its  publication,  after  the 
national  congress  had  terminated  its  sessions  by  the  expiration  of  the  period  of  its  second  term. 

Some  days  later,  riot  only  the  president,  invested  with  extraordinary  powers  by  congress, 
but  also  the  permanent  deputation  of  congress  which  subsists  during  the  recess  of  that 
body,  aud  finally  the  supreme  court  of  justice,  which  completes  the  personnel  of  the  supreme 
powers  of  the  country,  weie  established  in  the  new  capital,  where  they  discharge  with 
perfect  regulaiity  the  attiibutes  conferred  upon  them  by  our  organic  law. 

The  government  of  the  republic  in  all  its  branches  receives,  as  is  natural  and  due,  the 
recognition  and  the  obedience  of  the  nation,  excepting  only  the  few  places  which  the  army 
of  France  hold  subject  and  oppressed.  But  the  power  arrogated  by  the  invader  of  our  soil 
is  so  limited  and  so  uncertain  in  its  tenure,  bet-ides  being  so  odious  and  so  strongly  resisted, 
that  there  is  not  held  by  him  a  single  foot  of  ground  not  controlled  by  his  military  posts. 
However  near  to  these  other  towns  may  be,  they  obey — the  same  as  all  the  rest  of  the 
nation — the  authorities  which  Mexico,  in  the  exercise  of  its  ^oveieignty,  and  by  the  free 
vote  of  its  citizens,  has  thought  proper  to  place  at  the  head  of  its  internal  administration. 
In  fine,  even  the  line  frorn  Vera  Cruz  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  the  line  which  should  be  certain 
and  secure  to  the  enemy's  army,  is  incessantly  cut  by  the  national  troops. 

But  even  if  this  line  were  not  and  should  not  be  disputed  by  our  forces,  and  although 
the  French  should  succeed  in  executing  their  plan — which  has  transpired — of  extending  the 
influence  of  their  arms  to  the  radius  of  twenty  le  igues  from  the  city  of  Mexico,  there  would 
even  then  have  been  conquered  by  their  forces  only  a  mere  fraction  of  the  republic,  (a 
portion  incompar  ibly  less  than  that  which  remains,)  and  which,  animated  by  a  sense  of 
right  and  a  consciousness  of  strength,  is  resolved  not  only  to  continue  to  resist  the  foreign 
invader,  but  to  recover  those  portions  where  the  legal  order  has  been  interrupted  by  the 
momentary  triumph  of  force  over  justice  and  right,  over  patriotism  the  most  noble,  and 
over  couiage  itself 

Such  being  the  actual  condition  of  affairs,  it  is  difficult  for  the  undersigned  properly  to 
qualify  the  act  which  has  just  been  committed  in  the  former  capital  of  the  republic  by  the 
general  in  chief  of  the  invading  army.  Immediately  upon  the  occupation  of  the  city  of 
Mexico  he  has  thought  that  the  hour  had  arrived  to  announce  that  the  government  of  the 
federation  had  been  destroyed  and  annihilated.  He  therefore  proceeded  to  name  thirty- 
five  individuals,  in  order  that  they,  in  their  turn,  should  elect  a  triumvirate  who  should  be 
charged  with  the  executive  power,  and  should  also  name  two  hundred  and  fifteen  other 
persons  who,  with  the  title  of  "  notables,"  should  be  intrusted  with  authority  to  determine 
the  form  of  our  government.  Pronouncing  themselves  in  favor  of  a  monarchy,  they  selected 
for  ernperor  his  royal  highness  the  Prince  Maximilian  of  Austria,  and  declared  that  the 
provisional  government  should  take  the  name  of  regency. 

Considering  these  acts  in  their  true  light,  and  deducing  from  them  their  only  practical 
and  effective  consequences,  it  results  that  there  is  in  the  city  of  Mexico  a  combination  of 
three  persons,  called  triumvirs,  and  now  members  of  a  regency  ;  and  that  there  is  a  prince 
who  has  been  called  to  reign  over  Mexico  as  emperor  by  two  hundred  and  fifteen  individuals, 
seconded,  at  most,  by  only  the  places  occupied  by  the  troops  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon. 
But  as  the  entire  party  resigned  to  accept  the  foreign  prince  whom  the  invader  is  so  anxious 
to  give  us  only  embraces  the  inhabitants  dominated  by  the  French  army  and  a  few  impotent 
and  fugitive  bands,  and  as  all  this  lacks  very  greatly  of  even  approaching  to  be  a  majority 
of  the  people  of  the  country,  who,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  adhere  to  the  constitutional 
government,  it  follows  logically  that  the  empire  and  the  regency  do  not  constitute  a  govern 
ment  de  facto,  nor  prove  anything  more  than  a  desire  and  an  attempt  to  establish  such  a 
government  In  fine,  so  long  as  the  orders  of  the  government  of  Mexico  are  respected  and 
obeyed  throughout  almost  the  entire  nation,  that  is  the  supreme  authority  which  inter- 


264  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

national  law  teaches  should  be  recognized,  independent  of  its  other  legitimate  titles,  under 
the  presumption  that  a  btate  accepts,  or  at  least  tolerates,  that  government  which  it  obeys 
without  resistance. 

Coming  to  the  question  of  right,  the  undersigned  finds  a  source  of  embarrassment  in  its 
discussion  from  the  abundance  of  the  reasons  which  demonstrate  the  justice  with  which  the 
Mexican  people  reject  the  bastard  and  despicable  government  which  General  Forey  seeks  to 
impose  upon  them 

The  undersigned  even  fears  that  it  may  be  considered  an  undue  yielding  to  force  to 
attempt  the  formal  proof  of  a  thing  so  clear  and  self-evident.  But  he  feels  it  his  duty  to 
conform  to  the  usage  of  civilized  nations,  and,  by  complying  loyally  with  the  sacred  obliga 
tion  imposed  upon  him  by  the  vote  and  th^  confidence  of  the  republic,  provide  for  its 
defence  by  all  the  legitimate  and  proper  means  that  may  be  within  his  reach. 

The  Emperor  of  the  French,  violating  the  moet  sacred  and  important  of  the  restrictions 
with  which  civilization  has  tempered  the  right  of  war,  has  declared  it  against  Mexico,  and 
is  making  it  solely  on  account  of  a  miserable  debt,  whose  payment  has  been  offered  to  him, 
and  for  certain  other  causes  equally  destitute  of  consistency  and  of  justice,  such  *s  the 
reclamation  of  Jecker,  which  has  no  existence,  except  at  his  hands,  the  mere  enunciation 
of  which  causes  has  filled  the  world  with  astonishment. 

Hostilities  have  been  opened  without  waiting  for  the  refusal  of  such  satisfaction  as  might 
with  justice  be  demanded  of  us,  and  only  once  have  his  agents  treated  of  negotiations, 
and  that  was  to  infringe  and  to  prove  false  to  the  stipulations  of  Soledad,  exchanging  thereby 
the  unhealthy  positions  of  their  forces  for  others  more  salubrious  and  more  advanced.  The 
Emperor  and  his  agents  have  not  sought  to  obtain  reparation  through  peace,  nor  have  they 
made  war  upon  Mexico  to  obtain  it.  Their  true  design,  well  known  even  before  the 
government  of  France  had  lifted  the  veil  with  which  it  was  covered — the  design  which  for 
a  long  time  had  been  openly  spoken  of  and  discussed  by  the  politicians  and  the  journals  of 
Europe — was  to  overthrow  republican  institutions  in  Mexico,  to  destroy  its  government, 
and  to  raiee  a  throne  for  the  Frince  Maximilian  of  Austria. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  agents  of  the  Emperor  have  declared  that  they  would  never 
treat  with  the  president,  which  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  peace  should  never  be  made  ; 
for  the  president,  not  having  obtained  his  position  through  force  or  fraud,  as  have  so  many 
ambitious  men  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  but  by  the  free  vote  of  his  fellow-citizens, 
can  neither  reject  the  confidence  which  they  have  bestowed  upon  him,  by  violating  his 
most  sacred  duties  and  obligations  and  abandoning  his  post  in  the  day  of  peril  for  the 
republic,  nor  can  they  consent  that  the  chief  magistrate  chaiged  by  them  with  the  func 
tions  of  government  and  with  the  dut}  of  representing  its  sovereignty  abioad  should  be 
removed  from  power  to  please  a  foreign  enemy,  even  if  that  should  be  the  sole  condition 
required  for  the  re-establishment  of  those  friendly  relations  which  have  been  interrupted. 

As  all  of  the  events  of  a  political  character  which  have  occurred  in  the  city  of  Mexico 
have  taken  place  and  aie  sustained  solely  by  the  direction  of  General  Forey,  and  as  from 
the  very  nature  of  these  events  it  is  not  possible  to  ascribe  them  to  any  other  origin  or 
support,  it  follows  that  France,  by  means  of  force,  is  intervening  to  the  extent  of  her  power 
in  the  administration  and  government  of  Mexico,  and  has  therefore  again  inaugurated  that 
unhappy  era  which  it  had  been  the  glory  of  the  nineteenth  century  to  have  terminated  ; 
for  war  will  be  full  of  iniquity  and  ot  interminable  disasters  to  the  nations  when  the  power 
«f  one  over  the  others  shall  have  no  longer  the  restraints  of  international  right 

The  French  government,  in  the  blindness  of  its  ambitious  designs,  has  forgotten  that 
this  pretended  right  of  inteivention  was  once  applied  to  France,  although  to  the  present 
imperial  family  this  memory  should  be  indelible. 

If  national  sovereignty  is  the  basis  upon  which  rest  the  rights  of  mankind,  it  is  easy  to 
see  how  great  and  profound,  how  alarming  for  all  the  states  of  the  globe,  i*  this  outrage 
which  is  being  done  to  Mexico  by  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III. 

The  undersigned  will  now  descend  to  refer  to  the  acts  which  the  general  of  the  invading 
army  and  his  adherents  have  had  the  boldness  to  present  as  sufficient  titles  to  attribute  to 
their  mock  government  a  character  of  true  nationality.  They  assert  that  the  place  where 
the  empire  was  proclaimed  has  the  virtue  of  legalizing  that  act  both  within  and  without 
the  republic. 

Gnneral  Forey,  after  having  occupied  the  city  of  Mexico,  announced  that  the  military 
question  had  tetminated,  and  that  they  had  now  to  decide  the  political  question.  But  the 
truth  is  that  the  military  question  is  scarcely  commenced,  and  that  the  political  question  is 
very  far  from  having  been  opened,  much  less  closed,  by  the  election  of  a  monarch  in  that 
city.  The  city  of  Mexico  is  without  doubt  a  very  important  place  for  us ;  but  it  by  no 
means  has  the  importance  and  influence  which  in  some  other  countries  is  exercised  by  the 
capital.  The  Mexican  people  made  war  upon  Spain  with  vigor  and  with  success,  notwith- 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  265 

standing  the  city  of  Mexico  remained  up  to  the  last  moment  submissive  to  the  colonial 
government ;  and  later,  when  the  insurrectionary  party  held  the  same  city,  with  many 
others,  it  was  only  at  the  end  of  a  three-years'  war  that  they  could  be' driven  out  of  all  by 
the  irresistible  uprising  of  the  nation. 

The  consciousness  of  right,  and  the  determination  to  sacrifice  everything  in  the  defence 
of  our  liberties,  are  sentiments  diffused  throughout  the  utmost  bounds  of  the  republic,  and 
one  or  many  cities  lost  cannot  weaken  our  resolution,  as  it  will  not  diminish  the  justice  of 
our  cause,  or  lessen  the  immense  value  of  the  objects  we  are  defending. 

It  is  in  vain  that  they  talk  of  a  pretended  right  upon  which  they  seek  to  found  the 
appointment  of  the  notables  In  truth,  ev»^n  if  a  custom  by  which  necessity  or  abuse  has 
established  among  us  certain  governments,  merely  provisional,  could  be  applicable  at  the 
time  when  there  was  a  government  obeyed  and  respected  throughout  all  the  land,  and 
even  admitting  a  compromise  between  these  governments  and  that  permanent  one  which 
the  new  notables  imagined  they  could  create,  it  would  still  be  evident  that  such  a  custom, 
whether  good  or  bad,  has  not  been,  nor  can  it  ever  be,  accepted  in  the  contingency  of  being 
invoked  and  used  by  the  general  of  the  foreign  army,  an  invader  of  the  country. 

The  organic  law  of  Mexico,  however,  does  not  exist  in  abolished  customs,  but  in  the 
lawful  constitution  of  the  country,  framed  by  its  legitimate  representatives  and  sustained 
and  defended  by  the  will  and  by  the  blood  of  the  Mexican  people.  Her  sovereignty,  the 
same  as  that  of  all  the  nations,  has  for  its  first  basis  the  right  of  Mexico  to  manage  freely 
and  alone  her  own  government  And  what  species  of  public  right  is  that  which  commences 
by  depriving  of  the  equality  of  citizens  the  Indians,  who  form  the  majority  of  the  nation? 

It  has  been  even  said  that  the  intervention  has  in  its  favor  the  wishes  of  a  majority  of 
the  Mexicans  ;  but  the  demonstrations  of  joy  extorted  by  the  police  in  the  city  of  Mexico, 
and  at  other  points  which  the  enemy  holds  in  his  power,  upon  which  alone  this  assertion 
is  based,  offer  any  appearance  rather  than  that  of  a  spontaneous  and  universal  adhesion. 
.Nor  can  the  undersigned  do  more  than  icfer  to  the  other  boasted  proof  of  sympathy  for 
the  intervention  taken  from  the  numbers  present  at  a  l>all  given  in  Mexico  by  the  officers 
of  the  French  army.  Treason,  which  has  declared  itself  in  Mexico,  is,  without  doubt,  a 
horrible  crime  ;  but  it  is  not  peculiar  to  the  Mexican  people,  as  is  proved  by  history,  and 
very  especially  by  that  of  France  ;  and  neither  here  more  than  there  does  it  justify,  in  any 
manner,  the  invasion  of  a  state  and  the  annihilation  of  its  sovereignty. 

It  also  appears  very  clear  to  the  undersigned  that  to  constantly  repeat,  as  the  French 
government  and  its  agents  have  repeated,  that  they  only  desire  to  make  us  happy,  is  not 
to  advance  in  the  light  of  those  sound  piinciples,  which  certainly  cannot  be  abolished  by  a 
phrase  which  any  ambitious  government  can  use,  and,  in  fact,  which  has  been  used  with 
eager  readiness  in  the  most  iniquitous  wars.  Nor  can  it  be  seriously  maintained  that  any 
one  fan  by  force  be  obliged  to  receive  a  benefit. 

In  one  word,  Mr.  Minister,  the  intervention  wlaich  the  Emperor  of  the  French  is  exer 
cising  in  this  country  involves  not  only  an  immeasurable  outrage  to  Mexico,  but  a  menace 
against  all  other  nations,  while,  with  reference  to  the  reality  of  events,  it  has  in  fact  only 
reached  the  point  of  being  a  humiliation  imposed  by  the  French  army  upon  the  few  towns 
which  have  fallen  in  their  power,  and  remains  a  pure  phantasy  for  the  immense  majority 
of  the  republic 

The  republic  has  not  forgotten  the  heroism  of  its  sons  who,  without  other  aid  than  their 
own  efforts,  achieved  its  independence  and  gave  it  the  right  to  inscribe  its  name  upon  the 
honored  catalogue  of  free  nations.  The  defence  of  Puebla  de  Zaragoza  is  demonstrating  to 
the  world  that  our  race  has  not  degenerated,  although  the  contrary  was  said  when  they 
were  preparing  against  us  this  most  unjust  war. 

We  shall  preserve  our  institutions  in  all  their  force,  and  the  spirit  of  the  nation  will  rise 
more  and  more  with  the  passage  of  each  day,  and  become  more  determined  in  its  opposition 
and  inextinguishable  in  its  hatred  against  the  enemies  of  its  repose  and  the  destroyers  of 
its  rights. 

The  men  who  have  violated  in  the  most  flagrant  manner  the  law  of  nations,  in  contriving 
pretexts  for  this  war,  in  the  employment  of  their  means  of  hostilities,  and  in  setting  forth 
with  falsehood  its  ends,  concealing  the  truth,  and  which  tnds  are  in  all  points  unjustifiable  ; 
the  men  who  have  conspired  to  rob  the  country  of  its  sovereignty  and  to  overthrow  its  free 
institutions  ;  the  men  who  have  caused  our  soldiers  to  be  murdered  when  prisoners  and 
dropping  with  fatigue,  and  have  forced  them  to  hard  labor  in  deadly  climates,  or  to  take 
arms  in  their  ranks  to  fight  against  the  cause  of  their  country  ;  the  men  who  have  stripped 
from  the  faithful  servants  of  the  government  of  the  nation  their  property  ;  those  who  have 
caused  the  assassination  of  a  commander  of  an  escort  guarding  a  foreign  consul ;  the  men 
who  have  thought  to  degrade  the  majority  of  our  fellow-citizens,  declaring  them  pariahs  in 
the  land  of  their  -birth,  which  has  been  enriched  by  the  blood  their  fathers  shed  in  achieving 


266  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

its  independence,  and  by  (heir  own  shed  in  the  long  struggle  to  establish  it  free  ;  the  men, 
in  line,  who  have  re-established  the  odious  and  abolished  punishment  of  the  lash,  even  for 
feeble  women — these  men  never  can  have  the  love,  never  will  receive  ev#n  the  tolerance, 
of  the  Mexican  people,  who  refuged  to  accept  for  their  emperor  even  their  liberator  himself. 

The  undersigned  persuades  himself  that  tluse  facts  and  these  considerations  will  be 
sufficient  to  lead  the  government  of  your  excellency  to  ar  prove  the  protest  which  the 
government  of  Mexico  makes,  by  means  ot  this  note,  against  whatever  arrangement,  treaty, 
or  convention  in  which  the  so-called  regency  or  the  supposititious  emperor  of  Mexico  shiill 
have  part;  and  the  government  of  the  undersigned  trusts  that  the  enlightened  government 
of  your  excellency  will  not  recognize  the  said  regency  or  empire  as  the  government  of 
Mexico,  as  it  is  not,  with  truth  either  in  fact  or  of  right. 

The  undersigned  avails  himself  of  this  occasion  to  offer  to  your  excellency  the  assurances- 
of  his  high  consideration. 

JUAN  ANTONIO  1)E  LA  FUENTK. 


No.  12. 
Protect  f>f  the  Permanent  Deputation  of  the  Congress  of  the  nation. 

The  permanent  deputation  of  the  sovereign  congress  of  the  united  Mexican  States  would 
fail  in  one  of  the  most  eminent  and  sacred  of  its  duties,  if  it  should  maintain  a  criminal 
silence  in  view  of  the  infamous  and  scandalous  events  which  have  recently  taken  place  in 
the  city  of  Mexico. 

The  nation  has  been  outraged  in  all  its  rights.  The  most  sacred  principles  of  justice,  of 
reason,  and  of  morals  have  been  me  eked  at  and  trampled  upon  under  the  shadow  of  the 
ephemeral  power  of  foreign  soldiers — soldiers  who  have  not  known  how  to  conquer,  and 
who  have  failed  to  humiliate  the  heroic  republicans  who  defended  the  walls  of  Puebla  do 
Zaragoza.  Joined  to  these,  a  faction  of  traitors  and  cowards,  a  thousand  times  conquered 
in  our  intestine  struggles;  of  cruel  fanatics,  who,  safe  from  peril  themselves,  decree  the 
death  of  the  most  loyal  patriots  ;  a  faction  of  miserable  egotists,  who  sacrifice  everything 
to  their  love  of  gain ;  of  degraded  adventurers,  the  scum  of  all  the  parties  in  our  civil 
wars,  have  pretended  to  despoil  the  nation,  and  forever,  of  the  most  glorious  of  the  titles 
of  a  name  engraven  in  the  history  of  its  independence,  won  and  preserved  by  the  blood 
of  its  best  citizens,  of  its  institutions  the  most  cherished,  and  of  its  liberties  the  most 
precious. 

And  this  small  faction  of  abject  and  imbecile  beiiigs,  who  to-day  adulate  and  serve  the 
foreign  power,  and  to-morrow  will  1  e  the  objects  of  its  utmost  disdain  and  contempt,  never 
tire  of  repeating  to  us.  with  the  same  flagrant  duplicity  that  has  always  characterized  their 
language,  that  Louis  Napoleon,  generous  and  benevolent,  without  ulterior  views,  without 
ulterior  design,  without  illegitimate  interests,  has  caused  his  soldiers  to  cross  the  ocean,  at 
the  cost  of  enormous  expense  to  the  treasury  (  f  France,  solely  to  comply  with  a  pious  and 
benevolent  mission,  solely  to  give  us  peace,  liberty,  all  those  benefits  which  constitute  the 
happiness  of  a  people,  and  to  leave  us  free  to  enjoy  in  tranquillity  these  great  benefits,  with 
out  reproach  to  our  honor,  without  sacrifice  to  our  integrity,  and  without  offence,  even  the 
slightest,  to  our  national  existence. 

The  foreign  general,  associating  hitnseif  with  feigned  generonty  with  this  perfidious 
faction  of  traitors,  has  repeated  these  treacherous  words,  which,  incoherent  and  inexpli 
cable  as  they  are,  have  not  re-quired  the  evidence  of  the  events  which  have  occurred  to 
prove  their  falsehood. 

To  declare  himself  triumphant  and  the  victor,  after  he  had  occupied,  without  other  re 
sistance  than  that  of  Puebla  de  Zaragoza,  two  or  three  cities,  abandoned  from  motives  of 
policy,  in  a  country  possessed  of  an  immense  extent  of  territory  ;  to  assume  that  the  mili 
tary  line  of  Vera  Cruz  to  Mexico,  incessantly  attacked  by  the  national  forces,  and  upon 
which  the  invader  holds  no  more  than  the  soil  upon  which  he  stands,  is  equivalent  to  the 
conquest  of  eight  millions  of  inhabitants,  the  great  majority  of  whom  were  born  and  have 
lived  free  from  the  dominion  of  a  foreign  yoke  ;  to  assume  to  domineer  over  th's  country 
under  such  a  title,  and  immediately  to  attempt  to  impose  upon  it  laws  and  to  name  public 
functionaries ;  to  appoint  a  committee  of  government,  without  other  representation  than 
the  will  of  the  self-styled  conqueror,  and  to  order  it  to  elect  another  committee  of  M>- called 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  267 

notables,  all  residents  of  one  single  town,  clothed  by  him  with  authority  to  pronounce  in 
an  oracular  manner  what  should  be  the  form  of  government  which  it  is  the  will  of  Mexico 
to  have  ;  for  this  committee  to  respond  that  the  absurd  and  fantastic  plan,  preconceived 
and  contrived  in  the  Tuileries  more  than  two  years  ago,  is  equivalent,  quite  equivalent,  to 
the  free  vote  of  the  nation,  and  that,  of  their  free  and  spontaneous  will,  the  Mexican  people 
wish  to  place  themselves  under  the  monarchical  system,  calling  for  that  purpose  a  foreign 
prince,  a  stranger,  without  ties,  without  antecedents,  and  without  a  knowledge  of  the 
country — all  this,  and  still  more,  which  the  traitorous  faction  have  wished  to  do,  in  testi 
mony  of  their  submission  and  blind  obedience  to  the  most  iniquitous  of  invaders,  supplant 
ing  the  truth,  lying  in  the  face  of  the  civilization  of  the  age,  and  covering  the  country  with 
opprobrium  and  reproach,  is  a  gross  tissue  of  absurdities  and  marvels,  such  as  no  history 
has  recorded,  and  which  would  be  unworthy  of  all  credit  if  they  were  not  inscribed  in  irref 
ragable  documents.  '  x  «  : 

Thus  do  they  pretend  that  a  nation  can,  with  easy  facility,  abdicate  its  most  precious 
prerogatives — that  a  state,  a  moral  entity,  distinct  and  independent  of  all  other  states,  can 
transmit  to  another  the  right  of  establishing,  of  changing,  or  of  abolishing  the  form  and 
character  of  its  government ;  thus  it  is  pretended  in  this  nineteenth  century  to  obliterate 
and  destroy  the  autonomy  of  a  people  ;  and  thus  it  is  hoped  that  the  Mexicans,  strong  and 
numerous,  and  with  the  same  right  to  be  free  as  the  most  prosperous  nation  of  the  world, 
shall  disown  their  political  being,  shall  forget  their  most  sacred  traditions,  lay  aside  their 
most  established  habits,  shall  outrage  the  memory  of  their  greatest  sons,  and,  cowards  a^d 
ingrates.  voluntarily  consent  to  this  shameful  and  humiliating  intervention  which  conceals 
and  covers  up  its  true  ends  ;  which  is  founded  in  no  legitimate  motive  ;  which  has  been 
born  of  allied  cupidity,  through  falsehood,  calumny,  and  treason  ;  which  invades  even  the 
domestic  hearth,  under  the  pretext  of  allotment  of  brutal  soldiers  ;  which  sequestrates  and 
embargoes  private  property,  and  which  heaps  the  infamy  of  its  odious  lash  upon  the 
shoulders  of  feeble  men  and  of  unprotect  d  women. 

However  often  the  traitors  may  repeat  it,  kissing  the  yoke  that  is  imposed  upon  them, 
foreign  intervention  is  not  compatible,  is  never  compatible,  with  the  sovereignty  of  the- 
nation.  This  right  is  complete,  absolute,  inalienable,  and  exclusive  ;  it  cannot  be  ceded 
nor  transferred,  nor  given  in  exchange,  nor  held  in  partnership.  Every  sovereign  nation, 
whatever  may  be  its  political  form,  governs  of  itself  alone,  and  independent  of  any  foreign 
control.  A  sovereignty,  limited,  modified,  protected,  placed  in  tutelage,  sustained  by  foreign 
influence  or  by  foreign  arms,  cannot  be  free,  cannot  live  a  natural  life,  and  can  have  no 
other  existence  than  that  given  to  it  by  the  power  upon  which  it  leans ;  and  when,  before 
the  occupation  by  the  French  arms,  not  even  one  single  spontaneous  manifestation  was  heard 
in  favor  of  foreign  intervention,  and  when,  in  the  very  districts  now  occupied,  only  insig 
nificant  villages  and  persons  of  obscure  position  have  declared  in  favor  of  this  national  ig 
nominy  ;  when  nine-tenths  of  the  Mexican  people  still  remain  under  the  rule  of  the  national 
and  legitimate  authority,  and  multitudes  of  pacific  families  have  abandoned  their  hearths 
and  their  connexions,  in  order  not  to  remain  in  contact  with  the  foreign  enemy,  and  the 
valiant  soldiers  who  fell  in  their  power  on  the  occupation  of  Puebla  escape  from  their  ranks, 
in  order  to  reunite  themselves  to  the  national  army — when  so  many  explicit  manifestations 
prove  the  invincible  repugnance  with  which  the  invading  foice  is  viewed,  yet,  in  the  face 
of  all  this,  in  the  capital  of  the  republic  has  been  improvised  a  phantom  of  government, 
which,  from  its  bastard  origin,  from  having  at  its  bead  the  first  of  traitors,  has  not  and 
cannot  possess  either  dignity  or  power,  which  is  only  sustained  by  the  bayonets  of  France, 
and  which  has  no  other  mission  than  that  of  strutting  its  little  brief  period  of  triumph, 
sterile  and  in  vain,  because  it  has  no  foundation  in  public  opinion,  and  is  neither  based 
upon  nor  supported  by  the  will  of  the  nation,  which  is  already  inaugurating  a  new  era  in 
this  struggle,  which  will  be  more  obstinate  and  more  bloody  than  any  which  Mexico  has 
before  sustained  against  her  invaders. 

The  peimanent  deputation,  in  the  name  of  the  congress  of  the  union,  and  as  the  faithful 
interpreters  of  the  national  sentiment,  so  energetically  and  universally  manifested,  believes 
that  it  fulfils  a  most  solemn  obligation  in  reproducing,  as  by  these  presents,  it  does  repro 
duce,  all  the  declarations  and  protests  before  made  by  the  sovereign  congress  itself,  by  the 
executive,  and  by  the  other  legitimate  and  loyal  authorities  of  the  country — declarations 
which  disavow  and  declare  null  and  of  no  effect,  as  against  the  sovereignty  of  the  Mexican, 
people,  and  without  force  or  legal  value,  all  acts  done  or  which  may  be  done  by  virtue  of 
the  power  or  under  the  influence  of  the  foreign  invader  ;  and  it  declares  that,  in  the  con 
stitutional  orbit  of  its  functions,  remaining  always  at  the  side  of  the  government  which  the 
nation,  in  the  exercise  of  its  sovereign  will,  manifested  in  conformity  with  its  organic  law, 
has  freely  established,  until  the  next  session  of  the  national  assembly  shall  take  place,  it 
will  co-operate,  with  all  'the  energy  and  self-devotion  inspired  by  patriotism,  in  repelling 


268  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

force  by  force,  and  in  using  every  means  to  disconcert  and  defeat  the  machinations  of  treason 
and  of  conquest,  in  order  to  maintain  secure  the  independence,  the  sovereignty,  the  laws, 
and  the  perfect  freedom  of  the  republic 

FUANCISCO  ZARCO,  President. 

JOAQUIN  M.  ALCALDE. 

PONCIANO  ARRIAGA. 

BARTOLOME  E.  ALMADA. 

JESUS  CASTANEDA. 

PEDRO  CONTRECAS  ELI/IALDE. 

JOSE  DIAS  COR  AM  BIAS. 

FRANCISCO  P.  GOCHICOA. 

SEBASTIAN  LERDO  DE  TEJAUA. 

GENARO  I.   LEYVA. 

IGNACIO  OROZCO. 

G.   PRIETO. 

MANUEL  POSADA. 

FELIX  VEGA. 

IGNACIO  POMBO,  Deputy  Secretary. 
SIMON  DE  LA  GARZA  Y  MELO,  Deputy  Secretary. 

SAN  Luis  POTOSI,  July  22,  1863. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Scicard. 

[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  February  24,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  As  further  proo  fof  the  injustice  and  impropriety  ivhich, 
with  such  foundation,  are  attributed  to  the  intervention  which  the  French  Em 
peror  is  pretending  to  establish  in  the  Mexican  republic  by  the  statesmen  and 
political  writers  of  France,  despite  the  many  restrictions  which  .hold  the  press 
enchained  in  that  empire,  I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  with  this  note,  for  the 
information  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  a  translation  into  English 
of  an  important  pamphlet  published  lately  in  Paris,  under  the  title  of  "  Solution 
of  the  Mexican  Question,"  by  Mr.  A.  Malespine,  editor  of  L'Opinion  Nationale. 

The  statements  and  deductions  contained  in  that  pamphlet  respecting  the 
policy  pursued  in  Mexico  by  the  imperial  government  are  of  such  nature  that  I 
think  it  proper  to  commend  them  to  the  consideration  of  the  government  of -the 
United  States. 

I  avail  of  this  occasion  to  repeat  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  most 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 


SOLUTION  OF  THE  MEXICAN  QUESTION. 

BY  A.  MALBSPINE. 

I. 

CAUSES   OF   THE    FRENCH    INTERVENTION. 

It  seems,  in  the  first  place,  needless  to  look  back  to  the  causes  which  led  to  the  French 
intervention  in  Mexico.  The  wrongs  done  to  our  fellow-countrymen  in  person  ami  property 
have  been  many,  and  even  the  government  of  Juarez  admits  in  principle  the  justice  of  our 
demands.  He  disputes,  however,  the  amount  of  the  indemnity  claimed,  and  complains 
that  he  is  charged  with  not  only  the  material  responsibility,  fait  also  the  moral  responsi 
bility,  of  crimes  done  by  his  political  adversaries.  ^ 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  269 

The  contested  indemnities  are  those  which  are  named  in  Article  1  and  in  Article  3  of 
the  ultimatum  laid  down  by  the  plenipotentiaries  of  France.  These  articles  are  thus  stated : 
"ARTICLE  1.  Mexico  engages  to  pay  to  France  a  sum  of  $12,000,000,  at  which  the  whole  of 
the  French  reclamations  are  valued,  rating  the  various  wrongs  up  to  the  31st  of  July  last, 
1861,  and  exclusive  of  the  exceptions  stipulated  in  Articles  2  and  4,  hereinafter  stated, 
and  which  relate  to  what  has  happened  since  the  31st  of  July  last,  for  which  a  special  re 
serve  is  made.  The  amount  of  the  reclamations  against  Mexico  which  may  spring  from 
these  causes  will  be  fixed  at  a  later  j  eriod  by  the  plenipotentiaries  of  France." 

"ARTICLE  3.  Mexico  will  be  held  to  the  full,  faithful,  and  immediate  fulfilment  of  the 
contract  undertaken  in  the  month  of  February,  1859,  between  the  Mexican  government 
and  the  house  of  Jecker." 

The  first  figure  of  twelve  millions  of  dollars  has  seemed,  in  fact,  excessive,  for  the  whole 
number  of  Frenchmen  permanent  residents  of  Mexico  does  not  exceed,  according  to  the 
latest  official  documents,  2,048.  The  demand  for  the  entire  and  instant  execution  of  the 
contract  made  between  Miramon  and  the  house  of  Jecker,  reaching  the  large  sum  of 
$15,000,000,  has  also  been  judged  to  be  too  rigorous 

These  two  demands  gave  rise  in  the  beginning  of  the  expedition  to  a  first  disagreement 
between  the  plenipotentiaries  of  France,  of  England,  and  of  Spain. 

As  soon  as  Earl  Russell  was  informed  of  the  nature  of  the  French  reclamations  by  Sir 
Charles  Wycke,  he  wrote  to  Lord  Cowley,  the  English  ambassador  at  Paris  : 

"  It  is  surely  not  possible  that  reclamations  so  excessive  as  that  of  $12,000,000  in  mass  and 
without  detailed  account,  and  that  of  $15,000,000  for  $750,000  received,  can  have  been 
made  with  the  hope  of  their  being  entertained." 

M.  Thouvenal  hastened,  by  a  despatch  addressed  to  M.  Dubois  de  Saligny,  the  28th  of 
February,  1862,  to  soften  the  too  absolute  nature  of  these  demands.  He  wrote  as  follows: 
"The  figure  at  which  this  department  felt  itself  obliged  to  value  our  reclamations  did 
not  reach  that  fixed  by  your  Article  No.  1  ;  but,  in  the  absence  of  sufficient  elements  of 
valuation,  a  great  latitude  is  now  left  to  you  on  this  subject.  While,  therefore,  I  do  not 
expressly  ask  you  to  reduce  a* sum  which  Sir  Charles  Wycke  and  General  Prim  both  seem  to 
have  thought  exorbitant,  you  may,  nevertheless,  be  less  exacting  on  this  point  if  it  prove 
too  evident  a  cause  of  difference  between  the  representatives  of  the  three  courts." 

M.  Thouvenal  was  further  of  opinion  that  if  France  still  insisted  on  a  large  sum  of  in 
demnity,  it  was  no  longer  necessary  to  exact  reparation  of  another  kind,  whether  for  the 
death  of  the  French  consul  at  Tepic,  or  for  the  attempts  upon  the  person  of  M.  Dubois  de 
Saligny  in  the  month  of  August,  1861. 

So  far  as  the  Jecker  affair  was  concerned,  M.  Thouvenel  declared  that  there  was  a  dis 
tinction  to  be  drawn  between  what  immediately  concerned  our  interests  and  what  was 
foreign  to  them.  At  the  time  when  the  Jecker  contract  was  signed  the  minister  of  France 
to  Mexico  had  informed  the  French  government  that  foreign  commerce  would  be  greatly 
relieved  by  this  financial  measure.  It  was  only  in  this  view  that  the  French  government 
insisted  on  its  execution.  But  the  question  would  be  treated  very  differently  if  the  house 
of  Jecker0  was  to  be  alone,  or  almost  alone,  benefited  by  the  fulfilment  of  the  contract. 
,  "  I  call  your  attention,"  said  M.  Thouvenel,  "in  conclusion,  to  the  importance  of  sepa 
rating  in  this  affair  all  that  may  really  affect  interests  which  it  is  our  duty  to  protect  from 
what  may  affect  other  interests  of  a  wholly  'different  character.  The  actual  government 
(the  government  of  Juarez)  cannot  assume  to  deprive  our  countrymen  of  advantages  assured 
to  them  by  a  regular  measure  passed  by  the  administration  of  General  Miramon  for  the 
single  reason  that  this  measure  emanated  from  an  enemy  ;  but  it  would  not  be  just  for  us, 
on  the  other  hand,  to  impose  upon  the  actual  government  (upon  Juarez)  obligations  which 
do  not  necessarily  flow  from  his  governmental  responsibility." 

Finally,  M.  Drouyn  de  L'huys  expressed  himself  in  the  following  terms  in  a  despatch  of 
the  17th  of  August,  1863,  addressed  to  General  Bazaine  : 

"  I  have  spoken  of  our  reclamations.  They  are,  as  you  are  aware,  general,  of  two  kinds  : 
those  which  are  anterior  to  the  war,  and  those  which  spring  from  the  war  itself.  As  to  the 
first,  they  are  all  referred  to  the  examination  of  a  commission,  which  will  be  instituted 
in  my  department,  and  which  will  be  organized  in  a  manner  to  secure  to  its  decisions  an 
indisputable  authority.  The  total  amount  to  present  to  the  Mexican  government  will  in 
clude  all  the  reclamations  which  shall  be  recognized  by  the  commission  as  legitimate." 

The  despatches  of  M.  Thouvenal  and  of  M.  Drouyn  de  L'huys  materially  diminish  the 
ultimatum  given  to  Juarez  by  M.  Dubois  de  Saligny ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  Juarez 
would  have  instantly  received  and  acted  upon  the  reclamations  of  France  if  they  had  been 
thus  presented  in  the  beginning. 

*To  this  it  may  be  objected  that  M.  Jecker  is  to-day  a  French  citizen;  but  he  was  not  naturalized  until  by 
the  decree  of  the  20tk  of  March,  1862,  while  the  contract  signed  between  him  and  the  government  of  Miramon 
was  dated  the  29th  of  October,  1859. 


270  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

But  these  sundry  pecuniary  reclamations  were  not  the  only  cause  of  intervention.  France 
seeks  redress  for  other  wrongs  which  are  the  result  of  the  state  of  anarchy  in  Mexico  for 
the  last  forty  years  Many  of  our  countrymen  have  been  attacked,  robbed,  murdered, 
and  no  reparation  has  ever  been  obtained,  not  even  the  punishment  of  the  guilty.  Be  it 
always  understood,  however,  that  when  the  time  arrived  for  general  expiation  in  1861,  the 
crimes  of  all  the  governments  and  pretenders  who,  during  the  last  twelve  or  fifteen  years, 
have  disputed  the  reins  of  power,  were  unjustly  ascribed  to  Juare/  and  his  partisans. 

SOCIAL  STATE  OF  MEXICO. — ORIGIN  OF  THE    CHURCH    PARTY. 

It  is  necessary  to  go  back  further  than  fifteen  years,  and  even  more  than  a  century,  to 
attain  a  fair,  impartial  understanding  of  the  social  state  of  Mexico.  Mexico  had  not,  like 
the  United  States,  the  good  fortune  to  be  colonized  by  intelligent  and  laborious  men,  who 
sought  in  anew  land  an  asylum  from  persecution.  Like  all  other  Spanish  colonies,  it  has 
been  given  up  to  debauched  and  quarrelsome  invaders,  who  disdained  any  other  occupation 
than  war,  and  who  sought  in  America  a  people  to  persecute  at  their  leisure. 

Wherever  Spain  planted  her  flag  she  established  a  licentious  despotism  ;  she  degraded 
labor  by  favoring  with  all  her  power  the  introduction  and  increase  of  black  slaves ;  her 
greatest  caie  was  to  keep  all  ranks  in  ignorance  and  superstition  ;  she  intrusted  education 
only  to  the  clergy,  and  charged  the  inquisition  to  watch  over  the  publication  of  books  ; 
lastly,  she  thought  to  retain  a  pt-rpetual  hold  on  her  colonies  by  isolating  them  from  the 
rest  of  mankind,  and  by  forbidding  to  her  colonial  subjects  all  direct  commerce  with  foreign 
nations 

Populations  thus  governed  could  have  neither  domestic  nor  social  virtues,  and  if  some 
Mexican  Creoles  ha'd  not  found  means  toward  the  close  of  the  18th  century  to  visit  Europe 
secretly,  the  struggle  for  independence  would  have  been  delayed  until  our  day.  These 
hardy  travellers  were  imbued  with  the  teachings  of  Voltaire  and  of  Rousseau,  and  under 
took,  immediately  on  their  return  to  their  country,  a  propagande.  They  were  burned,  just 
as  they  would  have  been  in  the  middle  ages.  But  the  tirst  seeds  were  sown,  and  they  so 
fructified,  that  in  Irss  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  all  the  Spanish  colonies  had  conquered 
their  independence.  Yet  this  emancipation  was'not  the  result  of  a  well-studied  or  under 
stood  need,  and  in  Mexico  even  more  than  elsewhere  it  was  exclusively  the  work  of  some 
leading  minds.  It  did  not  bring  any -essential  change  in  manners,  nor  dissipate  all  preju 
dice.  Property  was  not  divided,  and  the  new  clergy  had  neither  less  ambition  than  the 
old,  nor  less  influence  on  the  spirit  of  the  people.  It  formed  of  the  remnant  of  the  priv 
ileged  classes  a  party  which,  having  on  its  side  the  wealth  of  the  country  and  the  religious 
influence,  was,  in  fact,  the  most  powerful  of  all  those  which  partitioned  out  Mexico  among 
themselves. 

This  party,  which  was  then  designated  by  the  name  of  the  Spanish  church  party,  and 
which  is  known  to-day  as  the  reactionist  or  conservative,  gradually  prepared  the  way  for  a 
return  of  Mexico  to  the  Spanish  rule,  and  when  it  failed  in  all  its  efforts,  endeavored  to 
establish  an  independent  monarchy,  and  looked  to  Fiance  to  aid  it  to  accomplish  this  object. 
Their  proposals  were  rejected,  but  they  would  not  give  up  the  field,  and  shrank  from  no 
means  to  render  intervention  inevitable. 

lu  1888  took  place  the  unfortunate  expedition  commanded  by  Admiral  Baudin.  The 
causes  of  this  expedition  are  frankly  set  forth  in  a  book  by  MM.  Blanchard,  Dauzats  & 
Maifsin,  published  in  1839,  by  order  of  the  French  government,  under  the  auspices  of 
Baron  Tupinier,  then  minister  of  the  marine : 

"It  is  known  that  it  is  to  the  clerical  party  that  the  differences  which  have  arisen  be 
tween  France  and  Mexico  must  be  attributed  This  party  wishes  to  bring  back  Mexico  to 
monarchical  rule,  and  has  pushed  it  to  a  war  with  us  in  order  to  arrive  at  this  end.  Since 
the  Algerian  expedition,  we  are  supposed  to  fear  distant  expeditions  and  foreign  conquests. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  Algerian  affair  has  disgusted  us  with  the  role  of  dupe.  It  is  less 
known  in  Mexico  than  anywhere  else.  The  priest  party  thought  that  by  injustice,  insult, 
and  outrage,  it  would  bring  France  to  undertake  the  .conquest  of  the  Mexican  republic,  and 
that  a  monarchy  would  then  be  established.  France  seemed  better  suited  than  any  other 
nation  to  carry  out  this  vast  design.  Her  humor  is  warlike.  She  chafes  under  injustice, 
even  though  its  redress  would  involve  a  greater  injury." 

It  is  curious  to  compare  these  lines,  written  in  1839,  with  the  following  extract  from 
"The  London  Times,"  of  May  27,  1862,  twenty  years  later,  and  five  months  after  the  be 
ginning  of  the  present  intervention : 

"  We  now  understand  the  origin  of  the  whole  affair.  The  monarchy,  with  Archduke 
Maximilian  for  Emperor,  was  the  idea  of  certain  Mexican  refugees,  membersof  the  reaction 
ary  or  clerical  party  in  Mexico,  and  partisans  of  Marquez  and  other  ruffians,  whose  misdeeds 
have  been  among  the  principal  causes  of  our  intervention  If  Ferdinand  Maximilian  goes 
to  Mexico,  he  will  find  his  most  active  friends  among  the  men  who  have  shot,  tortured,  and 
robbed  until  Europe  has  at  last  lost  patience." 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  271 

OUTRAGES  UPON    FOREIGNERS  BY  THE  CHURCH  PARTY. 

The  conservative  party  has  not  ceased,  in  fact,  to  be  guilty  of  such  wrongs  to  foreigners 
as  were  most  likely  to  provoke  the  intervention  of  France,  England,  and  of  Spain.  We 
will  recall  a  few  of  the  most  recent  of  these.  An  aide  de-camp  of  President  Zuloaga,  in 
1858,  publicly  and  in  the  grossest  manner  insulted  M.  Brasseure,  captain  under  the  first 
empire  and  attached  to  the  chancellory  of  France.  Shortly  after,  twenty  high  clerical  officers. 
Among  whom  was  General  Miramou,  attacked  and  beat  three  Frenchmen  in  the  streets  of 
Mexico  Later,  and  while  himself  invoking-  tlvi  intervention  of  France,  Miramori  ordered 
•one  of  his  generals,  Silverio  Ramirez,  to  throw  into  prison  th^  vice-consul  of  France  at 
Zacatecas,  M.  Lacroix,  who  had  refused  to  pay  an  illegal  tax.  In  1859  General  Marquee 
ordered  the  frightful  massacres  of  Tacubaya,  and  robbed  a  candueta  on  the  road  to  San  Bias. 
Lastly,  on  the  17th  of  November,  1860,  Miramon,  in  broad  daylight  and  by  main  force, 
•carried  off  $660,000  from  the  English  legation.  "For  forty  years,"  says  the  report  in 
which  the  Assembly  of  Notables  set  forth  the  motives  which  determined  it  to  proclaim 
tthe  Archduke  Maximilian  Emperor  of  Mexico,  '<  for  forty  years  Mexico  has  beep  governed 
by  brigands,  vagabonds,  and  incendiaries." 

The  Assembly  of  Notables  has  too  soon  forgotten  that  fur  forty- years  Mexico  has  almost 
always  been  governed  by  the  party  which  to-day  proclaims  the  throne  in  Mexico  It  has 
too  soon  foi gotten,  too,  that  twenty-two  of  the  thirty-rive  members  of  the  superior  council 
were  formerly  ministers  or  judges  of  the  supreme*  court ;  that  two  of  the  three  high 
personages  wku  compose  the  regency  have  been  ministers,  and  that  one  of  them,  General 
Salas,  was  at  one  period,  in  1847,  provisional  president,  while  then  belonging  to  the  liberal 
party, 

We  do  not  cei  tainly  pretend  that  the  liberal  party  has  been  without  fault.  M.  Thouvenel 
had  ample  ground  for  saying  in  his  despatch  of  the  30th  October,  1861.  addressed  to  M. 
Dubois  de  Saligny,  tint  the  measures  of  the  government  of  Juarez  in  1861,  a  few  months 
before  intervention,  to  obtain  means,  displayed  the  same  disposition  to  abuse  authority  as 
all  those  which  had  preceded  it.  But  the  abuses  with  which  Juarez  and  his  ministers  are 
reproached  bhould  not  lead  ns  to  forget  the  excesses  committed  by  their  opponents,  and  we 
have  declared  to  them  that  if  we  may  legitimately  treat  the  former  as  enemies,  there  is  no 
good  reason  to  consider  the  others  as  friends  whose  past  is  any  guarantee  for  their  future 
conduct. 

Perhaps  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  ciicumstances  have  not  permitted  us  to  change  the 
situation.  Suppose,  for  instance,  that  Juarez  had  been  our  ally,  ani  that  he  had  aided  us 
.as  efficiently  and  energetically  as  he  has  opposed  us,  there  is  no  doubt  that  Mexico  would 
be  to-day  at  peace 

This  hypothesis  leads  us  to  regret  that  the  premature  presence  in  the  French  camp  of 
.certain  Mexicans  who  are  too  well  known  deprived  us  of  the  opportunity  of  presenting 
ourselves  as  mediators.  Perhaps  there  is  yet  time  to  appeal  anew  for  an  agreement  with 
<»nditions  acceptable  to  all,  and  of  a  nature  to  put  an  immediate  end  to  the  civil  war,  and 
to  intervention.  Befcre  stating  what,  in  our  opinion,  these  acceptable  conditions  are,  we 
think  it  useful  to  recall  all  that  has  been  said  as  to  the  purpose  of  the  French  intervention. 
We  will  then  sketch  a  rapid  picture  of  the  existing  situation,  and  we  will  deduce  from  this 
showing  the  only  possible  solution  of  the  question. 


ii.  ':. 

THE    FRENCH    PROGRAMME. — TUB    EMPEROR'S    INSTRUCTIONS. 

The  end  which  the  French  government  proposes  to  attain  by  intervention  in  Mexico  may 
be  learned  -by  an  examination  of  the  documents  published,  but  no  declarations  so  precise 
and  formal  as  to  leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  intentions  of  the  government  have  been  made 
upon  this  subject.  M.  Thouvenel  wrote,  October  11,  1861,  that  the  legitimacy  of  our 
coercive  measures  in  regard  to  Mexico  only  resulted,  assuredly,  from  our  grounds 'of  com- 
, plaint  against  the  government  of  that  country,  arid  that  these  wrongs,  as  well  as  the 
means  to  redress  them  and  prevent  their  repetition,  could  alone  be  made  the  object  of  an 
ostensible  convention.  Earl  Russell,  taking  note  of  this  declaration,  demanded  that  it 
should  be  absolutely  stipulated  that  the  three  powers  should  not  interfere  in  the  internal 
government  of  Mexico  ;  but  M.  Thouvenel  would  make  no  engagement  on  this  point ;  he 
was  of  opinion  that  the  intervening  powers,  while  leaving  the  Mexicans  free  as  to  the 
choice  of  their  government,  should  not  interdict  in  advance  the  possible  exercise  of  a 
legitimate  participation  in  events  which  might  spring  from  the  military  operations. 

M.  Thouvenel,  therefore,  made  certain  reservations  before  signing  the  convention  of  the 
31st  October,  and  the  cabinets  of  London  and  Madrid  were  perfectly  aware  that  the  French 
,  government  proposed  to  itself  a  triple  end  : 


272  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

• 

1.  To  obtain  redress  for  certain  wrongs. 

2.  To  aid  the  Mexicans  in  their  work  of  regeneiation. 

3.  To  oppose  to  the  too  great  expansion  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  in  the  New  World  ;  n 
insurmountable  barrier,  by  restoring  to  the  Latin  race  in  Mexico  its  force  and  prestige. 

This  programme  was  completely  and  very  clearly  laid  down  in  the  letter  written  by  tl it- 
Emperor  to  General  Forey  the  3d  of  July,  1862,  and  as  constant  reference  must  be  had  to 
this  important  document,  we  think  it  of  use  to  reproduce  it  at  length.  We  may  after 
wards  better  understand  what  has  been  accomplished,  and  what  remains  for  us  to  do. 

THE  EMPEROR  TO  GENERAL  FOREY. 

"  FONTAINEBLEAU,  July  3,  1862. 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  :  At  the  moment  when  you  are  about  to  leave  for  Mexico,  charged' 
with  political  and  military  powers,  I  deem  it  useful  that  you  should  understand  my  wishes 

"This  is  the  line  of  conduct  which  you  are  expected  to  pursue  :  1  To  issue  a  proclama 
tion  on  your  arrival,  the  principal  ideas  of  which  will  be  indicated  to  you.  2.  To  receive 
with  the  greatest  kindness  all  Mexicans  who  may  join  you.  3  To  espouse  the  quarrel  of 
no  party,  but  to  announce  that  all  is  provisional  until  the  Mexican  nation  shall  have 
declared  its  wishes ;  to  show  a  great  respect  for  religion,  but  to  reassure  at  the  same  time 
the  holders  of  national  property.  4.  To  supply,  piy,and  arm,  according  to  your  ability, 
the  auxiliary  Mexican  troops  :  to  give  them  the  chief  part  in  combats.  5.  To  maintain 
among  your  troops,  as  well  as  among  the  auxiliaiies,  the  most  severe  discipline",  to  repress 
with  vigor  every  act,  every  design,  which  might  wound  the  Mexicans,  for  their  pride  of 
character  must  not  be  forgotten,  and  it  is  of  the  first  importance  to  the  success  of  the 
undertaking  to  conciliate  the  good  will  of  the  people. 

"  When  we  shall  have  reached  the  city  of  Mexico,  it  is  desirable  that  you  should  have 
an  understanding  with  the  notable  persons  of  every  shade  of  opinion  who  shall  have 
espoused  our  cause,  in  order  to  organize  a  provisional  government.  This  government  will 
submit  to  the  Mexican  people  the  question  of  the  form  of  political  rule  which  shall  be 
definitively  established.  An  assembly  will  be  afterwards  elected  in  accordance  with  the 
Mexican  laws. 

"You  will  aid  the  new  government  to  introduce  into  the  administration  of  affairs,  and 
especially  into  the  finances,  that  regularity  of  which  France  offers  the  best  example.  To- 
effect  this,  persons  will  be  sent  thither  capable  of  aiding  this  new  organization 

"The  end  to  be  attained  is  riot  to  impose  upon  the  Mexicans  a  form  of  government 
which  will  be  distasteful  to  them,  but  to  aid  them  to  establish,  in  conformity  with  their 
wishes,  a  government  which  may  have  some  chance  of  stability,  and  will  assure  to  France 
the  redress  of  the  wrongs  of  which  she  complains. 

"  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  if  they  prefer  a  monarchy  it  is  in  the  interest  of  France  to 
aid  them  in  this  path. 

"  Persons  will  not  be  wanting  who  will  ask  you  why  we  propose  to  spend  men  and 
money  to  establish  a  regivar  government  in  Mexico. 

"In  the  present  state  of  the  world's  civilization  Europe  is  not  indifferent  to  the  pros 
perity  of  America ;  for  it  is  she  which  nourishes  our  industry  and  gives  life  to  our  com 
merce.  It  is  our  interest  that  the  republic  of  the  United  States  shall  be  powerful  and 
prosperous,  but  it  is  not  at  all  to  our  interest  that  she  should  grasp  the  whole  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  rule  thence  the  Antilles  as  well  as  South  America,  and  be  the  sole  dispenser  of 
the  products  of  the  New  World.  We  see  to-day,  by  sad  experience,  how  precarious  is  the 
fate  of  an  industry  which  is  forced  to  seek  its  raw  material  in  a  eingle  market,  under  all 
the  vicissitudes  to  which  that  maiket  is  subject. 

"If,  on  the  contrary,  Mexico  preserve  its  independence,  and  maintain  the  integrity  of 
its  territory,  if  a  stable  government  be  there  established  with  the  aid  of  France,  we  shall 
have  restored  to  the  Latin  race  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean  its  force  and  its  prestige  ; 
we  shall  have  guaranteed  the  ^fety  of  our  own  and  the  Spanish  colonies  in  the  Antilles. 
We  shall  have  established  our  benign  influence  in  the  centre  of  America,  and  this  influence, 
while  creating  immense  outlets  for  our  commerce,  will  procure  the  raw  material  which  is 
indispensable  to  our  industry. 

"Mexico  thus  regenerated  will  always  be  favorable  to  us,  not  only  from  gratitude,  but 
also  because  her  interests  will  be  identical  with  our  own,  and  because  she  will  find  a  sup 
port  in  the  good  will  of  European  powers. 

"To-day,  therefore,  .our  military  honor  involved,  the  demands  of  our  policy,  the 
interest  of  our  industry  and  our  commerce,  all  impose  upon  us  the  duty  of  marching  upon 
Mexico,  there  boldly  planting  our  flag,  and  establishing  perhaps  a  monarchy,  if  not  incom 
patible  with  the  national  sentiment  of  the  country,  but  at  least  a  government  which  will 
promise  some  stability. 

"NAPOLEON/" 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  273 

Here,  certainly,  is  a  magnificent  programme  :  to  assure  the  independence  of  Mexico, 
and  to  render  her  forever  favorable  to  us  through  gratitude  and  interest  ;  to  establish  the 
benign  influence  of  France  in  the  centre  of  America  ;  to  open  immense  outlets  to  our  com 
merce,  arid  new  markets,  where  our  industry  may  find  the  raw  materials  which  are  indis 
pensable  to  it ;  to  restore  to  the  Latin  race  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean  its  power  and 
prestige. 

CAN   -THE   FRENCH    PROGRAMME   BE  REALIZED? 

But  is  it  possible  to  realize  this  brilliant  programme  ?  Has  Mexico  the  necessary 
elements  for  its  transformation  in  a  day  into  a  great  power?  for  it  will  need  nothing  less 
than  a  first- class  power  to  restrain  the  ambition  of  the  great  American  republic,  whenever 
this  republic  seriously  wishes  to  extend  itself  over-  Central  America.  Is  it  possible  to 
establish  a  government  of  the  Latin  race  which  will  give  promise  of  any  stability  in  a 
country  seven- eighths  of  whose  population  are  of  the  Indian  race  ?  Is  it  prudent  to  develop 
a  new  phase  of  the  question  of  race,  which  has  been  and  still  is  a  subject  of  so  much  dis 
cord  in  America,  and  thereby  still  further  complicate  its  solution  ?  Can  it  be  seriously 
believed  that  a  country  without  industrial  resources,  without  capital,  without  roads — at 
least  at  all  adequate  to  its  population — will  all  at  once  offer  to  our  commerce  immense 
outlets,  or  to  our  industry  the  indispensable  raw  material  ? 

It  was  at  least  necessary  to  the  unanimous  and  loyal  acceptance  of  our  intervention  that 
the  imperial  programme  should  be  strictly  conformed  to.  Unfortunately,  when  General 
Forey  arrived  at  Vera  Cruz  the  political  success  of  this  enterprise  had  already  been  long 
compromised  by  the  inopportune  and  arbitrary  acts  of  M.  Almonte.  These  acts  were 
disavowed,  but  it  was  too  late 

A  very  remarkable  pamphlet,  which  attracted  great  public  attention,  was  published 
about  six  months  since,  under  the  title  "  What  will  we  do  in  Mexico?  "  To-day  we  may 
ask  "  What  have  we  done  in  Mexico?  " 


III. 

PROGRESS   OF   TI1E    INVASION.  —PROVISIONAL   GOVERNMENT. 

General  Forey  made  his  entry  into  the  capital  of  Mexico  on  the  12th  of  June,  1863,  and 
immediately  undertook,  with  the  aid  of  M.  Dubois  de  Saligny,  to  organize  the  municipal 
powers  and  a  provisional  government.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  subject  the  Mexican 
press  to  the  rule  which  governs  the  French  press.* 

A  Superior  Council,  or  Junta,  composed  of  thirty-five  members,  instituted  by  a  decree  of 
the  16th  June,  designated  in  its  turn,  as  members  of  the  executive  powers,  General 
Almonte,  the  archbishop  of  Mexico,  and  General  Salas.  The  same  Junta  afterward  sum 
moned  215  persons  as  an  As-embly  of  Notables. 

The  provisional  government  was  therefore  composed,  first,  of  a  Superior  Council  or  Junta, 
named  by  General  Forey  ;  second,  of  a  Triumvirate  and  of  an  Assembly  of  Notables 
designated  by  the  Superior  Junta.f 

*  A  decree  declaring  null  and  void,  as  presenting  an  obstacle  to  the  law  of  sequestration,  all  sales  of 
property  or  of  merchandise  belonging  to  persons  hostile  to  intervention,  was,  without  doubt,  annulled  by  the 
simple  fact  of  cancellation  by  the  Trench  government  of  the  decree  relating  to  sequestration,  rendered  at 
Puebla  on  the  21st  May. 

t  It  has  been  incorrectly  stated  that  "representatives  of  all  parties,  even  of  the  Juarists,"  were  included  in 
the  Superior  Junta.  This  high  council  was  composed  of  the  following  persons :  Jose  Ignacio  Pavon,  presi 
dent  of  the  supreme  court  under  the  dictatorship  of  Santa  Anna;  Manuel  Diaz  de  Bonilla,  minister  of  foreign 
affairs  under  Santa  Anna ;  Jose  Basilio  Arrillaga,  a  priest  of  the  Jesuit  order  ;  Teodosio  Lares,  minister  of 
justice  under  Santa  Anna ;  Francisco  Xavier  Miranda,  priest,  minister  of  justice  under  Miramou ;  Ignatio 
Aguilar  y  Marocho,  minister  of  justice  under  Santa  Anna ;  Jose  Sallano,  priest ;  Joaquin  Velasquez  de  Leon, 
minister  of  finance  under  Santa  Anna ;  Antonio  Fernandaz  Monjardin,  minister  of  justice  under  Santa  Anna ; 
Ignacio  Mora  y  Villamil,  general  director  of  engineers  tinder  Santa  Anna ;  Ignacio  Sepulveda,  judge  of 
Mexico  under  Santa  Anna ;  Jose  Maria  Andrade  ;  Agapito  de  Munoz  y  Muroz  ;  Jose  Ildofonso  Amable  ; 
Gerardo  Garcia  Rogas ;  Joaquin  de  Castillo  y  Lanzas,  minister  under  Santa  Anna  and  under  Miramon  ; 
Mariano  Dominguez,  judge  of  the  supreme  court  under  Santa  Anna ;  Jose  Guadalupe  Arriola,  priest ; 
Teofilo  Marin,  minister  of  justice  under  Miramon ;  General  Adrien  Woil,  Frenchman,  governor  of  the  state 
of  Tamaulipas  under  Santa  Anna,  and  of  Guadalajara  under  Miramon  ;  Fernando  Mangiuo,  charg6  d'affaires 
of  Mexico  in  France  under  Santa  Anna ;  Jos6  Miguel  Arroyo,  director  of  the  department  of  foreign  affairs 
under  Santa  Anna  and  Miramou  ;  Miguel  Cervantes,  general  and  marquis  of  Salvatierra  in  the  time  of  the 
Spaniards  ;  Crispiauo  del  Castello,  minister  under  Santa  Anna  and  Miramon  ;  Alessandra  Arango  of  Escaudon, 
one  of  the  leading  partisans  of  Miramon;  Juan  Hierro  Maldonado,  minister  of  finance  under  Miramon; 
Manuel  Miranda,  a  Spanish  merchant;  Jose  Lopez  Ortigosa;  Manuel  Jimenez ;  Gajetano  Montego ;  Santiago 
Blanco,  general,  minister  of  war  under  Santa  Anna  ;  Pablo  Vergare,  member  of  the  supreme  court  under 
Santa  Anna  and  under  Miramon;  Manuel  Tejada,  superintendent  of  church  property;  Urbano  Tovar, 
secretary  of  the  treasury  under  Miramon;  Antonio  Morau,  director  of  the  department  of  justice  under 
Miramon. 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 18 


274  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

The  Assembly  of  Notables,  at  its  first  session,  and  without  debate,  voted  for  an  imperial 
form  of  government,  by  a  majoiity  of  213  in  a  vote  of  215.  Ihe  Archduke  Maximilian 
was  immediately  proclaimed  Emperor  by  the  game  majority,  and  it  was  voted  at  the  same 
session  that  in  the  case  of  refusal  by  the  archduke,  the  Emperor  Napoleon  be  urged  to 
designate  a  substitute. 

We  find  nowhere  any  question  of  a  submission  of  the  vote  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables 
to  ratification  by  universal  suffrage.  The  decree  by  which  the  Superior  Junta  of  the 
Assembly  of  Notables  was  constituted  nowhere  refers  to  an  appeal  to  the  people.  The 
articles  of  this  law  or  decree  which  relate  to  the  form  of  government  are  thus  stated  : 

"  ART.  14.  The  Assembly  of  Notables  will  discuss  in  the  first  place  the  form  of  govern 
ment  to  be  definitively  established  in  Mexico.  The  vote  upon  this  question  must  embrace 
at  least  one-half  of  the  suffrages. 

"  ART.  15.  In  case  this  majority  shall  not  be  obtained,  the  executive  power  will  dissolve 
the  assembly,  and  the  Superior  Junta  will  proceed  without  delay  to  form  a  new  assembly. 

"  ART.  16.  The  members  of  the  present  assembly  will  be  eligible  to  re-election. 

*'  ART.  17.  After  having  decided  upon  the  form  of  government  to  be  definitively  estab 
lished,  the  Assembly  of  Notables  will  take  into  consideration  the  questions  which  will  be 
submitted  to  it  by  the  executive  power." 

"  ART.  23.  The  functions  of  the  executive  power  will  cease  when  the  Assembly  of 
Notables  shall  have  proclaimed  the  inauguration  of  the  definitive  government." 

The  resolution  adopted  by  the  Assembly  of  Notables  is  in  effect  stated  in  absolute  terms, 
and  undertakes  the  definitive  settlement  of  the  question.  This  resolution  declares  that — 

"  The  Mexican  nation,  through  its  organ,  the  Assembly  of  Notables,  chooses  the  empire 
as  its  form  of  government,  and  proclaims  the  Archduke  Maximilian,  of  Austria,  Emperor." 

The  Assembly  of  Notables  has  deserved  the  reproaches  which  have  been  cast  upon  it 
from  eVery  quarter,  of  having  acted  with  too  great  haste.  It  lost  neither  a  day  nor  an 
hour.  A  deputation  named  by  it,  and  charged  with  the  offer  of  the  crown  to  the  Arch 
duke  Maximilian,  left  Vera  Cruz  the  18th  of  August  to  proceed  to  Miramar  with  the 
utmost  speed.  This  deputation  was  composed  of  the  following  persons  : 

M.  Gutierrez  de  Estrada,  formerly  minister  of  foreign  affairs  and  ambassador  of  Mexico 
at  the  court  of  Rome,  president  of  the  deputation;  Father  Miranda,  formerly  minister  of 
justice  ;  M.  Aguilar  y  Marocho,  clerk  of  the  commission  named  by  the  Assembly  of  Nota 
bles  ;  M.  J.  Hidalgo,  formerly  secretary  of  the  embassy  ;  General  Woll,  Colonel  Velasquez 
de  Leon,  M.  Angel  Igle"sias.° 

DEPARTURE  FROM  THE  IMPERIAL  PROGRAMME. 

But  the  Assembly  of  Notables,  in  pretending  to  be  the  organ  of  the  Mexican  nation,  and 
in  definitively  choosing  the  empire  as  the  form  of  government,  did  not  conform  to  the  impe 
rial  programme.  The  Emperor  had  said  in  his  letter  to  General  Forey  : 

"When  we  shall  have  reached  the  city  of  Mexico,  it  is  desirable  that  you  should  have 
an  understanding  with  the  notable  persons  of  every  shade  of  opinion  who  shall  have 
espoused  our  cause,  in  order  to  organize  a  provisional  government.  This  government  will 
submit  to  the  Mexican  people  the  question  of  the  form  of  political  rule  which  shall  be 
definitely  established — an  assembly  will  be  afterward  selected,  in  accordance  with  the 
Mexican  laws." 

M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  consequently  hastened  to  remind  General  Bazaine,  who  had  been 
named  commander-in-chief  of  the  French  forces,  that  the  imperial  programme  should  be 
scrupulously  followed. 

"  We  have  noticed  with  pleasure,"  he  wrote  on  the  17th  of  August,  1863,  "  as  a  symp 
tom  of  favorable  augury,  the  manifestation  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables  in  Mexico  in  favor 
of  the  establishment  of  a  monarchy,  and  the  name  of  the  prince  called  to  the  empire.  But, 
as  I  indicated  to  you  in  a  former  despatch,  we  can  only  consider  the  vote  of  this  assembly 
as  a  first  indication  of  the  inclinations  of  the  country.  With  the  great  authority  which 
attaches  to  the  men  of  mark  which  compose  it,  the  assembly  recommends  to  its  fellow-citi 
zens  the  adoption  of  monarchical  institutions,  and  designates  a  prince  for  their  suffrages. 

"It  is  now  the  part  of  the  provisional  government  to  collect  these  suffrages  in  such  a 
manner  that  no  doubt  shall  hang  over  this  expression  of  the  will  of  the  country.  I  shall 
not  indicate  to  you  the  mode  to  adopt  to  completely  obtain  this  indispensable  result.  It 
must  be  found  in  the  institutions  of  the  country  and  its  local  customs. 

"  Whether  the  municipalities  should  be  summoned  to  declare  their  wishes  in  the  differ 
ent  provinces,  as  fast  as  they  regain  their  independence  of  action,  or  whether  the  polls 
should  be  opened  under  their  authority  to  receive  the  votes,  that  mode  will  be  the  best 

w  Messrs.  Gutierrez  de  Estrada  and  J.  Hidalgo  were  already  in  Europe. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  275 

which  will  assure  the  largest  manifestation  of  the  popular  voice  under  the  best  conditions 
of  independence  and  sincerity.  The  Emperor,  general,  particularly  commends  this  essen 
tial  point  to  your  constant  care." 

The  vote  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables  is,  therefore,  in  the  opinion  of  the  French  govern 
ment,  only  a  symptom  of  favorable  augury,  a  first  indication  of  the  wish  of  the  country. 

REPLY  OF  THE  ARCHDUKE  MAXIMILIAN. 

The  reply  made  by  the  Archduke  Maximilian  on  the  3d  of  October,  1863,  to  the  Mexican 
deputation  is,  moreover,  in  the  same  spirit.  This  is  his  reply  : 

"  I  am  profoundly  grateful  for  the  wishes  expressed  by  the  Assembly  of  Notables. 

"  It  cannot  be  other  than  flattering  to  our  house  that  the  thoughts  of  your  countrymen 
turn  to  the  descendants  of  Charles  V. 

"  It  is  a  proud  task  to  assure  the  independence  and  the  prosperity  of  Mexico  under  the 
protection  of  free  and  lasting  institutions.  I  must,  however,  recognize  the  fact — and  in 
this  I  entirely  agree  with  the  Emperor  of  the  French,  whose  glorious  undertaking  makes 
the  regeneration  of  Mexico  possible — that  the  monarchy  cannot  be  re-established  in  your 
country  on  a  firm  and  legitimate  basis  unless  the  whole  nation  shall  confirm,  by  a  free 
manifestation  of  its  will,  the  wishes  of  the  capital. 

"  My  acceptance  of  the  offered  throne  must,  therefore,  depend  upon  the  result  of  the 
vote  of  the  whole  country. 

"  Further,  a  sentiment  of  the  most  sacred  of  the  duties  of  the  sovereign  requires  that  he 
should  demand  for  the  proposed  empire  every  necessary  guarantee  to  secure  it  against  the 
dangers  which  threaten  its  integrity  and  its  independence. 

"  If  substantial  guarantees  for  the  future  can  be  obtained,  and  if  the  universal  suffrage 
of  the  noble  Mexican  people  select  me  as  its  choice,  I  shall  be  ready,  with  the  consent  of 
the  illustrious  chief  of  my  family,  and  trusting  to  the  protection  of  the  Almighty,  to  accept 
the  throne. 

"It  is  my  duty  to  announce  to  you  now,  gentlemen,  that  in  case  Providence  shall  call 
me  to  the  high  mission  of  civilization  which  is  attached  to  this  crown,  it  is  my  fixed  inten 
tion  to  open  to  your  country,  by  means  of  a  constitutional  government,  a  path  to  a  progress 
based  on  order  and  civilization,  and  as  soon  as  the  empire  shall  be  completely  pacified,  to 
seal  with  my  oath  the  fundamental  agreement  concluded  with  the  nation. 

"  It  is  only  in  this  manner  that  a  truly  national  policy  can  be  established,  in  which  all 
parties,  forgetting  their  ancient  quarrels,  will  unite  to  raise  Mexico  to  the  high  rank  which 
she  should  attain  under  a  government  whose  first  principle  will  be  law  based  on  equity. 

"  I  beg  of  you  to  communicate  these  my  intentions,  frankly  expressed,  to  your  country 
men,  and  to  take  measures  to  obtain  from  the  nation  an  expression  of  its  will  as  to  the 
form  of  government  it  intends  to  adopt." 

EUROPEAN  OPINION  OF  THE  ARCHDUKE*  S  REPLY. 

This  wise  and  noble  reply,  which  was  in  conformity  with  the  line  of  conduct  traced  by 
the  French  government,  disappointed  no  one  but  the  Mexican  deputation. 

"  It  will  be  understood,"  said  the  General  Correspondence  of  Vienna  of  the  5th  of  Octo 
ber,  "that  the  Archduke  could  not  accept  the  offer  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables  (which 
has  as  yet  only  received  adhesion  from  a  small  number  of  departments  occupied  by  the 
French  troops)  so  long  as  certain  other  conditions,  and  chiefly  the  effective  support  of  the 
maritime  powers,  are  as  yet  in  tbe  region  of  possibilities.  England  has  not  yet  officially 
promised  her  support,  although  the  public  opinion  of  that  country  seems  to  favor  the 
project." 

The  London  Times,  in  fact,  said  on  this  subject  on  the  1st  of  October  : 

"The  Archduke  expects  much  from  France  and  a  little  from  England.  He  will  deceive 
himself  if  he  expects  England  to  take  an  equal  part  with  France  in  the  aid  to  be  given  to 
Mexico.  It  is  impossible  that  France  can  recall  its  troops  after  the  arrival  of  Maximilian 
in  Mexico.  This  would  be  to  expose  him  to  humiliation  and  to  the  return  of  anarchy. 
But  it  is  impossible  that  England  should  ever  join  in  a  military  occupation  of  Mexico.  We 
will  immediately  recognize  the  Archduke.  We  will  be  friendly  to  Mexico,  but  nothing 
more.' ' 

The  Times  only  repeated  in  other  words  what  Lord  Russell  said  in  all  his  despatches. 


276  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

IV. 

TIIE  FKEXCH  PROGRAMME — ITS  DIFFICULTIES. 

It  results  from  all  the  documents  quoted,  and  especially  from  the  despatch  addressed  by 
M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  to  General  Bazaine,  the  17th  of  August,  1863 — 

1.  That  France  seeks  in  Mexico  "  neither  conquest  nor  colonial  establishment,  nor  even 
any  political  or  commercial  advantage  to  the  exclusion  of  other  powers." 

2.  That  the  French  government  expressly  disavows  any  intention  to  substitute  its  influ 
ence  for  the  free  will  of  the  Mexican  nation,  and  that  the  desire  of  the  Emperor's  govern 
ment  is  to  limit,  as  promptly  as  circumstances  will  permit,  the  extent  and  length  of  our 
occupation . 

3.  That  the  Archduke  Maximilian  will  not  definitely  accept  the  crown  until  the  Mexican 
people,  being  consulted,  shall  have  freely  elected  him,  and  until  he  shall  have  obtained 
every  guarantee,  necessary  to  assure  the  proposed  empire  against  the  dangers  which  threaten 
its  integrity  and  its  independence. 

It  is  necessary,  therefore,  to  collect  as  soon  as  possible  the  suffrages  of  the  Mexican 
people,  and,  conforming  to  the  instructions  of  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  it  is  in  the  institutions 
and  local  customs  of  the  country  that  the  mode  must  be  sought  to  obtain  this  indispensable 
result  in  the  most  thorough  manner. 

These  institutions  and  local  customs  are  quite  simple.  Every  Mexican  who  has  a  lawful 
occupation,  of  more  than  eighteen  years  of  age  if  married,  and  of  more  than  twenty-one 
years  of  age  if  unmarried,  exercises  the  privileges  of  a  citizen,  and  his  name  is  inscribed  on 
the  electoral  lists  of  the  municipality  to  which  he  belongs. 

But  how  shall  the  vote  be  taken?  Shall  the  poll  be  declared  open  only  in  the  localities 
occupied  by  the  French  troops,  or  in  all  Mexico  ?  If  in  the  former  manner,  the  vote  would 
not  be  the  largest  manifestation  of  the  popular  will,  because  the  whole  people  would  not 
be  consulted  ;  in  the  latter,  the  appeal  could  not  be  made  known  to  them,  and  would  con 
sequently  fall  to  the  ground. 

The  situation  may  be  understood  at  a  single  glance  by  a  reference  to  the  map  which  is 
added  to  this  pamphlet.  The  French  occupation  is  only  effective  in  the  part  of  the  Mexican 
territory  colored  in  red  ;  and  even  this  part  of  the  territory  is  overrun  by  seventy-two 
hostile  guerilla  bands,  averaging  from  seventy  to  three  hundred  men  each.  The  freedom 
and  purity  of  the  ballot  could,  therefore,  only  be  guaranteed  in  a  portion  of  the  territory 
of  Mexico,  relatively  very  small.  Seven-eighths  of  the  population  of  Mexico  and  twenty- 
nine  thirtieths  of  its  territory  are  beyond  the  lines  of  the  French  protection,  as  may  be 
ascertained  by  an  examination,  without  reference  to  the  map,  of  some  of  the  statistical  and 
geographical  details  which  follow. 


V. 

STATES,  CAPITALS,  AND  POPULATION  OF  MEXICO. 

Mexico  is  divided  into  22  States,  6  Territories,  and  a  Federal  District.0 

Superficial  or         Population 
States.  square  miles.  in  1858.  Capitals.  Inhabitants. 

Aguascalientes 2,739  88,329  Aguascalientes 39,693 

Chiapa 18,679  167,472  San  Cristobal 7,649 

Chihuahua 83,512  164,073  Chihuahua 12,069 

Coahuila 36,572  67,590  Faltillo  .   19,898 

Durango 48,489  144,331  Durango 22,000 

Guanajuato 11,396  729,103  Guanajuato 48,954 

*  The  Constitution  of  1857,  made  in  this  political  division  of  Mexico  the  following  alterations : 

TITLE  II— SECTION  2.  ART.  43.  The  Mexican  confederation  is  composed  of  twenty-four  States  and  one 
Territory,  the  names  of  which  are  as  follows :  Aguascalientes,  Colima,  Chiapa,  Chihuahua,  Durango,  Guana 
juato,  Guerrero,  Jalisco,  Mexico,  Michoacan,  Nuevo  Leon  and  Cohahuila,  Oajaca,  Puebla,  Queretaro,  San 
Luis  Potosi,  Sinaloa,  Sonora,  Tabasco,  Tamaulipas,  Tlaxcala,  the  Valley  of  Mexico,  Vera  Cruz,  Yucatan, 
Zacatecas,  and  the  Territory  of  Lower  California. 

ART.  44.  The  States  of  Aguascalientes,  Chiapa,  Chihuahua,  Durango,  Guerrero,  Mexico,  Puebla,  Quere 
taro,  Sinaloa,  Sonora,  Tamaulipas,  and  the  Territory  of  Lower  California,  retain  the  boundaries  which  they 
have  had  hitherto  (1857.) 

ART.  45.  The  States  of  Colima  and  of  Tlaxcala  retain,  being  erected  into  States,  boundaries  which  they  had 
when  they  were  only  Territories  of  the  confederacy. 

ART.  46.  The  State  of  the  Valley  of  Mexico  comprises  the  territory  which  has,  until  now,  (1857,)  formed  the 
federal  district ;  but  it  will  only  take  rank  as  a  State  when  the  federal  government  shall  have  been  removed 
to  gome  other  place. 

ART.  47.  The  State  of  Nuevo  Leon  and  Cohahuila,  comprises  the  former  Territory  of  Nuevo  Leon  and 
Cohahuila,  unless  the  hacienda  of  Bonanza,  shall  be  re-incorporated  into  the  State  of  Zacatecas. 

The  other  States,  Guanajuato,  Jalisco  Vera  Cruz,  and  San  Luis  Potosi,  make  some  exchanges  of  towns,  to 
rectify  their  frontier  lines. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 


277 


Superficial  or 

States.  square  miles. 

Guerrero 32,003 

Jalisco 48,591 

Mexico 19,539 

Michoacan 22,993 

NuevoLeon 16,688 

Oajaca 23,642 

Puebla 8,879 

Queretaro. 1,884 

San  Luis  Potosi 28,142 

Sinaloa 33,722 

Sonora. 100,228 

Tabasco 12,359 

Tamaulipas 30,334 

Vera  Cruz 27,415 

Yucatan 48,869 

Zacatecas 27,768 

Territories. 

Lower  California 60,662 

Colima 3,019 

Isla  de  Carman 7,298 

Sierra  Gorda 3,127 

Tehuantepec 12,526 

Tlaxcala 1,984 

District. 

Federal  District  .  .  90 


Population 
in  1858. 

279,109 
804,058 
1, 129, 629 
554,585 
145,779 
525,938 
658,609 
165,155 
397,189 
163,714 
139,374 
70,628 
109,673 
349, 125 
668,623 
296,789 

12,000 
62, 109 
11,807 
55,358 
82,395 
90,158 

260,534 


Capitals.  Inhabitants. 

Tixtla 6,501 

Guadalajara 68,000 

Toluca 12,000 

Morelia 25,000 

Monterey 17,309 

Oajaca 25,000 

Puebla 71,631 

Queretaro 29,702 

San  Luis  Potosi 19,678 

Caliacan 9,647 

Ures 6,009 

San  Juan  Bautista 5,300 

Victoria 4,621 

Vera  Cruz 9,  6'47 

Merida 23,575 

Zacatecas 15,427 

La  Paz 1,254 

Colima 31,774 

V.delCarmen 3,068 

San  Luis  de  la  Paz 4,411 

Minatitlan 339 

Tlaxcala 3,463 

City  of  Mexico 205,000 


Total 793,179         8,400,236 


The  population  has  increased  since  1793  at  the  following  rate  : 


Years.  Population. 

1793 „  5,273,029 

1803 5,873,100 

1808 6,500,000 

1824 ,..    6,500,000 

1830 7,996,000 

The  population  is  composed  of  about  1,000,000  white,  descendants  of  Europeans, 
4,000,000  Indians,  6,000  blacks,  and  3,400,000  metis  (part  white  and  part  Indian)  or  mulat- 
toes  (part  white  and  part  black.)  The  foreigners,  to  the  number  of  9,234  in  1838,  are 
classed  as  follows:  Spaniards,  5,141;  French,  2,048;  English,  615;  Germans,  681; 
Americans,  444  ;  miscellaneous,  405. 


Years.  Population. 

1839 7,065,000 

1842 7,015,509 

•1851 7,867,520 

1854 7,853,395 

1858 8,287,413 


VI. 

AN  EXPRESSION  OF  MEXICAN  OPINION  IMPOSSIBLE. 

The  orders  sent  by  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  to  General  Bazaine,  the  14th  of  August  last, 
could  not  be  executed.  The  commander-in-chief  saw  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  a 
popular  ratification  of  the  vote  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables  so  long  as  seven  hundred  thou 
sand  inhal>itants  only  were  under  the  protection  of  France,  and  more  than  seven  millions  still 
clung  to  Juarez  or  his  partisans.  Rightly  or  wrongly,  if  the  polls  had  been  declared  open 
under  such  circumstances,  the  provisional  government  would  have  been  accused  of  the  exer 
cise  of  a  pressure,  in  the  part  of  the  country  occupied  by  it,  contrary  to  the  freedom  of  the 
ballot.  On  the  other  hand,  it  would  have  been  a  strange  delusion  to  suppose  that  the 
adversaries  of  intervention  would  permit  a  resort  to  a  regular  election  in  the  immense 
territory  not  yet  occupied. 

Too  early  an  announcement  was  made  that  the  organization  of  the  new  political  regime 
had  replaced  the  power  of  arms.  Such  was  not  the  opinion  of  General  Bazaine,  wuose 
position  well  enabled  him  to  survey  the  field,  for  he  determined  a  new  campaign  against 
Juarez  to  be  absolutely  necessary.  Great  preparations  have  been  made,  and  the  latest 
news  left  the  expeditionary  forces  masters  of  Queretaro.  But  no  matter  how  skilfully  and 
energetically  this  campaign  may  be  managed,  a  prompt  conclusion  cannot  be  looked  for. 

Juarez  will  not  risk  everything  on  a  single  engagement.     He  will  take  good  care  not  to 

er  battle,  and  he  will  use  every  effort  to  avoid  one.     Everything  leads  to  the  belief  that 


278  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

he  will  persist  in  the  tactics  which  he  has  followed  since  the  surrender  of  Puebla.  He  will 
abandon  San  Luis  Potosi,  just  as  he  has  abandoned  Mexico  and  Queretaro.  He  will  beat 
a  continual  retreat  before  the  French  army,  confining  himself  to  the  distribution  of  a  large 
part  of  his  force  into  guerilla  bands. 

Shall  we  continue  to  pursue  these  forces,  which  ever  evade  our  grasp,  into  a  mountainous 
country,  extremely  difficult  of  access  to  a  regular  army,  and  in  which  we  shall  be  obliged 
to  leave  garrisons  in  every  town  and  village,  and  to  distribute  all  along  the  roads  flying 
columns  to  secure  the  safety  of  our  communications  ?  The  effective  numbers  of  the  expe 
ditionary  corps  would  soon  prove  insufficient  to  such  a  task,  and  prudence  would  not  permit 
us  to  leave  too  far  in  the  rear,  and  exposed  to  a  coup  de  main,  Cordova,  Orizaba,  Puebla,  and 
Mexico. 

A  MILITARY  SOLUTION  POSTPONED. 

A  solution  of  this  question  by  force  of  arms  seems,  therefore,  to  be  indefinitely  post 
poned,  unless  the  French  expeditionary  corps  shall  be  trebled  or  quadrupled  ;  and  such  is 
certainly  not  the  intention  of  the  French  government,  since  M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys  has 
ordered  General  Bazaine  to  take  measures  to  limit,  as  promptly  as  circumstances  will  admit, 
the  extent  and  length  of  our  occupation. 

These  circumstances  will  spring  up  of  their  own-  accord  as  soon  as  a  stable  and  truly 
national  government  shall  have  succeeded  the  provisional  government  inaugurated  the 
18th  of  June.  We  may  then  retire  ;  the  end  proposed  by  our  intervention  will  have  been 
fulfilled,  and  we  shall  be  finally  free  from  our  responsibility.  But  this  result,  so  much 
desired,  cannot,  we  fear,  be  obtained  within  any  short  period  of  time  unless  by  the  procla 
mation  of  a  suspension  of  hostilities,  during  which  the  question  of  what  form  of  political 
rule  they  shall  prefer  definitely  to  establish  may  be  submitted  to  the  Mexican  people.  The 
mode  to  obtain  this  is  very  simple  : 

PROPOSED  SOLUTION  BY  AN  ARMISTICE  AND  A  BALLOT. 

1.  An  armistice  of  three  months. 

2.  During  the  armistice  an  appeal  to  be  made  to  the  people. 

3.  The  electoral  processes  will  be  carried  out  under  the  supervision  of  an  equal  number  of 
agents  chosen  by  the  provisional  government  in  power  at  Mexico,  and  of  agents  named  by 
President  Juarez.     Commissioners  delegated  by  the  cominander-in-chief  of  the   French 
forces  will  take  care  that  the  vote  shall  be  surrounded  by  every  possible  guarantee  of  inde 
pendence. 

4.  The  people  will  be  called  upon  to  vote  for  the  establishment  of  an  empire,  according 
to  the  wish  expressed  by  the  Assembly  of  Notables,  or  for  the  maintenance  of  the  republic 
and  of  the  constitution  of  1852. 

5.  Juarez  will  engage  to  abide  by  the  new  order  of  things,  or  to  quit  the  country,  in 
case  the  vote  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables  shall  be  ratified  by  the  people.     If  Juarez,  on 
the  contrary,  or  any  other  candidate  of  the  liberal  party,  shall  obtain  the  majority  of  the 
votes,  the  French  occupation  would  no  longer  have  any  purpose. 

Whatever  might  be  the  result  of  the  vote,  France  would  certainly  obtain  the  redress  of 
its  wrongs.  If  the  people  pronounce  in  favor  of  the  re-establishment  of  the  empire,  the 
Archduke  Maximilian  could  proceed  without  apprehension  to  receive  the  crown  which  has 
been  tendered  to  him,  for  the  submission  or  withdrawal  of  Juarez  would  end  all  serious 
opposition.  If,  on  the  contrary,  Juarez  should  receive  the  majority  of  the  votes,  his  re 
election  under  such  solemn  conditions  would  give  him  the  moral  force  which  he  lacks,  and 
the  clerical  party,  knowing  well  that  it  need  never  count  again  upon  a  European  interven 
tion,  would  stop  its  intrigues. 

The  government  of  Juarez  represents  the  abolition  of  political  privileges,  civil  equality, 
the  union  of  two  races  which  for  three  centuries  have  been  kept  forcibly  apart — the  Indians 
and  the  Creoles.  What  motive  could  be  assigned  for  refusing  to  treat  with  him  if  he  should 
be,  for  the  third  time,  regularly  proclaimed  president?  He  has  been  reproached  with  a 
wish  to  dismember  Mexico  for  the  benefit  of  the  United  States.  But  he  will  not  linger  in 
the  trying  situation  against  which  he  has  had  to  struggle  for  the  last  six  years,  and  he  will 
hereafter  find  his  interest  in  maintaining  the  integrity  of  Mexico.  And  further,  what 
better  guarantees  can  the  conservatives  give  in  this  respect  ?  Did  not  Santa  Anna  sell  to 
the  United  States,  in  1854,  the  Mesilla  valley  for  the  sum  of  fifty  millions  of  francs, 
($10,000,000,)  and  did  not  Mr.  Almonte  himself,  at  that  time  minister  of  Mexico  at  Wash 
ington,  approve  this  sale  and  receive  the  first  payment,  reaching  the  sum  of  thirty-five 
millions  of  francs,  ($7,000,000  ?) 

It  has  been  falsely  stated  that  there  was  a  perfect  unity  in  the  views  and  action  of  the 
conservatives.  On  the  contrary,  the  conservatives  are  very  much  divided  ;  the  archbishop 
of  Mexico  and  General  Salas,  in  tendering  their  resignations  as  members  of  the  provisional 
executive  power,  affor.d  a  new  proof  of  this  fact. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  279 

We  cannot,  therefore,  see  what  good  reason  there  is  to  prefer  the  conservatives  to  the 
liberals. 

The  Emperor  said  in  his  letter  to  General  Forey,  the  3d  July,  1862  : 

"The  end  to  he  attained  is  not  to  impose  upon  the  Mexicans  a  form  of  government  which 
will  be  distasteful  to  them,  but  to  aid  them  to  establish,  in  conformity  with  their  wishes,  a 
government  which  has  some  chance  of  stability,  and  will  assure  to  France  the  redress  of 
wrongs  of  which  she  has  had  to  complain  " 

Why  pursue  the  struggle  and  persist  in  so  useless  a  spilling  of  blood,  from  which  there 
cannot  even  result  any  glory  to  our  arms?  Would  it  not  he  more  wise  and  simple  not  to 
treat  with  Juarez,  but  to  proclaim  on  both  sides  a  suspension  of  hostilities,  during  which 
the  people  shall  freely  and  finally  decide  between  the  two  parties  in  opposition — hetween 
the  conservatives  and  the  liberal's  ?  The  Mexican  people  will  be  taken  as  the  arbiter  of  its 
own  destinies,  and  the  essential  part  of  the  imperial  programme  will  receive  within  a  very 
short  period  its  full  application.  We  will  bring  to  an  honorable  end  a  costly  enterprise  . 
we  will  avoid  all  danger  of  a  collision  with  the  United  States,  and  we  will  have  besides, 
on  the  eve,  perhaps,  of  a  European  struggle,  the  free  disposal  of  our  land  and  naval  forces 


"Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.  ] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  February  25,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  to  you,  annexed  to  this  note, 
a  translation  into  English  of  the  discourses  pronounced  in  the  French  legislative 
body  by  Mr.  Gueroult,  Mr.  Thiers,  Mr.  Berryer,  and  Mr.  Favre,  during  the 
discussions  which  took  place  in  that  assembly  on  the  affairs  of  Mexico  on  the 
25th,  26th,  and  27th  days  of  January  last  past.  The  speeches  referred  to  are 
translated  from  the  official  text  thereof  as  it  was  published  in  the  Moniteur 
Universel,  official  paper  of  the  French  government,  in  the  Nos.  26,  27,  and  28, 
answering  to  the  26th,  27th,  and  28th  of  the  said  January. 

The  orators  of  whom  I  have  made  mention  had,  for  purpose,  political  censure 
of  the  course  followed  by  the  French  government  in  its  expedition  against 
Mexico,  and  they  considered  it  either  in  the  point  of  view  of  advantage  to 
France  only,  as  did  Mr.  Thiers,  or  under  the  more  elevated  aspect  of  the  justice 
of  intervention  and  the  motives  or  pretexts  of  the  war,  which  engaged  the  at 
tention  of  Mr.  Favre. 

I  think  it  possible  to  say  that,  although  there  are  in  said  speeches  some 
sufficiently  serious  and  substantial  inaccuracies,  which  are  patent  to  all  who  are 
well  informed  of  the  facts  which  had  happened  in  Mexico,  they  constitute  a 
deliberate  and  solemn  rebuke  of  the  imperial  policy,  made  (and  this  is  worthy 
of  note)  by  the  most  distinguished  and  respected  representatives  of  the  nation 
for  whose  benefit  it  is  pretended  to  carry  out  the  intervention. 

I  do  not  include  the  speeches  made  by  the  organs  of  the  French  government 
in  defence  of  the  imperial  policy,  because,  besides  the  supposition  that  the  said 
government  will  take  care  to  give  them  wide  circulation,  and  that  they  will 
reach  the  department  .through  other  channels,  they  contain  inaccuracies  of  such 
nature,  that  it  would  not  be  proper  for  me  to  send  them  to  the  government  of 
the  United  States  without  exposing  the  inaccuracies  to  which  I  allude,  and  this 
would  be  a  greater  labor  than  I  can  at  present  undertake,  being,  moreover,  of 
little  use,  on  the  supposition  that  the  defences  attempted  to  be  made  of  the 
Napoleonic  policy  were  so  feeble  that,  taking  for  granted  as  true  all  the 
facts  and  reasons  alleged  by  the  imperial  organs,  that  policy  would  forever  rest 
condemned  in  the  opinion  of  impartial  and  right-minded  men. 

I  avail  of  this  opportunity  to  repeat  to  you  the  assurances  of  my  most 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


280  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


Debate  in  the  French  legislative  body,  on  (Jut  affairs  of  Mexico. 

Corps  Legislative,  Session  of  the  25th  of  January. — Presidency  of  his  Excellency  the  Due 

of  Moray. 

The  PRESIDENT.  Now,  gentlemen,  we  pass  to  the  6th  paragraph,  relative  to  China,  Coohin- 
China,  and  Mexico.  It  is  as  follows  : 

"  The  legislative  body  believes  with  you,  sire,  that  the  most  wisely-governed  nations  can 
not  flatter  themselves  that  they  will  always  escape  external  complications,  and  that  they 
ought  to  regard  them  without  illusions  as  without  weakness  The  distant  expeditions  to 
%China,  Cochin-China,  and  Mexico,  which  have  succeeded  each  other,  have,  in  fact,  disqui 
eted  many  persons  in  France,  on  account  of  the  obligations  and  sacrifices  which  they  entail. 
We  acknowledge  that  they  ought  to  inspire  respect  afar  for  our  countrymen  and  for  the 
French  flag,  and  that  they  can,  therefore,  develop  our  maritime  commerce  ;  but  we  will 
be  happy  to  see  the  speedy  realization  of  the  good  results  which  your  Majesty  gives  us  reason 
to  hope." 

The  first  amendment  which  is  presented  is  that  of  Messrs.  Gueroult,  Magnin,  A.  Darimon, 
Jules  Simon,  Bdnon,  Havin,  Jules  Favre,  Lanjuinais,  Dorian,  Eugene  Pelletan,  Ernest 
Picard,  and  Emile  Ollivier.  The  amendment  is  couched  in  the  following  terms  : 

"  We  see  with  pain  that  the  government  persists  in  the  Mexican  expedition.  We  cannot 
associate  ourselves  with  this  ruinous  enterprise;  and  we  are  the  interpreters  of  public 
opinion  when  we  demand  that  it  should  be  brought  to  an  immediate  termination." 

M.  Gue'roult  is  entitled  to  the  floor 

M.  GUEROULT.  Gentlemen  :  It  has  now  become  almost  commonplace  to  come  and  criti 
cise  the  Mexican  expedition.  That  expedition  is  not  popular.  The  uncertain  or  but  little 
known  causes  which  have  produced  it,  its  problematical  results,  the  considerable  sums 
which  it  has  cost,  the  sacrifices  of  men  mowed  down  by  war  or  disease,  all  have  brought  a 
certain  unpopularity  on  this  expedition.  So  my  intention,  in  addressing  you  now,  is  not 
to  criticise  the  details  of  accomplished  facts  or  actions  already  brought  about  by  our  gene 
rals,  or  by  the  chiefs  of  the  expedition.  I  am  going  to  examine,  in  your  presence,  the 
causes  which  led  to  the  Mexican  expedition — the  apparent  causes  and  the  real  causes— in 
the  hope,  if  we  succeed  in  pointing  out  the  prime  idea  of  the  expedition,  to  show  you  that 
this  idea  is  wanting  in  justness.  This  result  would  not  be  useless  We  will  not  demand 
of  an  expedition  to  obtain  results  which  the  very  nature  of  things  does  not  permit  it  to 
reach  ;  we  will  then  show  ourselves  less  severe  and  less  exacting  in  regard  to  the  conditions 
on  which  we  can  put  an  end  to  this  disastrous  expedition.  What  are  the  causes  which 
gave  occasion  for  the  Mexican  expedition?  I  speak,  first,  of  the  apparent  causes.  They 
are,  outrages  inflicted  for  a  long  period  on  our  countrymen — extortions,  exactions  of  every 
kind,  assassinations  in  great  number  ;  an  attempt  even  of  assassination  committed  on  the 
person  of  the  representative  of  France. 

It  would  seem,  at  first  sight,  that  all  these  causes  combined  would  suffice  to  explain  the 
motives  for  a  declaration  of  war,  and  yet,  on  a  closer  examination,  we  reach  the  conviction 
that,  if  there  had  been  no  other  motives,  the  expedition  should  never  have  taken  place. 

In  fact,  gentlemen,  the  exactions,  the  extortions,  the  violences  are  real.  They  have  been 
very  numerous.  But,  seriously  and  sincerely,  can  a  European  power  demand  that,  in  a 
country  given  up  to  civil  war,  rent  asunder  by  anarchy,  our  countrymen  who  go  thither 
with  full  knowledge  of  these  facts,  and  perfectly  aware  of  the  state  of  disorder  into  which 
the  country  is  plunged,  can  enjoy  a  security  which  is  not  accorded  to  the  people  of  the 
country  themselves  ? 

This  consideration  is  so  strong,  that  for  a  long  time  there  were  numerous  causes  of  com 
plaint  in  Mexico  which  never  resulted  in  the  application  of  any  remedy,  either  on  aceount 
of  the  difficulty  of  the  expedition  itself,  or  by  reason  of  this  general  sentiment  with  regard 
to  the  state  of  the  country.  I  do  not  think  that  these  reasons  were  the  principal  reasons, 
the  fundamental  ones,  of  the  expedition  ;  and  if  you  will  allow  me,  I  will  proceed  to  seek 
them  elsewhere,  and  in  a  higher  sphere. 

Gentlemen,  in  the  treaty  signed  between  France,  Spain,  and  England,  under  date  of  Oc 
tober  31,  1861,  no  disposition  foreign  to  the  causes  which  1  have  just  enumerated  is  men 
tioned.  "This  expedition  is  undertaken  to  insure,  by  means  of  combined  action  in  com 
mon,  efficacious  protection  to  the  persons  and  property  of  their  respective  countrymen  in 
Mexico." 

In  article  2  it  is  said  that,  "The  high  contracting  parties  engagi-  not  to  seek  for  them 
selves,  in  the  employment  of  the  coercive  measures  provided  for  by  the  present  convention, 
any  acquisition  of  territory  or  any  particular  advantage,  and  not  to  exert  in  the  internal 
affairs  of  Mexico  any  influence  of  a  character  calculated  to  infringe  on  the  right  of  the 
Mexican  nation  to  choose  and  freely  establish  the  form  of  its  government." 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  281 

You  sec,  gentlemen,  in  the  commencement  there  is  question  only  of  reparation  to  be 
exacted. 

However,  it  is  evident  that  among  the  three  contracting  parties  one  at  least  entertained 
greater  projects.  In  fact,  when  the  three  combined  armies  had  arrived  in  Mexico,  there 
were  at  first,  as  you  know,  preliminaries  signed  at  La  Soledad,  subsequently  disavowed  by 
the  French  government ;  finally  conferences  took  place  at  Orizaba,  in  which  a  rupture  oc 
curred.  We  are  perfectly  aware  of  the  motives  of  it.  The  proceedings  of  the  conference 
of  Orizaba  have  been  published,  and  from  them  it  appears  that  General  Almonte  was 
present  in  the  camp  of  the  allies;  that  he  asked  their  protection,  in  order  to  march  against 
Mexico  ;  that  he  put  forth  the  idea  that  no  treaty,  no  arrangement,  should  be  entered  into 
between  the  allies  and  the  Mexican  government.  Moreover,  he  enunciated  the  idea  that, 
the  allied  armies  were  going  to  Mexico  to  overthrow  the  Mexican  government  and  to  es 
tablish  a  monarchy.  He  proclaimed  himself  as  authorized  for  this  purpose  by  the  very 
words  of  the  sovereign  of  France.  Hereupon  ensued  a  rupture,  which  is  yet  present  to  the 
memory  of  all.  The  Spanish  army  withdrew,  England  followed  ;  France  remained  alone 
in  Mexico,  and  pursued  the  expedition  on  her  own  account. 

After  some  military  events,  on  which  it  is  useless  to  insist,  a  new  commander,  General 
Forey,  was  sent  out.  Here  the  idea,  which,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  real  idea  of  the  expedi 
tion,  shows  itself  with  the  greatest  clearness.  In  a  letter  which  you  all  remember,  a  letter 
addressed  by  the  Emperor  to  General  Forey,  we  read : 

"There  will  not  fail  to  be  persons  who  will  ask  you  why  we  proceed  to  expend  men  and 
money  to  found  a  regular  government  in  Mexico. 

"  In  the  actual  state  of  the  civilization  of  the  world,  the  prosperity  of  America  is  not  a 
matter  of  indifference  to  Europe,  for  it  is  it  that  supports  our  manufactures  and  gives  life 
to  our  commerce.  We  have  an  interest  that  the  republic  of  the  United  States  should  be 
powerful  and  prosperous,  but  we  have  none  that  it  should  possess  itself  of  the  whole  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  thence  dominate  over  the  Antilles  as  well  as  over  South  America,  and  be  the  sole 
dispensator  of  the  products  of  the  New  World.  We  now  see,  by  sad  experience,  how  pre 
carious  is  that  sort  of  industry  which  is  reduced  to  look  for  its  raw  material  to  one  quarter 
only  in  all  the  vicissitudes  of  which  it  is  thus  compelled  to  participate. 

"If,  on  the  contrary,  Mexico  preserves  its  independence  and  maintains  the  integrity  of 
its  territory,  if  a  stable  government  is  established  there  with  the  assistance  of  France,  we 
shall  have  rendered  to  the  Latin  race,  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean,  its  due  strength  and 
its  prestige  ;  we  shall  have  guaranteed  their  proper  security  to  our  colonies  in  the  Antilles 
and  to  those  of  Spain  ;  we  shall  have  established  our  beneficent  influence  in  the  centre  of 
America;  and  that  influence,  in  creating  immense  outlets  for  our  commerce,  will  procure 
us  those  staples  that  are  indispensable  for  our  industry. 

"  Mexico,  thus  regenerated,  will  always  be  favorable  to  us,  not  only  through  gratitude, 
but  also  because  its  interests  will  be  in  unison  with  our  own,  and  because  it  will  find  a 
powerful  means  of  support  in  its  friendly  relations  with  the  European  powers." 

There  is  here  evidently  a  very  grand  and  very  lofty  thought,  that  of  opposing  a  barrier 
to  the  invasion  of  the  Anglo- Saxon  race. 

The  idea  of  raising  up  the  Latin  and  Catholic  races  in  opposition  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  and 
Protestant  races  is  certainly  a  grand  political  idea.  It  only  remains  to  be  known  whether 
this  idea  is  as  practicable  as  it  is  great.  It  is  upon  this  point  that  I  entertain  doubts,  which 
are  confirmed  by  a  residence  of  four  years  that  I  have  spent  in  Mexico,  and  by  the  attentive 
observation  which  I  have  made  of  its  manners  and  its  institutions.  Permit  me  here  to 
enter  into  some  details. 

I  commence  by  asserting  that  it  appears  evident  to  me  that  this  idea  of  constituting  an 
empire  in  Mexico  would  not  have  entered  into  the  views  of  the  French  government  had 
not  a  most  important  event,  the  civil  war  in  the  United  States,  been  inaugurated  a  few 
months  previously.  It  was  in  the  month  of  January,  (March,)  1861,  if  I  am  not  mistaken, 
that  the  first  cannon  shots  were  exchanged  at  Charleston  between  the  south  and  the  north 
of  the  United  States  ;  it  was  in  the  month  of  June  that  complaints  became  urgent  on  the 
part  of  the  French  legation  in  Mexico  ;  it  was  ia  the  month  of  October  that  the  treaty  was 
signed  between  the  three  interfering  powers. 

It  seems,  then,  that  these  two  elementary  notions,  the  desire  of  withdrawing  our  com 
merce  from  the  preponderating  influence  of  the  United  States  in  furnishing  a  precious  staple, 
cotton,  and  the  idea  of  a  political  equilibrium,  perhaps  of  a  religious  equilibrium,  combined 
to  urge  on  this  expedition. 

Well,  it  is  from  this  point  of  view  that  I  propose  to  m^$elf  to  examine  the  Mexican  ex 
pedition,  abstracting  entirely,  I  repeat,  from  any  criticism  o)f  details  which  has  been  already 
most  satisfactorily  done,  and  in  regard  to  which  I  could  only  repeat  what  has  been  better 
said  than  I  am  capable  of  doing. 

It  was  projected,  then,  gentlemen,  to  establish  an  empire  in  Mexico.  It  was  evident 
that  such  an  establishment  could  not  be  agreeable  to  the  Americans  of  the  north.  There- 


282  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

« 

fore,  it  was  calculated  upon,  and  strongly  hoped,  that  a  division  should  be  effected  between 
the  south  and  the  north.  This  desire  has  become  so  strong  that  it  has  degenerated  into  a 
mania,  and  that,  as  you  remember,  the  whole  French  press  friendly  to  the  government 
has  shown  itself  remarkably  favorable  to  the  cause  of  the  south,  even  to  the  point  of  of 
fending  the  north  ;  and  you  remember  that,  in  the  course  of  last  summer,  the  displeasure 
of  the  north  had  reached  such  a  point  that  a  Paissian  fleet,  coming  to  rendezvous  at  New 
York,  was  received  with  an  enthusiasm  so  great  that  we  may  be  allowed  to  gee  in  it  a  cer 
tain  amount  of  irritation  against  France. 

This  partiality  for  the  south,  if  we  abstract  from  the  reasons  which  I  have  indicated,  was 
not  really  natural.     France  was  an  enemy  of  slavery.     Now,  whatever  may  have  been  said 
of  it,  there  was  no  other  cause  of  separation  between  the  north  and  the  south  than  slavery. 
[Cries  of  no,  no,  from  several  benches  ] 
SEVERAL  MEMBERS.  Yes,  yes. 

M.  GUEROULT.  Gentlemen,  ifc  is  not  for  questions  of  tariffs  that  nations  rend  themselves 
with  their  own  hands  ;  they  are  merely  transitory.  It  is  so  true  that  slavery  was  the  prin 
cipal  and,  I  shall  say,  the  only  cause  of  war,  [renewed  cries  of  No,  no,]  that  when  President 
Lincoln  was  nominated,  the  southern  States,  which  up  to  that  time  had  enjoyed  the  privi 
lege  of  furnishing  Presidents  to  the  republic,  did  not  await  the  manifestation  of  his  policy  ; 
they  rushed  to  arms  and  declared  war.  And  since  that  time  questions  of  tariffs  have  dis 
appeared  ;  they  are  spoken  of  no  more  ;  there  is  no  longer  any  question  but  that  of  slavery. 
[Manifestations  of  various  kinds.] 

Gentlemen,  I  do  not  pretend  to  force  your  convictions  [No,  no-;]  but  I  tell  you  that  I 
have  carefully  examined  the  question,  and  I  merely  ask  permission  to  lay  before  you  my 
sentiments. 

In  the  south  slavery  has  become  almost  a  religious  institution  ;  it  has  its  philosophy  and, 
I  will  say,  almost  its  theology  founded  on  the  Bible.  It  is  on  the  words  pronounced  against 
Ham,  "  Thou  shalt  serve  thy  brethren,"  that  this  idea  is  based.  There  are  preachers  who 
preach  these  doctrines  in  the  south,  and  who  find  themselves  authorized  to  seek  the  sanc 
tion  of  slavery  in  that  grand  code  of  freedom  for  slaves,  the  gospel. 

All  this  is  opposed  to  our  feelings,  and  yet  we  have  inclined  to  the  cause  of  the  south. 
There  is  evidently  a  cause  for  this.  That  cause  I  have  already  declared  to  you.  It  was 
thought  that  the  formation  of  a  new  state  to  the  south  of  the  great  American  republic  and 
interposing  between  Mexico  and  the  north  would  constitute  a  sort  of  barrier  between  the 
two  nations,  and  that  the  new  government  which  it  was  wished  to  found  in  Mexico  might 
gain  strength  and  consistency  under  the  protection  of  this  barrier. 

If  you  will  allow  me  to  say  so,  I  believe  that  the  idea  of  the  separation  and  final  triumph 
of  the  south  was  not  just.  I  believe  that  the  immense  disproportion  which  exists  between 
the  north  and  the  south  will  necessarily  result  in  the  triumph  of  the  north.  I  believe  that 
this  triumph  will  be  due  as  well  to  the  preponderance  as  to  the  superiority  of  northern  in 
dustry,  and  then,  above  all,  to  the  fact  that  liberty  exists  in  the  north  and  slavery  in  the 
south.  [Marks  of  approbation  from  some  benches,  of  disapprobation  from  most.] 

But  I  go  further,  and  I  assert  that,  on  the  supposition  even  that  the  south  will  triumph, 
the  south  would  not  and  could  not  be  the  sincere  ally  of  Mexico.  Gentlemen,  you  remem 
ber  all  these  piratical  and  filibustering  expeditions,  undertaken  by  Lopez  against  Havana, 
by  Walker  against  Nicaragua,  all  those  attempts  at  conquest,  that  invasion  of  Texas,  about 
fifteen  years  ago.  All  these  attempts  at  aggrandizement  were  a  political  necessity  for  the 
south  ;  slavery,  left  to  itself  and  not  propagated,  was  necessarily  borne  down  and  over 
thrown  by  the  movement  of  ideas  and  of  interests.  It  was  necessary  to  seek  recruits  in 
order  to  repair  the  losses  which  were  experienced.  Now,  I  assert  that,  even  if  the  south 
should  succeed  in  effecting  a  separation,  it  would  be  found  an  f;lly  of  a  few  days  perhaps, 
but  one  which,  threatened  on  the  north  by  its  rival,  would  be  more  than  ever  pressed  to 
expand  itself  into  Mexico  itself  with  all  the  energy  which  characterizes  the  race  inhabiting 
the  south  of  the  republic,  and  the  consequence  would  be  that  the  establishment  which  we 
propose  to  make  in  Mexico  would  have  for  its  first  enemy  that  very  south,  on  the  alliance 
of  which  we  had  counted. 

From  this  point  of  view,  the  idea  was  not  well  founded.  But  this  is  not  all.  To  found 
an  empire,  the  requisite  elements  are  necessary.  It  is  not  enough  to  change  the  form  of 
government,  to  change  its  name,  in  order  to  regenerate  it. 

The  Mexican  republic  had  reached  a  very  sad  condition.  It  is  not  I  who  assert  it ;  it  is 
the  delegates  of  the  Junta,  or  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables,  as  they  call  it,  I  believe,  who, 
being  sent  to  the  Archduke  Maximilian  to  offer  him  the  throne,  express  themselves  as  fol 
lows  in  reference  to  their' country  : 

"After  this,  it  is  not  surprising  to  see  highway  robbers  occupy  the  most  elevated  posts, 
to  see  the  dilapidation  of  the  revenues  of  the  treasury,  that  of  the  goods  of  the  clergy  con 
fiscated  unjustly  and  without  any  profit  to  the  country.  The  so-called  reform  has  gathered 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  283 

around  it  only  vagabonds  and  bandits,  who,  under  this  popular  standard,  very  popular  stan 
dard  indeed,  have  ravaged,  burned  the  harvests  and  villages,  and  sacked  the  large  cities," 
&c.,  &c.  I  suppress  the  rest. 

It  is  certain  that  there  has  been,  and  that  there  is  yet,  immense  disorder  in  Mexico. 
Now,  truly,  it  would  be  a  very  pretty  thing  to  believe  that,  because  in  the  place  of  a  Pres 
ident  you  will  have  a  chief  who  will  style  himself  Emperor,  everything  will  be  transformed, 
that  this  clironic  disorder  will  disappear,  that  prosperity  will  be  renewed,  in  a  word,  that 
there  will  be  founded  a  potent  state  of  society,  of  such  a  character  as  to  insure  respect  to 
itself.  Let  us  not  forget  that  the  troubles,  the  misfortunes,  the  civil  war,  which  now  des 
olate  the  United  States  arc  a  temporary  accident.  In  one  way  or  other  this  war  will  have  an 
end,  and  then  you  may  be  assured  that  the  republic  or  the  republics  of  the  United  States  will 
regard  with  evil  eye  the  establishment  of  a  monarchical  flag  on  their  frontiers. 

It  has  been  said  that  we  have  no  concessions  to  make  to  this  American  prejudice  which 
wishes  that  the  powers  of  Europe  should  have  no  right  to  take  possession  of  any  part  of 
the  soil  of  any  portion  of  American  territory. 

I  do  not  examine  their  right  in  this  matter,  but  I  ask  you  whether  it  is  possible  for 
France  to  wage  war  against  a  republic  with  which  we  have  always  maintained  the  best  un 
derstanding,  against  a  republic  which  owes  to  us,  in  a  great  measure,  its  independence, 
which  sympathizes  with  us,  and  which  constitutes  for  us  a  useful  and  often  indispensable 
counterpoise  to  the  naval  power  of  England. 

However,  we  have  gone  to  Mexico  and  we  desire  to  create,  to  prepare  a  new  government 
for  Mexico.  Mexico,  you  know,  was  divided,  like  most  other  countries,  into  two  great  fac 
tions,  the  clerical  party  and  the  liberal  party. 

The  clerical  party  is  in  Mexico  pretty  much  what  it  is  everywhere  else,  powerful,  rich, 
marvellously  skilful  in  appropriating  to  itself  the  richest  and  most  fertile  lands,  but,  as  a 
political  party,  behind  the  age,  intolerant,  exclusive,  aiming  at  impossibilities.  To  it  reli 
gious  toleration  is  the  abomination  of  desolation ;  to  it  liberty  of  worship,  liberty  of  the 
press,  all  liberty,  in  a  word,  is  the  height  of  anarchy  and  disorder ;  it  can  make  no  com 
promise  whatever  with  the  principles  which  are  now  the  very  principles  of  modern  society. 
The  clerical  party  was  for  a  long  time  dominant  in  Mexico,  and  the  sad  state  in  which  this 
domination  placed  Mexico  proves  that  its  administration  was  not  good. 

Desperate  efforts  have  been  made  for  some  years  by  a  fraction  of  the  country  to  deliver  it 
from  the  brutalizing  system  bequeathed  to  it  by  Spain.  This  is  what  has  given  birth  to 
what  is  called  the  liberal  party. 

I  do  not  come  here  to  pronounce  the  apology  of  the  Mexican  liberal  party.  That  party, 
like  the  other — both  almost  alike  in  fact — bears  the  traces  of  the  unfortunate  condition  to 
which  the  country  has  been  reduced. 

But,  in  the  end,  the  principles  of  the  liberal  party  are  our  principles  ;  they  are  the  prin 
ciples  professed  by  the  members  of  this  assembly,  the  principles  of  the  French  revolution 
and  of  modern  civilization.  To  sustain  them,  th,at  party  makes  efforts  unfortunately  com 
bined  with  acts  of  violence  which  I  do  not  wish  to  justify,  no  more  than  I  wish  to  justify 
those  of  their  adversaries. 

But,  in  the  end,  if  we  were  absolutely  forced,  which  I  do  not  believe  we  are,  to  interfere 
in  the  affairs  of  that  country,  I  assert  that  our  natural  ally  would  be  the  party  that  professes 
the  same  principles  that  we  do,  and  not  the  party  against  which  we  are  obliged  to  struggle 
in  France,  against  which  we  are  obliged  to  struggle  at  Rome,  [murmurs  of  dissatisfaction 
from  some  benches,]  and  which  everywhere  teaches,  as  an  article  of  faith,  the  very  negation 
of  the  principles  which  form  the  basis  of  modern  public  law. 

VOICES  AROUND  THE  SPEAKER.    Good,  good. 

M.  GUEROULT.  We  have,  then,  gentlemen,  relied  on  the  clerical  party. 

I  willingly  pass  over  any  reference  to  certain  acts  of  the  French  administration,  unfor 
tunate  sequestrations,  irritating  measures  of  sequestration  applied  to  the  property  of  persons 
who  were  only  guilty,  after  all,  of  defending  what  they  believed  to  be  the  independence  of 
their  country.  For,  in  brief,  this  expedition  has  been  commenced  with  the  declaration  that 
it  was  undertaken  in  order  to  deliver  Mexico.  To  deliver  Mexico  !  From  whom,  and  from 
what?  Wheie  is  the  foreigner  attacking  Mexico?  If  they  fight  in  Mexico,  it  is  the  Xtex- 
cans  themselves  that  fight,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  the  species  of  liberation  which  we  have 
undertaken  in  their  favor  singularly  resembles  that  which  the  Prussians  pretended  to  exer 
cise  in  our  regard  when  they  invaded  France  in  1792  and  in  1815. 

SEVERAL  VOICES.  That's  true  !     Good! 

M.  GUEROULT.  The  Mexicans  are  not  at  all  thankful  to  us  for  the  service  which  we  wish 
to  render  them.  They  only  ask  one  thing  of  us,  that  is,  that  we  should  stay  at  home  and 
let  them  attend  to  their  own  business  in  peace. 

At  present,  as  the  country  is  fatigued,  as  a  new  regime  is  promised  to  it,  as  the  French 
army,  with  its  admirable  discipline,  reconciles  by  its  presence  even  those  whose  hopes  it 
goes  to  overthrow,  it  happens  that  there  is  a  sort  of  pacification  in  Mexico,  and  that  we  have 


284  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

been  well  received  there  in  the  beginning.  But  the  difficulties  have  not  been  slow  to 
manifest  themselves 

There  has  been  a  Junta  instituted  iu  the  city  of  Mexico.  A  decree  of  the  French  author 
ities  has  instituted  that  Junta,  which  itself  has  nominated  an  Assembly  of  Notables.  All 
this  is  done  under  French  influence.  That  Assembly  of  Notables,  which  was  said  to  contain 
representatives  of  all  opinions,  I  have  a  list  of  here  with  the  designation  of  all  the  members  ; 
not  one  of  them  belongs  to  what  is  called  the  liberal  party. 

But  at  last  a  provisional  government  composed  of  three  members  has  been  placed  over 
all  this  machinery.  This  is  composed  of  the  archbishop  of  Mexico,  General  Almonte,  (who 
has  played  a  considerable  part  in  this  whole  affair,  and  who,  it  is  said,  was  the  first  insti 
gator  of  the  expedition,)  and,  lastly,  General  Salas. 

It  was  not  very  difficult  to  foresee  that  this  alliance  with  the  clerical  party  would  not 
hold  together,  and  if  you  will  permit  me  I  will  proceed  to  read  to  you  some  sentences 
written  in  the  month  of  August  last,  and  which  are  no  more  than  an  anticipated  narrative 
of  the  events  which  I  will  presently  lay  before  you  : 

"The  presence  of  the  archbishop  of  Mexico  in  the  provisional  governments  indicative 
of  a  state  of  things  full  of  difficulties  When  General  Forey  expresses  the  desire  that 
liberty  of  worship  should  be  acknowledged,  he  renders  himself  the  exponent  of  a  sentiment 
wholly  French  ;  but  he  need  not  count  on  the  assistance  of  the  archbishop  of  Mexico  to 
cause  it  to  be  proclaimed.  It  is  not  in  his  part,  nor  in  the  nature  of  things.  Our  bishops, 
who  have  been  living  for  seventy-four  years  under  the  regime  of  the  freedom  of  worship, 
have  not  yet  recognized  it.  The  Pope  does  not  recognize  it  ;  we  cannot  expect,  then,  that 
the  Mexican  clergy  should  recognize  it  merely  to  gratify  the  Emperor. 

"  We  are  proceeding,  then,  to  find  ourselves  placed  in  the  alternative  either  of  obeying 
the  inspirations  of  the  party  which  calls  us  to  Mexico,  and  then  of  disavowing,  as  far  as 
lies  in  our  power,  all  the  principles  for  which  we  have  been  contending  for  three-quarters 
of  a  century,  or  else  to  proclaim  French  principles  authoritatively,  and  then  to  turn  our 
only  partisans  against  us  and  combine  in  hostility  towards  us  the  liberals  whom  we  have 
overthrown,  and  the  clericals  whom  we  have  rejected. 

"Doubtless  France  is  strong  enough  to  make  her  will  prevail ;  but  while  consulting  her 
own  sentiments  she  cools  those  of  her  partisans  and  runs  the  lirfk  of  being  isolated,  placed 
as  she  would  be  between  those  who  are  already  indisposed  against  her  for  having  come  to 
Mexico  and  those  who  will  be  indisposed  against  us  for  having  come  there  in  order  to  oppose 
them  in  their  absurd  projects  of  reaction. 

"  At  bottom,  it  is  the  Roman  question  which  is  going  to  be  reproduced  on  the  other  side 
of  the  ocean,  at  the  distance  of  two  thousand  leagues  from  our  frontiers." 

SEVERAL  MEMBERS.  From  what  paper  ?     Who  is  the  author  of  that  article  ? 

M.  GUEROULT.  What  I  have  read  is  an  article  from  the  Opinion  Nationale.    [Exclamations.] 

If  I  have  permitted  myself  to  read  this  article,  it  is  because  at  this  hour  events  have 
completely  justified  it ;  I  shall  proceed  to  give  you  the  proofs  of  it. 

Moreover,  I  will  confess  to  you,  after  the  manner  in  which  the  press  has  been  spoken  of 
in  this  hall  for  some  time  past,  while  the  minister  of  state  has  told  us  that  the  effect  of 
the  press  was  to  lead  astray,  to  distort  and  to  inflame  public  opinion ;  after  having  heard 
the  press  defended  by  arguments  which  appeared  to  me  still  worse  and  more  sorry  than  the 
attacks,  I  am  not  displeased  to  be  able  to  show  you  that  the  press  sometimes  happens  to 
study  and  to  see  clearly  into  questions,  to  announce  in  advance  that  which  is  likely  to 
happen,  and  to  give  counsels  which  the  government  would  not  do  ill  to  follow. 

M.  GRANIER  DE  CASSAGNAC.     That  is  what  remains  to  be  demonstrated. 

M.  GUEROULT.  These  conflicts,  announced  as  likely  to  occur  between  the  clerical  party 
and  the  French  authorities,  are  in  course  of  development  at  this  very  moment. 

Lastly,  several  j udges  had  refused,  on  the  intimation  of  certain  members  of  the  regency,  to 
take  cognizance  of  all  cases  relative  to  the  goods  of  the  clergy,  which  have  been  secularized 
iu  Mexico  as  they  have  been  in  France.  An  order  interposed  issued  in  a  very  irregular 
way  ;  it  was  not  signed  by  the  representatives  of  French  authority  ;  it  was  signed  only  by 
an  under  secretary  of  state.  This  order  enjoined  on  the  judges  to  take  cognizance  in  future 
of  all  such  questions  as  they  had  wished  to  abstain  from. 

The  archbishop  of  Mexico,  Monseigneur  Labastida,  immediately  protested  ;  I  have  here 
the  protest  which  I  would  read  to  you  if  I  did  not  fear  to  abuse  your  patience. 

SEVERAL  MEMBERS.  Read  it,  read  it. 

OTHER  MEMBERS.  No,  no. 

M.  GUEROULT.  And  from  this  time  forward  the  acts  of  the  regency  are  signed  only  by 
General  Almonte  and  General  Salas  The  signature  of  "  Labastida"  no  longer  figures  in 
jthem.  Here,  then,  i.s  a  commencement  of  dissension. 

Finally,  gentlemen,  we  have  arrived  at  a  critical  period.  It  is  necessary  to  take  some 
step.  Since  the  expedition  was  undertaken,  since  it  succeeded,  since  we  took  Fnebla  first 
and  subsequently  the  city  of  Mexico  itself,  the  candidacy  of  the  Archduke  Maximilian  has 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  285 

been  brought  forward,  has  been  affirmed,  now  it  is  considered  as  settled.  I  desire,  with  all 
my  heart,  that  the  Archduke  Maximilian  should  accept  ;  I  admire  his  courage,  aud  I  would 
not  wish  to  shake  him  ;  [laughter ;]  only  I  would  attach  a  great  importance  to  the  fact 
that  France  should  not  be  responsible  for  anything  that  might  be  produced  under  the  new 
regime  which  is  to  be  installed  in  Mexico.  I  would  not  wish  her  to  guarantee  any  loans. 
I  would  not  wish  her  to  leave  her  army  in  Mexico;  for,  if  her  army  should  remain  in 
Mexico,  not  only  would  she  contract  a  kind  of  responsibility  and  identification  of  herself 
with  all  the  events  that  might  transpire  there,  but  she  would  come  in  contact  with  an 
eventuality  which  would  seem  to  me  very  much  to  be  dreaded,  and  which  might  carry  us 
very  far  beyond  the  sphere  of  the  interests  for  which  we  have  desired  to  provide.  [Appro 
bation  from  some  benches.] 

It  is  not  doubtful,  gentlemen,  that  as  soon  as  the  civil  war  shall  be  terminated  in  the 
United  States,  you  will  see  the  United  States  regard  with  a  most  evil  eye  this  monarchical 
establishment    installed   on    their    frontiers.      Governments,    governments   of  principle 
especially,  are  jealous,  and  you  would  certainly  have  no  more  reason  to  be  displeased  with 
the  United  States  for  not  regarding  with  a  favorable  eye  a  monarchical  establishment  on 
their  frontiers,  than  you  would  be  astonished  if  the  imperial  government  of  France  saw 
with  an  evil  eye  the  establishment  in  Belgium  of  a  republic,  for  example. 
SMOE  VOICES.     What  woiild  that  have  to  do  with  us  ? 
M.  GRANIER  DE  CASSAGNAC.     And  Switzerland. 

M.  GUEROULT.  Switzerland  has  not  been  recently  established.  It  was  anterior  to  our 
government,  which  found  it  as  it  was,  and  must  have  accepted  the  neighborhood.  But  I 
believe  that  the  propagandism  of  a  different  principle  is  never  acceptable  or  agreeable  to  a 
neighboring  government. 

In  any  case,  it  is  incontestable  that  the  situation  in  which  we  would  be  placed  by  this 
eventuality  of  a  war  with  the  United  States  is  out  of  all  proportion  with  what  wisdom 
and  the  simplest  elements  of  good  sense  would  allow  us  to  risk  on  that  side.  What 
interest  have  we  in  Mexico  ?  I  have  examined  the  question  in  a  manner  rather  philosophic 
than  political.  In  good  faith,  what  was  it  that  obliged  us  to  go  to  Mexico?  What 
immediate  advantage  can  we  derive  from  the  measure  ?  Do  you  think  that  we  can  effect 
an  establishment  there  which,  in  a  given  time,  could  cover  our  expenses  ?  We  have  in 
Algeria  an  example  which  I  pray  you  to  consider.  Here  are  thirty- four  years  that  Algeria 
is  in  our  hands ;  it  does  not  pay  expenses.  If  you  are  in  a  condition  to  assume  the 
guardianship  of  Mexico  for  fifty  years,  and  to  spend  there  150  millions  a  year,  I  doubt  not 
but  that  at  this  price  you  would  reach  a  favorable  result ;  but  I  doubt  whether  any  of  you 
would  be  willing  to  engage  in  such  an  enterprise.  The  most  reasonable  step,  in  my 
opinion,  would  be  to  return  and  to  return  immediately. 

Since  the  last  accounts  that  reached  us  from  Mexico,  it  seems  that  instructions  more 
conciliatory  and  based  on  a  more  exact  knowledge  of  the  country  have  reached  Seneral 
Bazaine,  whose  excellent  intentions  are  appreciated  both  by  the  Mexicans  and  by  the 
French.  I  say  instructions  more  conciliatory  ;  in  fact,  less  harshness  is  manifested  towards 
adversaries,  and  if  a  work  of  conciliation  could  be  attempted,  it  would  certainly  be  under 
these  auspices.  Well,  all  I  ask  is  that  the  government  should  be  pleased  to  give  us  some 
assurances  in  this  respect. 

In  the  amendment  which  we  have  presented,  and  which  I  have  the  honor  to  develop 
before  you,  we  demand  an  immediate  withdrawal.  I  request  permission  to  explain  this 
expression.  I  did  not  draw  up  the  amendment,  but  I  signed  it.  I  pray  you  to  allow  me 
to  tell  you  how  I  understand  it  It  is  clear  that  the  immediate  withdrawal  of  our  troops 
cannot  be  demanded.  [Interruption.] 

A  VOICE.     Wherefore  do  you  demand  it  for  the  amendment  ? 

M  GUEROULT.  It  is  clear  that  everything  cannot  be  abandoned  in  twenty-four  hours  ; 
but  what  can  be  done  is  to  take  immediately  a  firm  resolution  not  to  prolong  an  expedition 
which,  it  must  be  said,  is  a  failure.  [Vehement  disapprobation  ] 

You  may  be  persuaded,  gentlemen,  that  we  will  obtain  nothing  from  Mexico  ;  you  may 
be  persuaded  that  if  France  wished  to  be  stubborn  and  to  remain  there  in  order  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  the  expedition,  she  would  do  as  bad  a  thing  as  she  did  when,  to  insure  the 
payment  of  a  debt  of  60  millions,  she  spent  300  millions.  Persist  now,  and  you  will  not 
get  clear  with  a  thousand  millions. 

Gentlemen,  it  is  no  easy  thing  to  occupy  Mexico.  I  read  in  the  papers  that  Maximilian 
demands,  as  a  prerequisite  to  his  acceptance  of  the  crown,  that  the  Mexican  people  should 
pronounce  for  him  by  means  of  universal  suffrage.  Gentlemen,  to  attain  that  it  would  be 
necessary  to  be  master  of  Mexico  ;  it  would  be  necessary  to  occupy  it.  Well,  permit  me 
to  tell  you  we  do  not  possess  the  twentieth  part  of  it.  [Cries  of  dissent.]  Mexico  is  an 
immense  country  cut  up  by  plains  but  very  little  inhabited,  often  uncultivated,  in  which 
everything  is  wanting,  even  water. 

If  it  is  desired  to  have  a  permanent  army  of  occupation  there,  it  is  not  with  30,000  men 


286  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

that  you  will  do  it,  nor  even  with  100,000  men.  You  will  please  remember  that  in 
Algeria,  the  surface  of  which  is  about  the  third  part  of  France,  we  have  had  for  a  long1 
time  100,000  men  to  run  after  Abd-el-Kader,  without  catching  him,  and  restrain  the  Arabs. 

A  MEMBER.     He  has  been  caught. 

M.  GUEROULT.     He  was  caught  at  last,  but  at  the  end  of  seventeen  years. 

Now,  gentlemen,  if  we  remain  in  Mexico,  if  we  desire  to  occupy  it  in  a  permanent  way, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  have  garrisons  in  all  the  large  towns — it  will  be  necessary  to  have 
movable  colonies.  The  Mexican  people  are  accustomed  to  partisan  warfare;  long  years 
of  civil  war  have  created  a  population  perfectly  suitable  for  that  kind  of  trade.  If  you 
engage  in  such  an  affair,  I  know  not  how  you  will  be  able  to  get  out  of  it.  I  add  that  if 
the  civil  war  ceases  in  the  United  States,  the  American  government,  without  any  declara 
tion  of  war,  without  engaging  in  any  direct  struggle  with  France,  can  let  loose  on  Mexico 
no  less  than  fifty  thousand  volunteers,  filibusters,  whom  peace  will  render  disposable  for 
such  a  purpose  iu  the  States  of  the  north  ;  it  is  impossible  to  foresee  the  quantity  of  regular 
troops  that  would  be  necessary  to  keep  the  field  and  maintain  the  security  of  the  country 
against  predatory  bands  of  that  kind. 

In  my  opinion,  there  would  be  a  most  serious  danger  in  the  prolongation  of  the  expedi 
tion.  The  end  that  was  proposed  to  be  attained  I  consider  as  not  having  been  reached,  as 
I  mentioned  to  you  just  now.  Consequently,  if  you  believe  me,  we  will  not  make  much 
difficulty  about  the  conditions  of  evacuation  ;  we  will  leave  to  the  government  all  the 
time  necessary  to  prepare  itself  to  effect  it,  to  do  it  with  honor  and  dignity,  to  afford  pro 
tection  to  those  who  have  confided  in  us  and  in  the  selection  of  whom  we  have  sometimes 
committed  the  fault  of  not  being  severe  enough  ;  and  then  wre  will  pray  the  government 
to  bring  back  our  troops  to  France.  As  to  questions  of  indemnity,  as  to  any  benefits  that 
you  may  be  able  to  derive  thence,  take  my  advice,  do  not  ask  any  ;  if  with  the  200  millions 
which  we  have  paid  this  year,  we  have  no  more  than  100  or  200  millions  more  to  pay,  we 
shall  have  done  a  good  thing  relatively  ;  for  if  we  stay  there,  I  tell  you,  it  will  not  be  by 
hundreds  but  by  thousands  of  millions  that  we  should  have  to  count. 


Spetch  of  M.  Thiers. 

Corps  Legislative,  Session  of  the  26th  of  January. — Presidency  of  his  excellency  the 

Due  of  Morny. 

M.  THIEBS.  Gentlemen  :  Though  the  amendment  to  which  I  have  attached  my  signature 
is  not  actually  in  discussion,  I  have  sought  occasion  to  speak,  because  I  do  not  come  to  dis 
cuss  such  or  such  an  amendment,  but  the  question  itself ;  and  I  must  forthwith  acknowledge 
to  you  that,  attaching  to  that  question  a  considerable  degree  of  importance,  and  desiring  to 
address  you  at  some  length,  I  have  hastened  to  obtain  the  floor,  for  fear  that  I  should  after 
wards  find  your  attention  too  much  fatigued.  Perhaps,  when  you  will  have  heard  me,  you 
will  pardon  me  for  this  solicitude  ;  and,  as  to  the  amendments,  I  hasten  to  say  that  the 
one  which  will  carry  the  truth  to  the  foot  of  the  throne  in  the  most  deferential  and  most 
respectful  form  will  always  be  that  which  I  shall  prefer.  [Good,  good.] 

If  the  only  question  were  to  pronounce  an  opinion  on  the  past,  I  should  not  insist ;  I 
would  willingly  imitate  those  merchants  who  carry  some  affairs  to  the  account  of  profit  and 
loss,  in  order  to  be  no  more  troubled  with  them.  But  they  act  thus  only  in  regard  to  affairs 
which  no  longer  cost  them  any  sacrifice.  Unfortunately,  it  is  not  so  with  the  Mexican  ex 
pedition.  We  have  been  told  that  it  cost  twelve  millions  a  month,  and  you  know  that,  when 
such  enterprises  are  in  question,  the  months  roll  away  rapidly.  As  for  rne,  I  am  convinced 
that  it  will  cost  much  more  ;  but  that  is  only  a  minor  consideration. 

Gentlemen,  we  are  at  a  distance  of  three  thousand  leagues  from  our  shores — at  a  distance 
of  thirty-five  days'  navigation — with  forty  thousand  Frenchmen,  seven  or  eight  thousand 
sailors,  occupied  at  various  services,  without  counting  some  thousands  of  auxiliaries — and 
all  this  for  what  purpose  ?  It  can  no  longer  be  ignored  now.  The  prince  who  has  been' 
called  to  reign  over  Mexico  is  soon  going  to  pass  through  Paris,  to  embark  in  one  of  our 
harbors,  and  to  find  himself  borne  towards  Vera  Cruz  Thus  we  have  gone  so  far  with  a 
considerable  part  of  our  forces — why  ?  To  found  a  great  empire  in  the  New  World. 

Indeed,  gentlemen,  I  confess  to  you  that  before  such  an  enterprise  my  reason  remains 
confounded.  It  is  possible  that  I  may  have  been  educated  in  ideas  of  too  much  strictness  ; 
but  in  the  present  state  of  the  world,  to  undertake  the  foundation  of  a  great  monarchy,  at 
such  a  distance,  without  any  determinate  end,  without  any  certain  utility,  I  must  say  con 
founds  my  reason.' 

Yesterday  one  of  our  young  colleagues,  while  doing  me  the  honor  of  quoting  me,  re- 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS  287 

minded  me,  or  thought  he  reminded  me,  that  in  England  no  opposition  was  ever  offered  to 
nor  difficulties  thrown  in  the  way  of  the  great  enterprises  in  India.  Our  young  colleague, 
who  is  a  very  diligent  student,  will  not  fail  to  read  the  discussions  in  the  English  Parlia 
ment,  and  he  will  be  able  to  see  how  far  he  has  been  correct  in  his  assertion  ;  he  will  learn 
that  there  never  has  been  any  great  enterprise  in  India  which  has  not  been  vehemently  and 
severely  discussed  ;  he  will  find  the  famous  trials  of  Lord  Olive  and  Warren  Hastings  ;  and 
he  will  see,  finally,  that  only  a  few  years  ago  the  East  India  Company  was  definitively  dis 
possessed  of  its  power,  merely  on  account  of  its  imprudent  and  dangerous  enterprises  in  the 
kingdom  of  Oude.  Everything  is  discussed  in  England,  and  practical  matters  never  lose 
by  it. 

But  since  it  has  been  granted  to  us,  gentlemen,  to  strive  to  cause  the  truth  to  reach  the 
foot  of  the  throne,  let  us  profit  by  the  occasion  ;  for  there  will  never  be  an  occasion  more 
momentous  or  more  useful  for  so  doing.  As  to  me,  I  regard  it  as  a  duty  to  make  the  truth 
known  ;  and  I  request  your  permission  to  examine  as  briefly  as  possible  (and  that  will 
always  be  too  long  for  my  convenience)  the  following  questions  :  By  what  succession  of 
ideas  have  we  been  led  from  the  first  act  of  defending  our  fellow-citizens  to  the  more  serious 
enterprise  of  founding  a  monarchy  in  the  New  World  ?  What  connexion  was  there  between 
these  two  purposes  ?  By  what  sequence  of  circumstances  have  we  been  led  from  one  of 
these  purposes  to  the  other  ?  And  now,  are  there  any  serious  chances  of  success  ;  and  if  we 
succeed,  what  utility  can  be  derived  for  France,  which,  after  all,  ought  always  to  be  the 
final  end  of  all  our  enterprises  ? 
M.  ERNEST  PICA.RD.  Good. 

M.  TRIERS.  These  are  the  questions  which  I  wish  to  debate  ;  you  see  that  they  are  well 
worthy  of  discussion. 

I  have  foitified  myself  with  all  the  information  that  science,  politics,  public  economy, 
can  offer,  and,  perhaps,  if  you  are  willing  to  listen  to  me  with  patience,  you  will  find  that 
you  will  not  have  entirely  lost  the  time  which  you  may  give  to  me.  [Speak,  speak.] 

Gentlemen,  in  order  that  you  may  properly  understand  the  exposition  which  I  am  going 
to  make  to  you,  I  must  give  you  some  details  on  the  nature  of  the  relations  which  the 
states  of  Europe  maintain  with  the  states  of  America. 

I  may  declare  it  at  the  outset,  these  relations  are  extremely  difficult.  We  must  distin 
guish  North  from  South  America.  In  North  America  our  fellow-citizens  have  always  found 
a  field  for  an  immense  commerce,  which,  you  know,  has  reached  the  value  of  five  hundred 
millions.  They  have  always,  moreover,  found  there  perfect  security — I  speak  of  the  times 
preceding  the  civil  war.  Sometimes  they  have  had  to  suffer  from  the  rudeness  of  demo 
cratic  manners  ;  but  a  country  can  no  more  be  reproached  with  its  manners  than  with  its 
climate.  It  is  a  fact,  that  we  have  always  found  perfect  security  in  North  America.  But 
we  must  say  that  security  was  due  to  a  vigorous  government,  jealous  of  its  honor  and  dig 
nity,  and  from  which  proud  and  potent  England  herself  has  had  more  than  one  affront  to 
swallow.  However  it  be,  it  would  be  very  desirable  that  we  had  found  in  South  America 
such  relations  as  those  which  we  have  found  in  North  America. 

In  South  America,  with  the  single  exception  of  Brazil,  of  which  I  shall  speak  presently, 
we  have  found  anarchy.  You  know  that  when,  at  the  commencement  of  the  present 
century,  the  Spanish  colonies  desired  to  separate  from  the  mother  country,  they  modelled 
their  institutions  on  those  of  North  America  ;  but  they  were  not  so  well  prepared  for  re 
publicanism.  You  know  that  when  the  colonists  who  peopled  North  America  emigrated 
beyond  the  seas,  they  were  already  veritable  republicans  in  their  manners  and  their  opin 
ions  ;  they  were,  moreover,  industrious  men,  devoted  to  labor,  and  there  is  no  better 
soother  for  the  passions  than  labor.  But  those  southern  populations,  whom,  with  some 
complacency,  we  style  the  Latin  race,  were  scarcely  prepared  for  republicanism  when  they 
separated  from  the  mother  country. 

As  far  as  opinions  were  concerned,  they  had  only  those  which  existed  in  Spain  two  centuries 
ago.  They  were  fiery  in  their  manners,  turbulent,  and  disinclined  to  labor.  Republican 
ism  has  not  succeeded  among  them  ;  for  fifty  years  they  have  merely  dragged  out  a  miserable 
existence,  full  of  inconvenience  to  strangers  domiciled  among  them.  Those  unfortunate 
strangers  have  been  harassed  in  a  hundred  ways. 

In  the  first  place,  these  governments  of  the  south  are  always  in  difficulty  ;  they  borrow, 
and  when  they  have  borrowed  they  never  pay.  This  is  the  first  cause  of  claims  against 
them.  Then  strangers,  who  spend  twenty,  thirty,  and  forty  years  in  those  countries,  arc 
soon  confounded  with  the  inhabitants  themselves,  and  it  is  sought  to  impose  on  them, 
sometimes,  military  service,  always  forced  loans  and  taxes  for  purposes  of  war.  They  com 
plain  to  their  native  governments,  and  invoke  their  assistance.  This  is  another  subject 
for  reclamation  and  demand  of  redress. 

But  the  most  serious  of  all  is  this  :  In  those  continually  agitated  countries,  where  there 
is  no  vigilant  police,  as  in  the  old  states  of  Europe,  neither  cities,  nor  country,  nor  high 
ways  offer  any  security.  Sometimes  the  doors  of  houses  are  forcibly  broken  in  ;  more 


288  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

frequently  the  farms  are  invaded  and  public  conveyances  are  stopped  on  the  highways. 
Violences,  robberies,  sometimes  assassinations,  are  committed  ;  and  it  has  been  recognized 
as  so  difficult  not  only  to  hunt  out  the  guilty  parties,  but  to  bring  them  to  punishment  in 
a  country  in  which  the  police  is  a  nullity  and  justice  is  weak,  that  people  have  almost 
renounced  all  idea  of  obtaining  justice,  and  have  converted  all  their  grievances  into  claims 
for  money. 

So  there  has  been  introduced  into  the  language  of  the  country,  into  diplomatic  language, 
a  certain  expression  ;  it  is  that  of  foreign  agreement.  Whenever  European  nations  have 
had  occasion  to  complain,  treaties  are  made  which  are  called  foreign  agreements ;  and 
what- proves  to  you  the  singularity  of  that  state  of  affairs  is  the  fact  that,  in  making  a  very 
simple  calculation,  I  have  found  that  foreign  agreements,  those  demands  of  indemnity, 
were  always  proportioned  to  the  extent  of  the  commerce  which  each  European  nation  car 
ried  on  with  that  country.  This  is  a  proof,  gentlemen,  that  in  that  anarchy  there  is  at 
least  that  species  of  impartiality  which  induces  it  to  treat  all  the  world  alike. 

Well,  when  we  desire  to  address  ourselves  to  those  governments  we  meet  with  very 
great  difficulties.  To  whom  do  we  address  ourselves  ?  To  anarchy.  If  we  demand  security 
of  it,  it  cannot  give  it.  If  we  demand  payment  of  its  debts,  it  does  not  possess  the  means. 
We  find  ourselves,  therefore,  in  extreme  embarrassment.  So  people  have  been  very  cir 
cumspect,  and  have  taken  care  to  keep  themselves  within  the  English  rule.  That  rule  is  : 
When  those  governments  can  be  reached  by  the  maritime  way,  a  degree  of  severity  is 
manifested,  and  England  has  always  taken  care  to  be  severe  ;  but  when  they  cannot  be  so 
reached,  people  are  more  sparing  of  menaces  which  cannot  always  be  carried  into  effect. 

I  will  be  told  that  this  course  is  not  a  very  manly  one.  I  grant  it ;  but  allow  me  to  say 
that  honor  stops  where  the  means  stop ;  and  I  will  cite  an  instance  to  you  which  is  some 
years  old.  • 

Prussia  is  assuredly  a  very  proud  and  very  brave  nation.  Now,  you  remember  that  a 
Prussian  vessel,  bearing  the  royal  standard,  stopped  some  years  ago  on  the  coasts  of  Eiff. 
It  experienced  a  terrible  attack  ;  there  were  many  killed  and  wounded  ;  the  prince  himself 
ran  great  risk  ;  everybody  then  said,  "  Prussia  is  going  to  send  out  an  expedition."  But 
Prussia,  proud  and  brave  as  she  was,  yet  thoughtful,  never  sent  out  any  expedition,  be 
cause,  in  fact,  she  had  neither  the  interest  nor  the  means  to  do  so 

The  English  rule  of  acting  by  the  maritime  way  is,  then,  neither  so  bad  nor  so  humble  ; 
and  if  I  apply  it  to  past  events,  you  will  see  that  it  i.s  at  bottom  what,  up  to  this  time, 
everybody  has  done. 

For  instance,  you  all  know  that  on  the  upper  Parana,  in  Paraguay,  Dr.  Francia  estab 
lished  himself  and  reigned  for  twenty-seven  years.  M.  Bonpland,  the  colleague  and  trav 
elling  companion  of  Humboldt,  in  whom  all  Europe  was  interested,  lived  there  for  twenty 
years,  detained  by  the  government  of  Paraguay.  Learned  Europe,  with  one  voice,  de 
manded  his  release,  and  yet  it  never  entered  into  any  one's  mind  to  send  out  au  expedition 
to  release  Dr.  Bonpland. 

In  the  lower  Plata,  an  odious  tyrant,  Rosas,  treated  the  French  in  an  abominable  man 
ner  ;  he  had  many  of  them  massacred  by  bis  orders  ;  and  this  was  not  in  consequence  of 
any  anarchy  ;  it  was  his  own  will,  his  own  ferocity.  Our  vessels  could  have  reached  him, 
and  sailed  right  into  the  harbor  either  of  Montevideo  or  of  Buenos  Ayres.  For  my  part,  I 
advocated  severe  measures  at  that  time.  My  opinion  did  not  prevail,  and  yet  force  was 
employed  Vessels  were  sent  out,  and  a  treaty  was  obtained  by  the  only  means  possible — 
by  maritime  means. 

In  regard  to  Mexico,  of  which  there  was  reason  to  complain,  in  1838  Admiral  Baudin 
was  commissioned  with  the  execution  of  a  vigorous  stroke  ;  it  was  executed,  and  the  con 
sequence  was  that,  for  a  certain  number  of  years,  the  Mexicans  retained  the  recollection  of 
it,  and  our  fellow-countrymen  were  not  guaranteed  on  the  highways — oh  no,  for,  what 
ever  is  done,  we  will  not  succeed  in  rendering  the  roads  safe  in  Mexico  any  more  than  in 
the  kingdom  of  Naples;  but  we  did  succeed  in  having  our  countrymen  treated  with  more 
respect. 

I  have  deemed  these  reflections  necessary  in  order  to  let  you  understand  what  the  nature 
is  of  the  relations  between  the  states  of  Europe  and  those  of  America,  and  what  kind  of 
repression  we  can  employ  there. 

When  our  last  difficulties  with  Mexico  commenced  tbe  state  of  the  country  was  this  : 
We  had,  in  regard  to  it,  only  very  incomplete,  very  uncertain  statistics,  to  which  it  is  diffi 
cult  enough  to  attach  any  credit ;  however,  I  believe  we  are  not  far  from  the  truth  in  esti 
mating  the  population  of  Mexico  at  eight  millions.  Of  these  eight  millions  there  are  five 
millions  of  native  Indians,  who  are  worthy  people,  laborious  and  patient,  but  kept  in  a 
state  of  deplorable  abjection  and  ignorance.  And  then  there  are  three  millions  of  Span 
iards,  pure  or  mixed,  who  are  the  active  and  influential  portion  of  the  population. 

What  questions  are  agitated  among  those  three  millions  of  Spaniards,  pure  or  mixed  ? 
In  truth,  the  very  questions  which  have  been  agitated  in  Europe  for  three-quarters  of  a 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  289 

century  between  what  is  called  the  old  regime  and  the  new  one.  There  are  two  parties 
there — the  party  which  styles  itself  conservative,  and  which  its  adversaries  call  the  clerical 
party,  the  reactionary  party,  &c.,  &c. ;  and  opposed  to  it,  the  party  of  the  new  regime,  which 
styles  itself  liberal,  and  which  its  adversaries  compliment  with  the  names  of  anarchical 
party,  revolutionary  party,  &c.,  &c.,  &c. 

You  know,  by  what  passes  under  our  own  eyes,  what  courtesy  parties  use  towards  each 
other.  [Laughter  ]  Well,  gentlemen,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned  I  would  give  them  both 
all  these  names,  good  and  bad,  because  they  deserve  them  all  in  turn,  according  to  their 
conduct.  But  here,  in  your  presence,  I  shall  employ  only  those  qualifications  which  will 
properly  express  my  ideas,  the  party  of  the  old  and  the  party  of  the  new  regime, 

In  what  position  was  the  party  of  the  old  regime  ?  There  were  in  that  party — gentlemen, 
these  details  are  necessary  in  order  to  appreciate  properly  the  situation  in  which  we  are 
going  to  find  ourselves  placed  in  Mexico — there  were  in  that  party  which  calls  itself  con 
servative  some  great  families  of  the  highest  respectability.  They  descend  from  the  ancient 
conquerors  of  Mexico,  from  the  old  viceroys,  and  from  some  merchants,  who  acquired  and 
retained  great  fortunes.  These  are  families,  I  repeat,  of  the  greatest  respectability,  which 
entertain  the  very  beautiful  dream,  which  I  would  wish  to  see  realized  for  them,  that 
Mexico  should  become  a  Brazil. 

I  repeat  it,  I  would  gladly  wish  to  see  its  realization.  But  let  us  see  how  Brazil  has  be 
come  what  it  is  When  we  took  the  very  unfortunate  notion  of  invading  Portugal  in  1808, 
the  house  of  Braganza  seized  upon  a  very  happy  idea,  that  of  quitting  Portugal  and  retiring 
to  Brazil.  Thanks  to  that  resolution,  it  did  not  lose  Portugal,  which  was  restored  to  it  in 
1815,  and  it  preserved  Brazil.  How  did  that  happen?  In  the  simplest  manner  possible. 
There  was  no  interruption  of  the  royal  authority,  and  the  people  of  Brazil,  touched  at  see 
ing  their  ancient  royal  family  seek  an  asylum  in  their  bosom,  became  most  devotedly 
attached  to  it.  And  we  must  add  that  that  royal  family,  when  the  liberal  movement 
manifested  itself  very  strongly  in  America,  had  the  good  sense  to  yield  to  it  in  a  certain 
measure,  and  the  result  is  that  Brazil,  instead  of  reaching  republicanism,  has  stopped  at 
constitutional  monarchy. 

I  know  that  the  expression  is  not  in  favor  here,  but  still  every  one  must  be  permitted 
to  speak  his  own  language  ;  I  request  your  permission  to  speak  mine. 

A  VOICE.  Constitutional  monarchy  is  in  great  favor. 

M.  THIEES.  Under  that  constitutional  monarchy  Brazil  has  found  order  in  the  first  place — 
for  me,  that  is  a  matter  of  primary  importance — and  then  liberty  and  a  growing  prosperity. 

Now,  is  it  easy  to  procure  for  those  very  respectable  Mexicans  of  whom  I  have  spoken 
the  blessings  enjoyed  by  Brazil  ?  Unfortunately  it  is  very  difficult,  for  whither  should  we 
go  to  choose  a  prince  for  them  ?  If  we  followed  analogies  we  would  proceed  to  ask  one  of 
Spain  ;  but.  as  I  mentioned  to  you,  there  has  been  an  interruption  of  relations  there,  and 
the  recollections  of  the  war  of  independence  have  left  such  profound  traces  that  the  Mexi 
cans  have  an  excessive  dislike  for  Spaniards.  Then  if,  in  default  of  a  prince  naturally 
indicated  by  his  origin,  we  proceed  to  make  an  arbitrary  selection,  which  I  would  not  pre 
sume  to  characterize  as  a  capricious  one,  we  expose  ourselves  to  the  choice  of  princes  who 
have  no  recommendation. 

We  are,  therefore,  placed  between  these  two  difficulties  in  Mexico.  If  we  take  the  one 
who  would  be  the  natural  prince  of  the  country,  we  find  the  recollections  of  the  war  of 
independence  and  the  antipathies  which  it  has  engendered ;  if  we  proceed  to  take  a  prince 
outside  of  the  Spanish  royal  house,  we  find  a  prince  without  recommendation  and  without 
support.  Moreover,  the  people  have  assumed  the  bad  habits  of  republicanism — not  the 
good,  but  the  bad  habits ;  these  habits  they  have,  and  it  is  very  difficult  to  make  them 
change.  I  allow  myself,  then,  to  call  this  very  honorable  wish  of  the  rich  Mexicans,  this 
wish  of  which  I  would  be  much  pleased  to  see  the  realization — I  allow  myself,  I  say,  to  call 
it  a  beautiful  dream. 

Moreover,  that  party  has  an  ally  ;  that  ally  is  the  clergy.  Oh  !  if  that  Mexican  clergy 
had  the  virtues,  the  enlightened  minds,  of  our  European  clergy,  I  would  have  nothing  to 
say.  Bat  that  clergy,  (I  wish  to  use  only  the  most  polite  expressions,)  that  clergy  has,  I 
shall  say,  the  manners  of  tropical  climes.  [Laughter  ]  It  is  rich,  very  rich,  or  at  least  it 
was  rich  ;  but  it  was  not  as  wise  as  it  was  rich :  it  has  taken  part  in  the  troubles  of  its 
country ;  its  property  has  been  taken  and  sold.  It  was  to  receive,  not  the  value  of  the 
property,  but  the  interest.  The  Mexican  government  has  sold  the  property  at  a  con 
temptibly  small  price,  as  always  happens  in  such  cases,  and  in  place  of  it  it  has  given  to 
the  clergy  an  annual  appropriation,  which  is  not  always  paid. 

What  does  the  clergy  wish?  It  wishes  to  have  its  property  restored  ;  and  so  this  con 
servative  and  very  respectable  party,  but  very  small  in  numbers,  has  for  its  only  supporters 
a  clergy  which  aspires  to  recover  its  property,  and  in  opposition  to  it  a  population  of  three 
millions  of  souls,  comprising  the  middle  classes  and  the  common  people,  and  in  the  ranks 
of  which  are  found  all  the  purchasers  of  the  national  goods. 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 19 


290  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

Well,  do  you  imagine  that  it  is  a  very  easy  work  to  rest  the  support  of  a  government 
on  one  of  these  parties,  when  in  the  other  there  are  included  nearly  the  whole  population, 
as  well  as  the  purchasers  of  the  national  goods? 

Yet  this  is  the  question  which  w.\»  encountered  in  Mexico  when  Miramon  and  President 
Juarez  found  themselves  in  a  struggle  with  each  other,  and  on  that  occasion  the  two  parties 
showed  their  real  strength. 

Miramon  is  a  young  man,  celebrated  for  his  courage,  but  not  so  much  for  his  prudence  ; 
he  was  at  the  head  of  a  military  force  and  occupied  the  city  of  Mexico.  President  Juarez, 
who  is  of  Indian  origin,  and  a  lawyer  by  profession,  of  whom  his  countrymen  do  not  say 
that  he  is  an  unworthy  man,  (we  must  tell  the  truth,  although  it  be  of  our  enemy,)  possesses 
a  character  essentially  constituted  of  obstinacy  and  stubbornness.  Miramon  was  with  the 
army  at  the  city  of  Mexico.  President  Juarez  was  at  \rera  Cruz,  without  a  dollar,  without 
any  force  whatever  ;  but,  with  his  patient  character;  he  waited,  and  a  short  time  afterwards 
Miramon  was  obliged  to  fly,  and  Juarez  entered  the  capital  of  Mexico  really  as  the  chief  of 
the  party,  which  now  is  the  only  powerful  one  in  Mexico. 

This  took  place  in  the  month  of  January,  1861.  It  wa?  at  that  time  that  our  difficulties 
with  Mexico  commenced.  In  the  beginning  all  the  reasonable  men  of  Mexico  desired  that 
all  enlightened  and  considerate  people  in  the  country  should  rally  around  President  Juarez, 
and  should  form  for  him  a  moderate  administration,  which  might  govern  in  the  name  of 
the  ideas  represented  by  Juarez  and  which  might  govern  with  that  moderation  which 
enlightened  persons  always  bring  into  government.  K>  this  passed  in  the  first  days. 

Juarez  formed  a  moderate  ministry,  which  they  call  the  Zarco  ministry,  at  the  head  of 
which  was  a  man  of  much  ability,  and,  as  a  proof  of  his  intentions,  he  resisted  his  congress, 
which  was  composed  of  men  of  very  radical  opinions.  So  every  person  in  those  early  days 
wished  him  success,  as  it  was  seen  that,  in  fact,  he  sought  to  realize  the  desire  of  all  honest 
people  to  govern  moderately  with  the  aid  of  the  strongest  party. 

We  had  as  our  minister  to  Mexico  M.  De  Saligny,  who  entered  into  negotiations  with 
President  Juarez  in  order  to  settle  our  difficulties.  An  agreement — one  of  those  called 
foreign  agreements — was  effected.  M.  De  Saligny  appeared  satisfied  ;  our  government  was 
so  likewise  ;  and  in  those  first  days  all  went  well. 

But  this  was  not  all :  after  having  signed  that  agreement  with  us,  it  was  necessary  to  p;*y. 
When  the  day  of  payment  came  it  was  impossible  to  pay.  M.  De  Saligny  was  very  much 
excited  at  this  refusal  to  execute  solemn  agreements  It  was  natural.  He  was  entreated 
to  wait ;  he  did  wait  for  a  time  ;  but  whilst  he  was  waiting  he  learned  that  congress,  in 
spite  of  the  president,  in  spite  of  the  minister,  had  passed  a  law,  in  the  month  of  July, 
1861,  by  which  they  suspended  the  execution  of  all  these  foreign  agreements  for  two  years. 

This  time  M.  De  Saligny  manifested  much  indignation,  and  I  can  conceive  how  much 
he  was  justified  in  so  doing.  Nevertheless,  they  waited  upon  him  ;  they  told  him  all  that 
had  been  done  to  prevent  this  occurrence  ;  they  promised  him  to  use  the  greatest  efforts 
with  congress  to  have  this  law  repealed  ;  but  they  were  unable  to  keep  their  word,  although 
they  succeeded  afterwards; 

But  do  you  know  what  the  motive  was  for  this  suspension  of  the  foreign  agreements? 
Here  it  is.  At  that  time  the  remnants  of  the  vanquished  p;trty,  at  the  head  of  which  was 
General  Marquez,  (now  our  ally,)  committed  many  excesses  on  the  highways.  It  was 
necessary  to  send  the  army  in  pursuit  of  them  ;  the  army  had  not  been  paid  for  a  long  time, 
and  they  had  taken  out  of  the  treasury  the  sum  ot  four  hundred  thousand  piastres,  or  about 
two  millions  of  francs,  which  were  needed  to  pay  off  the  army. 

M.  De  Saligny  suspended  intercourse  ;  he  did  not  break  it  off  entirely,  but  merely  sus 
pended  it,  and  referred  the  question  to  the  French  government.  The  English  minister, 
who  had  claims  to  make  much  more  considerable  than  ours,  because  the  English  hold  nearly 
all  the  debt  of  Mexico— the  English  minister,  Mr.  Wyke,  was  delighted  to  place  himself 
behind  the  French  minister  ;  he  followed  his  example,  and,  like  him,  referred  the  question 
to  the  government  of  London.  The  European  governments  were  then  intrusted  with  the 
affair. 

I  shall  not  dispute  it ;  we  had  right  on  our  side.  They  had  signed  a  treaty  and  they  had 
not  executed  it.  Yet  if  we  had  opposed  to  us  a  European  government,  powerful,  rich,  able 
to  pay,  unwilling  to  do  so,  I  can  understand  how,  having  right  on  our  side,  and  our  dignity 
being  interested  in  compelling  the  execution  of  engagements  assumed,  we  should  show 
ourselves  peremptory.  But  perhaps  in  regard  to  a  government  which  had  not  been  led 
into  that  state  by  any  malice,  which  was  very  much  embarrassed,  which  promised  to  do 
better  when  it  reached  a  state  of  solvency,  perhaps  it  would  have  been  better  to  have  had 
patience  for  a  little  while. 

But  there  was  a  way  of  acting  by  which  that  resolution  of  breaking  with  Mexico  would 
not  have  been  a  fault.  rl  his  way  was  very  simple  ;  it  was  to  adopt  the  English  plan.  The 
English,  also,  had  resolved  to  break  off  relations,  but  they  had  their  means  already  pre- 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  291 

pared,  which  was  an  easy  one,  and  which  I  regret  much  not  to  have  been  employed  ;  for  if 
it  had  been  adopted  by  us  we  would  not  be  in  the  embarrassment  in  which  we  now  are. 

The  plan  is  this :  It  was  to  have  recourse  to  what  the  lawyers  call  a  distress ;  it  was 
simply  to  seize  upon  the  ports  of  Tampico  and  Vera  Cruz,  (it  is  by  these  two  ports  that  all 
the  external  commerce  of  Mexico  is  carried  on,)  to  seize  the  custom-houses,  and  to  keep  them 
until  complete  payment  was  effected.  Such  was,  in  fact,  the  plan  which  the  English  had 
resolved  to  follow.  They  declared,  indeed,  from  the  very  beginning  that  they  were  deter 
mined  to  take  and  keep  the  two  ports  of  Tampico  and  Vera  Cruz,  with  the  aid  of  a  few 
vessels  and  some  marines  accustomed  to  the  climate,  and  to  confine  themselves  to  this  single 
operation. 

But  it  has  been  said  :  "This  plan  was  not  good,  because  the  Mexicans  by  removing  their 
custom-houst s  backwards  could  elude  the  measure  and  render  it  inefficacious." 

I  consider  the  objection  very  weak  ;  for  by  removing  the  custom-houses  backwards  the 
Mexicans  could  not  have  removed  the  two  ports  backwards,  and  the  English  would  have 
remained  masters  of  the  two  points  of  arrival.  They  would,  therefore,  be  in  a  state  to 
insure  the  payment  of  the  custom-house  duties  on  all  articles  of  meichandise  that  should 
be  presented  there  for  entrance.  I  persist,  therefore,  in  believing  that  this  plan  was  excel 
lent  and  the  only  reasonable  one. 

Unfortunately,  the  Mexican  exiles — for  some  of  those  very  respectable  Mexicans,  com 
posing  the  monarchical  party  at  Mexico,  had  been  obliged  to  leave  their  country — had  come 
to  Europe  to  endeavor  to  propagate  their  ideas  there,  a  course  of  action  which  was  assuredly 
very  lawful. 

The  idea  which  they  sought  most  to  present  before  the  world  was  that  Mexico  was  so 
weary  of  agitation  that  there  would  be  no  difficulty  to  be  met  with,  and  that  as  soon  as  a 
European  flag  should  appear  on  the  shores  of  Mexico  there  would  be  an  instantanecus  and 
general  uprising  ;  that  the  European  prince  who  should  be  sent  out  would  be  received  with 
acclamation,  and  would  ascend  a  perfectly  solid  throne.  This  i8  what  those  Mexican  exiles 
had  endeavored  to 'circulate  among  European  courts. 

In  London  they  would  not  listen  to  them  ;  they  were  told  that  there  was  no  intention  to 
interfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of  Mexico,  and  that  the  English  would  confine  themselves 
to  occupying  the  ports  of  Tampico  and  Vera  Cruz. 

In  France  the  ideas  of  the  Mexican  exiles  had  been  received  with  more  favor.  People 
allowed  themselves  to  be  p^reuaded,  (and  the  events  that  followed  prove  the  truth  of  the 
assertion,)  people  allowed  themselves  to  be  persuaded  that  at  the  first  appearance  of  the 
European  flag  in  Mexico  there  would  be  a  general  uprising;  that  no  difficulty  would  be 
encountered  ;  that  thus  all  the  advantages  would  be  procured  for  Mexico  which  Brazil  enjoys, 
and  that  we  would  have  the  honor  not  only  of  causing  justice  to  be  rendered  to  our  country 
men,  but  also  of  effecting  the  complete  pacification  of  that  fine  country. 

I  reproach  no  one  for  having  been  misled  by  these  representations.  I  would  gladly  wish 
the  delusion  had  been  no  delusion  ;  but  unfortunately  it  was  a  veritable  chimera.  It  was 
always  received  at  Paris  as  truth. 

At  this  moment  Spain  entered  on  the  stage.  You  know  how  high  souled  and  generous 
that  nation  is,  whose  fortune  has  sometimes  wavered,  whose  heart  never!  She  had  just 
had  considerable  success  in  Morocco  ;  she  was  very  proud  of  it ;  and  already  the  national 
imagination  dreamed  of  the  grandeurs  of  the  monarchy  of  Charles  the  Filth.  It  was  the 
moment  when  the  war  in  America  commenced,  and  you  remember  perhaps  that  at  that 
period  the  great  republic  of  the  north  was  as  much  decried  as  the  republics  of  the  south. 
It  was  said  everywhere — I  have  heard  it  said,  and  you  may  have  heard  it  also — that  America 
was  disgusted  with  its  governments,  and  that  all  the  old  colonies  would  willingly  return  to 
their  mother  countries.  A  singular  incident  which  occurred  at  the  time  was  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  confirm  this  sort  of  illusion.  Dominica,  (you  know  that  this  is  the  part  of 
Santo  Domingo  which  had  always  belonged  to  Spain,)  Dominica  rejected  the  republican 
form  of  government  to  re-establish  and  proclaim  the  Spanish  authority. 

I  remember  that  after  that  incident  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  persuade  the  public 
that  this  was  not  the  sentiment  of  nearly  all  the  people  of  America.  Spain  permitted  her 
self  to  be  led  away  by  the  idea  ;  she  accepted  the  proffered  return  to  her  authority,  and 
this  now  costs  her  a  fierce  war  in  which  she  expends  the  products  of  Havana  and  her  best 
soldiers. 

Well,  Spain  broke  off  relations  with  Mexico  for  the  same  motives  as  you  ;  she  broke  off 
for  a  foreign  treaty  to  which  they  were  unable  to  do  honor  at  its  failure,  and  she  hastened 
to  fit  out  a  great  expedition  at  Havana.  What  did  Spain  dream  at  that  moment?  I  would 
not  presume  to  say.  I  have  read  all  the  documents,  French,  English,  and  Spanish,  and  I 
confess  that  all  my  habits  of  seeking  to  penetrate  the  truth  in  historic  documents  have  not 
yet  clearly  shown  me  what  the  real  ideas  of  Spain  were.  What  I  believe  is,  that  the 
nation  inclined  considerably  towards  the  idea  of  a  great  enterprise  against  Mexico,  but  that 
the  government,  at  the  head  of  which  was  a  very  prudent  man,  Marshal  O'Donnell,  whilst 


292  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

to  some  extent  flattering  the  tendencies  of  the  nation,  resisted,  however,  because  prudence 
showed  them  the  danger  of  engaging  in  such  an  enterprise. 

Here  I  must  say  that  if  an  adventure  of  this  kind,  which  I  shall  always  style  an  adven 
ture,  whoever  it  is  that  undertakes  it,  was  excusable,  it  was  so  almost  on  the  part  of  Spain. 

Spain  has  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  a  point  of  immense  interest — Havana.     You  know  that 
Havana  id  a  magnificent  colony,  one  of  the  finest  in  the  universe,  and  that  it  is  for  Spain 
what  Java  is  for  Holland.     Spain  had,  therefore,  an  immense  interest  there  ;  she  had 
moreover,  an  admirable  base  of  operations. 

That  Spain,  therefore,  having  great  interests,  a  base  of  operations  in  Havana,  should 
have  been  tempted  with  such  an  enterprise,  I  believe  must  be  considered  a  fault ;  however, 
for  my  part,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  severest  policy,  I  should  have  been  somewhat 
indulgent  towards  her.  But  frankly,  it  is  towards  her  alone,  I  must  say,  that  I  am  indul 
gent,  in  the  consideration  of  that  dream  of  erecting  at  present  a  great  monarchy  in  the 
New  World.  When  she  learned  that  France  and  England  occupied  themselves  with  the 
affairs  of  Mexico,  she  hastened  to  open  a  negotiation  with  the  English  and  French  cabinets. 

At  London  she  was  well  received  ;  she  was  told  that  they  asked  nothing  better  than  to 
have  her  for  an  auxiliary,  but  that  they  did  not  wish  to  interfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of 
Mexico.  They  declared  this  to  her  in  the  most  formal  manner.  I  have  here  the  English 
collection,  which  is  full  of  these  despatches  They  declared  to  her  positively  that  they 
wished  only  to  seize  the  ports  of  Tampico  and  Vera  Cruz  This  declaration  cooled  off  Spain 
very  considerably.  Still  she  addressed  herself  to  the  French  cabinet 

In  France  they  did  not  tell  her  that  they  wished  to  confine  themselves  to  seizing  the 
ports  of  Tampico  and  Vera  Cruz  ;  they  entered  into  the  monarchical  ideas  of  Spain  ;  they 
only  told  her,  and  with  reason,  that  they  could  not  adopt  a  Spanish  prince  They  main 
tained,  and  it  was  natural,  the  principle  which  has  prevailed  in  the  affairs  of  Greece  : 
it  is  that  none  of  the  powers  which  concurred  in  this  enterprise  should  see  a  prince  of  its 
own  race  advanced. 

This  very  reasonable  declaration  cooled  Spain  off  still  more,  and  then  she  gave  her  ad 
hesion  to  the  English  plan.  I  do  not  say  that  this  was  done  entirely  without  regret,  entirely 
without  ulterior  intentions  ;  I  believe  that  Spain  in  adhering  to  the  English  plan  said  to 
herself,  that  perhaps  the  Spanish  fortune  would  smile  upon  her,  and  that  though  they  did 
not  wish  to  effect  any  more  than  the  English  plan,  some  happy  accident  might  perhaps  pre 
sent  something  better. 

It  is  clear  that  she  appeared  resigned  to  do  all  that  England  wished,  and  they  drew  up 
the  treaty  of  October,  1861.  This  treaty,  although  short,  would  be  too  long  to  read  to 
you.  I  shall  merely  analyze  it. 

It  was,  if  I  may  say  so,  but  a  mere  negation  ;  for  England  wished  only  a  maritime  ex 
pedition  tending  to  occupy  the  ports  of  Vera  Cruz  and  Tampico  ;  Spain  desired  a  monarchy, 
but  for  a  prince  of  her  own ;  and  France,  also,  desired  a  monachy,  but  for  an  Austrian 
prince.  . 

With  such  a  disagreement,  it  was  impossible,  in  signing  a  treaty,  to  sign  anything  but 
an  absolutely  negative  treaty,  but  which  was  not  the  less  obligatory  for  all  that  ;  and  by 
that  treaty  they  engaged  to  effect  the  mutual  concurrence  of  the  three  nations  for  the  sole 
purpose,  says  the  treaty,  of  obtaining  justice  for  the  subjects  of  the  three  governments. 
They  bound  themselves  not  to  make  conquests,  not  to  interfere  with  the  internal  govern 
ment,  to  name  a  commission  for  the  allotment  of  the  indemnities,  and  then  to  inform  the 
United  States,  in  order  that  they  might  also  unite  in  the  intervention,  if  they  judged  it 
necessary. 

^  A  very  singular  but  very  significant  circumstance,  and  one  which  well  proves  the  dispo 
sition  of  mind  in  which  each  of  the  three  nations  was,  is  the  number  of  the  forces  which 
each  had  offered.  Spain,  having  already  made  great  preparations  at  Havana,  declared  that 
she  would  send  6,000  men  ;  and  we,  who  now  wish  to  create  a  great  monarchy  in  Mexico, 
offered  2,200  men,  which  proves  that  we  had  given  full  credence  to  the  assurances  of  the 
Mexican  exiles,  who  told  us  that  at  the  very  appearance  of  the  European  flags  the  country 
would  immediately  arise  in  insurrection.  As  to  the  English,  who  wished  nothing  of  all 
this,  they  gave  only  700  marines  to  occupy  Vera  Cruz  and  Tampico. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  was  that  the  three  nations  began  their  action  against  Mexico. 

The  Spaniards,  who  were  the  first  on  the  scene  of  operation,  and  who  set  out  from  Ha 
vana,  arrived  at  Vera  Cruz  towards  the  middle  of  December.  For  their  chief  they  had 
General  Prim.  It  was  an  act  of  courtesy  on  the  part  of  France,  who  was  opposed  to  the 
selection  of  a  Spanish  prince,  to  accept  a  Spanish  officer  as  the  generalissimo  of  the  expe 
dition. 

All  Europe  knows  General  Prim.  He  is  an  officer  of  distinguished  courage,  of  much 
ability,  but  who  is  fully  endowed  with  all  the  Castilian  haughtiness. 

General  Prim  having  arrived  at  Havana,  set  out  from  thence  to  Vera  Cruz,  and  with  his 
sagacity,  which  is  very  great,  commenced  to  observe  the  country.  He  soon  saw  that  people 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  293 

had  flattered  themselves  too  much  in  Europe  ;  for  during  the  month  which  he  spent  in 
waiting  for  us,  the  Mexican  monarchical  party,  which  they  said  was  to  rise  at  the  first  ap 
pearance  of  the  European  flag,  made  no  movement  whatever.  General  Prim  saw  several 
members  of  this  monarchical  party,  and  to  all  of  them  he  said  :  "  We  do  not  come  here  to 
effect  a  revolution  ;  but  if  you  effect  one  without  our  interference,  we  will  consider  it  good  ; 
do  it,  if  you  can."  Well,  the  monarchical  party  did  nothing. 

People  waited,  and  all  that  was  seen  was  a  marked  movement  of  the  country  in  favor  of 
the  government  of  President  Juarez,  because  he  was  threatened  by  foreign  nations 

The  Mexicans  retired  ;  they  abandoned  to  us  the  ports  which  we  had  set  out  to  occupy  ; 
they  established  a  cordon  of  guerillas  around  Vera  Cruz,  and  formed  the  project,  unfortunate 
for  us,  but  for  them  very  well  conceived,  of  blockading  us  in  some  sort  in  the  midst  of  the 
pestilence. 

The  French  arrived  in  their  turn  about  twenty  or  twenty-five  days  after  the  Spaniards, 
and  disembarked  at  Vera  Cruz.  They  had  for  their  commander  a  very  distinguished  officer, 
a  man  of  ability  and  of  much  common  sense,  Admiral  Jnrien  de  la  Graviere.  He  set  him 
self,  like  General  Prim,  about  examining  the  disposition  of  the  people's  minds,  and  I  could 
cite  to  you  letters  which  he  wrote  to  General  Prim,  and  which  have  been  published  in  the 
discussions  in  the  Spanish  senate,  and  in  one  of  which  I  have  remarked  the  following 
phrase,  which  proves  to  you  what  opinion  he  formed  of  the  state  of  affairs  after  a  careful 
observation : 

He  wrote  thus  to  General  Prim  :  ;<  I  have  alwajs  been  disposed  to  agree  with  you  in  rec 
ognizing  the  necessity  we  are  under  here  to  avoid  embracing  the  cause  of  the  party  which 
composes  the  minority,  and  which  has  opposed  to  it  the  general  opinion  of  the  country." 

Such  was  the  opinion  formed  by  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere  upon  seeing  the  country  ; 
but  he  acted  like  a  prudent  man,  faithful  to  the  instructions  of  his  government,  and  waited. 
It  was  in  vain  to  wait ;  no  one  stirred.  However,  they  could  not  remain  indefi 
nitely  at  Vera  Cruz.  Although  it  was  winter,  (they  were  in  the  month  of  January,)  they 
suffered  much  in  the  very  close  encampments  in  which  they  were  lodged.  Already  the 
Spaniards  had  2,000  sick.  We  have  not  been  told  how  many  we  had,  but  we  had  many,  and 
especially  among  our  marines,  who  are,  in  general,  the  greatest  sufferers  from  these  sorts 
of  expeditions,  in  which  they  manifest  the  greatest  devotedness,  perhaps  not  always  suffi 
ciently  noticed,  [That's  true  ;  good  ;]  our  marine  force,  above  all,  suffered  cruelly  at  Vera 
Cruz.  As  to  the  English,  they  had  already  130  sick  out  of  700  sailors. 

General  Prim,  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere,  and  Commodore  Dunlop  declared  that  they 
could  not  remain  at  Vera  Cruz.  They  marched  out  from  that  city  and  encamped  at  some 
leagues'  distance  from  thence,  at  Medellin  and  at  Tegeria.  They  selected  somewhat  better 
quarters  there  ;  they  procured  provisions  for  themselves,  and  lived  in  somewhat  better 
style. 

However,  it  was  necessary  to  do  something ;  it  was  more  than  a  month  since  they  had 
arrived  ;  it  was  necessary  to  come  to  some  explanations  with  the  Mexicans.  They  issued  a 
proclamation,  in  which  they  announced  to  them  that  they  came  neither  to  conquer  nor  to 
revolutionize  the  country,  but  to  have  justice  rendered  to  our  countrymen ;  and  as  they 
wished  to  give  to  this  declaration  the  form  of  an  ultimatum,  they  sought  to  come  to  an 
agreement  in  regard  to  the  amount  of  claims.  Each  one  produced  his  own  amount. 

England  produced  hers,  which  was  the  most  considerable,  for  the  English  hold  nearly  all  the 
debt  of  Mexico.  England  demanded  about  seventeen  millions  of  piastres,  which  makes  about 
eighty-five  millions  of  francs  ;  Spain  eight  millions  of  piastres,  or  forty  millions  of  francs  ; 
the  other  nations  that  had  claims,  about  four  millions  of  piastres,  or  twenty  millions  of 
francs ;  and,  finally,  we  demanded  twelve  millions  of  piastres,  or  sixty  millions  of  francs. 

This  figure  appeared  a  little  surprising,  because,  after  all  the  talk  on  the  subject,  people 
thought  that  the  amount  would  not  exceed  ten  millions. 

However,  each  party  was  allowed  to  set  forth  his  own  pretensions.  But  when  all  was 
added  up,  it  was  found  that  these  sums  combined  amounted  to  forty  millions  of  piastres,  or 
two  hundred  millions  of  francs.  They  were  somewhat  scared  at  the  idea  of  demanding  such 
a  sum  from  the  Mexicans. 

Gentlemen,  I  shall  speak  to  you  presently,  for  a  moment,  of  their  budget,  if  you  are  not 
too  much  fatigued,  [no,  no  ;]  but  you  must  forthwith  know  that  the  Mexican  budget,  since 
the  separation  from  the  mother  country,  has  never  been  able  to  count  the  receipt  of  fifty 
millions  of  francs,  or  ten  millions  of  piastres  Now,  to  demand  of  a  nation  the  sum  of  two 
'  hundred  millions — that  is  to  say,  four  years  of  its  revenue —  appeared  an  exorbitant  and  very 
embarrassing  affair. 

They  were  in  this  state  of  embarrassment  when  M.  de  Saligny,  our  minister,  declared 
that  this  was  not  all  ;  that  there  was  another  claim,  and  he  produced  the  famous  Jecker 
debt. 

I  shall  not  enter  into  the  details  of  this  debt ;  we  would  need  the  subtlest  lawyer  to  dis 
entangle  the  truth  in  the  papers,  for  and  against,  that  have  been  written  on  this  subject.  I 


294  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

shall  confine  myself  to  saying  that  it  was  remarkably  decried  in  Mexico,  and  that,  when  it 
was  necessary,  for  a  debt  universally  recognized  as  usurious,  to  add  seventy-five  millions  to 
the  two  hundred  millions  which  were  demanded,  in  truth,  everybody  recoiled.  [Murmurs 
in  the  assembly.] 

I  confine  myself  to  saying  that  the  thing  was  decried  ;  if  it  had  a  good  reputation,  the 
commissioners  of  the  government  have  only  to  say  so. 

His  excellency  M.  RooHBR,  minister  of  slate.  Nobody  interrupts  you 

M.  TRIERS.  In  the  state  of  embarrassment  in  which  they  were,  they  decided  to  refer  the 
question  to  the  three  European  governments.  This  was  accordingly  done,  and  they  con 
fined  themselves  to  sending  to  the  city  of  Mexico  an  ultimatum  which  could  not  be  either 
precise  or  peremptory,  because  they  could  not  actually  say  what  they  demanded  But  yet 
it  was  laid  down  as  a  principle  that  they  had  not  come  to  conquer,  nor  to  revolutionize, 
but  to  obtain  justice.  Three  officers  of  the  three  governments  were  sent  to  the  capital ; 
they  were  received  with  remarkable  cordiality  ;  the  greatest  regard  was  manifested  for  them, 
and  they  were  told  that  if,  in  fact,  the  European  governments  had  come  to  obtain  justice, 
Mexico  was  ready  to  render  it  to  them  ;  and,in  fact,  they  repealed  that  famous  law  of  July 
17,  on  account  of  which  we  had  broken  off  relations,  and  which  had  enacted  that  the  exe 
cution  of  the  foreign  agreements  should  be  deferred  for  two  years. 

The  three  officers  were,  therefore,  sent  back  to  their  commanders,  who  had  sent  them, 
with  the  announcement  that  General  Doblado,  who  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  men  in 
Mexico,  and  who,  we  are  assured,  would  be  a  distinguished  man  in  any  country,  would  repair 
to  the  Mexican  headquarters,  in  order  to  treat  with  the  French,  English,  and  Spanish  pleni 
potentiaries.  Such  was  the  answer  sent  from  the  city  of  Mexico  to  Vera  Cruz. 

General  Prim,  who  saw  the  number  of  the  sick  increase  every  day,  said  to  Admiral  Jurien 
de  la  Graviere,  and  to  all  the  representatives  of  the  allied  powers  :  "  But  we  will  receive 
no  answer  from  Europe  for  two  months,  and  we  cannot  remain  at  Vera  Cruz  without  see 
ing  our  armies  totally  swept  away  ;  (it  was  then  verging  towards  the  month  of  February.) 
We  must  obtain  other  places  for  encampment."  Every  one  was  of  this  opinion.  They 
could  not  certainly  have  brought  into  the  field,  at  that  moment,  more  than  6,000  men. 
Mexico  had  15,000.  This  difference  of  number  was  nothing  very  alarming  (or  European 
troops  ;  but  the  Mexicans,  whose  military  qualities  we  have  had  occasion  to  see  are  not  at 
all  contemptible,  were  posted  in  very  strong  positions ;  and,  moreover,  in  the  confidence 
in  which  people  were  that  at  the  first  apparition  of  the  European  troops  all  Mexico  would 
rise,  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere  had  received  no  military  supplies. 

No  means  was  at  hand  to  transport  a  cannon,  an  ambulance,  or  a  commissary  wagon.  It 
was  impossible,  therefore,  to  carry  on  any  military  operations  at  the  moment,  and  to  take  by 
force  the  positions  held  by  the  Mexicans.  They  negotiated,  therefore,  with  the  Mexican 
general,  Doblado.  General  Prim  was  intrusted  with  the  management  of  the  affair  ;  he  de 
clared  that,  if  what  he  wished  was  not  done,  he  would  break  through  the  Mexican  army, 
and  General  Doblado  ended  by  conceding  the  following  conditions :  It  was  stipulated  that 
our  three  small  corps  should  be  received  at  Orizaba — that  is,  at  an  elevated  position  where 
there  was  no  danger  of  the  usual  diseases  of  the  coast ;  that  provisions  and  locations  wherein 
to  establish  hospitals  should  be  given  to  them  ;  but  that,  on  the  other  hand,  if  there  was  a 
failure  to  agree  in  the  negotiations  to  be  opened,  the  positions  given  us  in  good  faith  should 
be  restored.  This  condition  could  not  have  been  resisted  ;  it  was  accepted. 

General  Doblado  made  another  condition.  Since  you  do  not  come  to  conquer,  said  he, 
why  not  allow  the  Mexican  flag  to  wave  beside  the  Spanish,  English,  and  French  flagvS,  now 
waving  over  Vera  Cruz  ?  That  the  flags  of  the  three  nations  should  be  there  is  natural  enough, 
since  their  forces  are  there  ;  "but  the  Mexican  flag  should  be  found  there  also. 

General  Prim,  who,  notwithstanding,  was  not  a  man  of  very  pacific  temper,  also  accepted 
this  proposition.  There  was  a  third  demand  made  by  General  Doblado  which  was  peremp 
torily  rejected.  That  general  desired  to  have  the  custom-house,  which  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  allies,  restored  to  Mexico.  A  very  decided  refusal  was  given  to  this  proposition. 

This  is  the  celebrated  treaty  of  La  Soledad,  which  has  been  considered  as  dishonorable. 
Is  that  so,  gentlemen  ?  [Interruption.]  I  would  like  to  know  what  my  opponents  would 
have  done,  in  a  similar  case,  when  there  were  no  military  supplies  at  hand,  when  they 
had  not  yet  taken  possession  of  Orizaba,  and  when  they  had  come  to  negotiate.  There  was 
nothing  very  dishonorable,  indeed,  in  making  such  stipulations — that  is  to  say,  in  asking 
and  receiving  healthy  locations  for  encampment  on  condition  of  surrendering  them  again  if 
there  was  a  failure  to  agree  ;  it  seems  to  me,  I  repeat,  that  there  was  nothing  dishonorable 
in  that :  anyhow,  it  was  that  treaty  that  saved  our  three  little  coips  d'armte,  for  they  would 
have  surely  perished  by  the  pestilence  if  left  at  Vera  Cruz. 

M.  GRANIBE  DE  CASSAGNAC.  They  would  not  have  remained  there. 

M.  THIBRS.  They  would  not  have  remained  there  !  and  where  would  they  have  gone  ? 

His  excellency  M.  ROUHER.  They  would  have  gone  to  the  city  of  Mexico. 

M.  JUBINAL.  They  had  only  oxen  to  drag  the  cannon. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  295 

M.  the  PRESIDENT.  I  request  the  different  members  not  to  interrupt  the  speaker. 

M.  THIERS.  I  defend  here  the  honor  of  a  brave  French  officer,  whom  apparently  the  Em 
peror  honors  with  his  esteem,  since  he  has  attached  him  to  his  person.  He  was  one  of  the 
signers  of  that  treaty.  For  me,  I  am  glad  to  do  him  illustrious  honor  here  ;  I  am  convinced 
that  he  did  not  compromise  the  honor  of  France  in  saving  our  soldiers. 

If  there  were  guilty  parties  here,  do  you  know  where  they  would  be?  They  would  be 
among  those  who  thought  it  sufficient  to  send  a  few  thousand  men  to  Vera  Cruz  to  have  all 
Mexico  uprising.  [Approbation  on  some  benches  ] 

When  through  error  our  soldiers  have  been  endangered,  and  a  brave  officer  saves  them 
without  compromising  the  dignity  of  our  flag,  I  think  we  ought  to  be  just  to  wards  him,  and 
not  treat  men  so  lightly  who  have  been  placed  in  embarrassing  circumstances. 

A  VOICE.  Nobody  is  attacking  him. 

M.  TIIIBRS.  When  they  obtained  those  locations  for  encampment,  the  Mexicans  said  : 
"  Well,  you  have  received  the  locations  which  you  desired  ;  now  we  must  negotiate  " 

Bat  answers  were  expected  from  Europe,  and  they  were  told  that  no  negotiations  could 
be  had  before  the  answers  arrived.  The  answers  could  not  arrive  before  the  15th  of  April. 
They  agreed  to  adjourn  to  the  15th  of  April. 

The  despatches  of  the  allied  agents,  addressed  to  the  three  governments  in  Europe,  had 
found  those  governments  more  wedded  than  ever  to  their  own  ideas.  Thus  the  English 
showed  themselves  more  obstinately  bent  than  ever  to  occupy  only  the  ports  of  Vera  Cruz 
and  Tampico.  Spain,  who  no  longer  saw  any  chances  for  herself,  had  given  her  entire  ad 
hesion  to  the  English  plan.  As  for  us,  we  were  more  persuaded  than  ever  that  the  Mexican 
exiles  were  right. 

The  Mexican  exiles  of  the  monarchical  party  had  resorted  to  Austria.  They  had  seen 
Prince  Maximilian.  That  prince  had  given  them  a  kind  of  consent.  Then  they  returned 
to  Paris,  and  embarked  for  Vera  Cruz. 

The  French  government  had  added  4,500  men  to  the  expedition,  and  had  given  them  for 
their  commander  a  very  brave  and  very  distinguished  man,  General  Lorencez. 

At  the  head  of  the  exiles  of  whom  I  have  spoken,  who  left  Europe  to  return  to  Vera 
Cruz,  was  General  Almonte  The  part  which  hie  has  played,  and  which  he  now  plays, 
explains  what  his  dispositions  must  have  been  and  the  mission  which  he  received.  When 
he  arrived  at  Vera  Cruz,  he  published  the  fact  that  he  had  received  a  commission  to 
re  establish  the  monarchical  system  in  favor  of  an  Austrian  prince.  The  English  plenipo 
tentiary,  Mr.  Wyke,  who  was  always  exact  in  following  his  instructions,  asked  him  in 
what  government's  name  he  spoke,  and  he  added  that  it  was  not  certainly  in  the  name  of 
the  English  government,  for  he  had  received  instructions  quite  to  the  contrary.  General 
Prim  addressed  him  the  same  question,  and  said  to  him  :  "Assuredly,  you  do  not  come  in 
the  name  of  the  Spanish  government,  for  I  have  instructions  here  quite  different  from  what 
you  announce."  General  Almonte  declared  that  he  had  the  confidence  of  the  French 
government,  and  that  he  came  to  re-establish  monarchy  in  Mexico  in  favor  of  an  Austrian 
prince. 

This  immediately  gave  rise  to  a  very  serious  question.  We  had  come  to  Mexico  to 
negotiate,  and  we  had,  in  fact,  accepted  the  position  of  people  who  negotiated ;  we  had 
obtained  better  quarters  on  this  plea  ;  and  it  was  evident  that  oar  position  was  becoming 
a  false  one  when,  after  having  proclaimed  ourselves  as  ready  to  negotiate,  we  received  into 
our  ranks  an  exile,  a  very  respectable  man  assuredly,  but  one  who  proclaimed  his  inten 
tion  of  effecting  a  revolution. 

M.  GLAIS  BIZOIN.  As  respectable  as  General  Moreau.      [Interruptions.] 

The  PRESIDENT.  I  request  the  members  not  to  interrupt,  and  I  pray  the  speaker  not  to 
reply  to  those  who  do  interrupt,  because  that  encourages  them,  and  then  discussion  is  no 
longer  possible. 

M.  THIERS.  I  thank  the  president,  and  shall  follow  his  advice  as  well  as  I  can ;  but  I 
would  be  glad  if  those  interrupting  would  follow  it  also.  [Approbative  laughter.] 

Well,  the  English  and  Spanish  negotiators  said  to  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere :  "  Our 
position  is  becoming  entirely  false."  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere  replied:  "That  is 
true  ;  but  I  am  a  man  of  honor,  and  I  am  going  to  evacuate  the  positions  that  have  been 
given  to  us." 

This  was  the  declaration  of  an  honorable  man,  of  a  man  who  worthily  represented 
France.  [Several  voices  :  Good  !]  Bat  the  English  and  Spanish  plenipotentiaries  immedi 
ately  said  to  him  :  "  But  that  is  a  declaration  of  war  !"  Admiral  Jurien  made  no  reply, 
arid  invariably  said  :  "  I  am  going  to  retire." 

It  became  too  evident  that  the  representatives  of  France  had  received  special  orders,  and 
that  those  orders  were  favorable  to  General  Almonte — that  is,  to  the  ideas  which  he  repre 
sented.  They  asked  for  a  conference  at  Orizaba.  It  took  place  there  on  the  9th  of  April, 
and  I  regret,  gentlemen,  that  the  French  government,  in  it's  publications  in  its  yellow 
book,  has  not  published  the  proceedings  of  the  conference  of  Olizaba.  These  proceedings, 


296  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

it  is  said,  were  drawn  up  by  the  French  legation.  Perhaps  it  is  because  it  is  written  in 
French  that  this  conjecture  has  been  made  ;  but  it  matters  little  ;  it  is  signed  by  the  French 
legation  and  by  the  three  negotiators. 

It  is  therefore  perfectly  authentic.  I  shall  not  read  it  ;  but  if  it  had  been  printed,  I 
would  have  been  dispensed  from  making  this  long  recital  to  you,  and  you  would  have  been 
dispensed  from  hearing  it ;  for  that  perfectly  authentic  conference,  supported  by  the  signa 
tures  of  all  the  plenipotentaries,  offers  the  most  complete  and  striking  view  of  the  state  of 
affairs. 

Here  is  the  discussion  that  ensued  ;  I  proceed  to  resume  it  in  a  few  words.  The  English 
and  Spanish  plenipotentiaries  say  :  "  We  have  all  assumed  the  attitude  of  people  coming  to 
negotiate  ;  how  can  we  take  that  of  people  having  in  their  camp  a  leader  of  insurrection  ?" 
The  French  negotiators,  Messrs.  Jurien  de  la  Graviere  and  De  Saligny,  declared  that  it  was 
true .  M.  de  Saligny  did  not  pretend  to  conceal  the  fact  that,  as  for  him,  he  had  never  wished 
to  negotiate  with  Juarez,  and  that  he  had  always  been  of  opinion  that  a  monarchy,  Aus 
trian  or  other,  should  be  substituted  for  that  of  Juarez.  M.  Jurien  de  la  Graviere  made 
no  such  declaration,  but  he  said  that  he  had  orders,  that  General  Almonte  had  the  confi 
dence  of  his  government,  and  that  they  could  not  compel  him  to  leave  the  ranks  of  the 
French  army.  I  must  say  that  no  one  demanded  of  us,  and  that  no  one  would  have  in 
sulted  us  so  far  as  to  demand,  that  General  Almonte  should  be  delivered  over  to  the  Mexi 
can  army.  No,  no  ;  it  was  demanded  only  that  he  should  be  treated  as  General  Miramon 
had  been — that  is,  excluded,  if  not  from  Vera  Cruz,  at  least  from  the  French  camp.  Our 
representatives  declared  that  they  were  commissioned  to  interpret  the  treaty  of  the  31st  of 
October  and  the  treaty  of  La  Soledad  as  they  did  ;  that  what  they  owed  to  honor  was  to  retire, 
to  render  up  the  positions  temporarily  allowed  them  ;  but  that  they  could  do  no  more.  As  to 
the  impossibility  of  treating  with  Juarez,  they  replied  to  them  :  "  You  say  that  there  is  no 
security  in  treating  with  the  government  of  President  Juarez  ;  but  why  not  make  the  trial  of 
treating  with  him,  since  we  are  now  at  the  9th  of  April,  and  we  have  appointed  to  meet, 
on  the  15th,  the  representatives  of  that  government,  of  whom  the  principal  is  a  very  dis 
tinguished  man,  General  Doblado?  Let  us  wait  till  the  15th;  we  will  then  see  whether 
we  can  come  to  an  understanding  with  them  or  not."  Our  representatives  declared  that 
they  could  not  do  so  ;  and,  in  fact,  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere  abandoned  the  positions 
which  had  been  lent  to  him. 

From  this  time  forward  the  English  declared  that  they  were  going  to  re-embark  in  their 
vessels  ;  the  Spaniards  declared  that,  in  conformity  with  their  instructions,  they  withdrew 
likewise  ;  and  we  remained  alone  in  the  country.  We  remained  there  with  the  evident 
resolution — in  the  presence  of  what  is  passing  now,  it  is  no  longer  possible  to  throw  a  doubt 
upon  it — we  remained  there  with  the  resolution  of  founding  a  monarchy  in  Mexico  in  favor 
of  an  Austrian  prince. 

You  know  what  has  occurred  since.  Thanks  to  the  very  slight  information  given  to  us 
by  the  representatives  of  the  conservative  party  in  Mexico,  we  attacked  Puebla.  General 
Lorencez  attacked  it  bravely,  and  he  was  wonderfully  seconded  by  his  soldiers,  who  con 
ducted  themselves  heroically.  (I  beg  the  Honorable  M.  Beauverger's  permission  to  use  this 
expression,  which  he  likes  not  from  our  lips,  but  which  we  willingly  use  ) 

M.  DE  BEAUVERGER.  I  accept  the  expression  with  the  greatest  pleasure. 

M.  THIERS.  They  conducted  themselves  heroically.  But  if  they  did  not  succeed,  it  was 
not  their  fault,  nor  the  fault  of  the  general  who  commanded  them.  The  blame  was  laid 
upon  those  who  had  informed  us  so  badly,  and  on  the  next  day  there  was  but  a  general 
outcry  of  indignation  through  the  army  against  those  who  had  so  inopportunely  drawn  us 
before  Puebla. 

We  retired  to  Orizaba,  and  a  whole  year  was  required  to  repair  what  happened  at  Puebla. 
The  brave  Marshal  Forey  has  repaired  that  check  ;  we  have  been  victorious ;  we  ought  to 
be  ;  no  one  doubted  it ;  we  entered  the  city  of  Mexico. 

This,  gentlemen,  is.  an  exact  recital  of  events.  I  refer  to  the  documents  at  hand  that  I 
have  neither  altered  nor  distorted  a  single  fact,  and  that  this  recital  is  the  truth  itself. 

I  resume  the  account  of  facts,  and  I  specify  them  with  the  utmost  precision. 

It  was  on  account  of  the  delay  in  carrying  into  effect  the  agreement  signed  with  the  gov 
ernment  of  Juarez — an  agreement  which  had  accepted,  as  they  used  to  say  in  the  middle 
ages,  the  price  of  blood,  and  converted  our  claims  into  an  indemnity  in  money — it  was  on 
account  of  the  delay  in  the  execution  of  that  agreement  that  we  broke  off  relations.  But 
in  adopting  the  English  plan  it  was  no  fault  to  break  off  relations,  for  by  taking  possession 
of  Tampico  and  Vera  Cruz,  they  could  have  occupied  those  two  sources  of  the  Mexican  rev 
enue  until  perfect  payment  should  be  effected.  For  this  plan,  so  simple,  which  was  the 
English  and  Spanish  plan,  we  have  substituted  the  plan  of  founding  a  monarchy  in  Mexico. 
This  is  the  truth  and  cannot  be  contested  ;  it  is  as  clear  as  noonday.  [Assent  on  several 
benches.] 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  ask  your  pardon  for  having  detained  you  so  long  ;  [no,  no ;  speak 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  297 

on  ;]  but  it  is  not  possible  to  clear  up  affairs  so  complicated  without  entering  into  details, 
and  I  think  I  have  given  you  only  indispensable  details.  Now  I  come  to  the  practical 
question. 

They  tell  us,  "  We  are  in  Mexico  ;  how  shall  we  get  out  of  it  ?  "  I  confess  it ;  this  is  the 
practical  question  :  How  shall  we  get  out  of  it? 

France  ought  to  emerge  from  all  difficulties  with  honor,  and  without  detriment  to  her 
interests.  But  let  me  tell  you  one  thing  :  when  people  have  placed  themselves  in  a  false 
position — and  it  is  a  somewhat  false  position,  to  be  at  a  distance  of  3,000  leagues  from  our 
own  shores,  with  40,000  French  and  a  part  of  our  navy — when  people  have  placed  them 
selves  in  a  position  which  can  be  called  false,  if  they  can  extricate  themselves  from  it  with 
honor  unimpaired  and  interests  safe,  must  we  be  intractable  if  our  self-love  suffers  some 
what?  for  to  pretend  to  extricate  from  a  false  position  both  honor  and  interest  and  self-love 
in  safety  is  too  much  ;  Providence  is  not  so  indulgent  as  that  towards  those  who  have  com 
mitted  [Various  manifestations.] 

What  are  the  means  of  extricating  ourselves  with  honor  and  interests  safe  ?  My  God  ! 
The  means  are  very  simple.  If  it  were  necessary  to  treat  as  vanquished — oh,  never  !  but 
to  treat  as  conquerors  is  by  no  means  dishonorable.  The  next  day  after  the  entrance  into 
the  city  of  Mexico,  when  we  were  conquerors,  who  hindered  us  from  treating  with  the  gov 
ernment  of  Juarez,  which  we  had  vanquished  ?  What  was  there  more  simple,  then,  than 
to  treat  with  that  government  ? 

I  will  be  asked,  "  How  ?  Treat  with  President  Juarez  !  "  But  when  we  are  conquerors, 
when  those  whom  we  have  conquered  are  at  the  same  time  the  strongest  party  in  the 
country,  (I  am  going  to  give  you  the  proofs  of  tbis,)  and  when,  moreover,  that  party,  after 
all,  demands  nothing  very  unreasonable,  why  refuse  to  treat  with  it? 

The  proofs  that  it  is  the  strongest  party  are  these  :  Here  is  General  Bazaine,  who  to 
great  military  talents  joins  much  tact,  as  we  are  assured — I  have  not  the  honor  of  knowing 
him — and  much  political  ability — what  is  he  doing  ?  He  is  occupied,  you  see,  at  this  mo 
ment,  in  making  a  species  of  revolution,  and  inclining  from  the  party  of  the  old  regime,  as 
I  have  named  it,  towards  the  party  of  the  new  regime. 

He  has,  in  fact,  consented  to  separate  from  the  archbishop  of  Mexico  on  the  great  question 
of  the  national  property  ;  for  the  question  which  was  agitated  was  this  :  Should  the  entire 
proceedings  commenced  about  the  national  property  be  suspended  or  not  ?  If  they  were 
suspended,  that  would  signify  that  there  was  a  desire  to  reconsider  the  sale  of  the  national 
property  ;  if  they  were  not  suspended,  it  would  signify  that  the  sale  was  confirmed.  Well, 
no  ;  those  proceedings  were  not  suspended.  We  acknowledged,  therefore,  ourselves,  through 
the  ablest,  the  wisest  of  our  representatives,  General  Bazaine,  that  the  liberal  party,  which 
others  call  revolutionary — we  have  agreed  to  take  no  account  of  these  appellations — that 
this  party  is  the  strongest,  and  that,  moreover,  it  is  not  unreasonable,  since  we  are  doing 
exactly  what  it  wishes.  Was  it  not,  then,  I  ask,  the  simplest  tiling  in  the  world  to  treat 
with  that  party — that  is  to  say,  with  its  chief,  President  Juarez  ? 

And,  after  having  treated  with  him,  gentlemen,  the  question  was  settled,  because  at  the 
very  instant  we  could  have  withdrawn,  it  being  well  understood  that  we  would  retain  Tam- 
pico  and  Vera  Cruz,  as  the  English  and  Spaniards  wished  to  do,  in  order  to  hold  them  as 
pledges,  and  to  insure  the  execution  of  the  treaty  made  with  us.  Then  the  thirteen  or  four 
teen  millions  a  month  would  not  have  been  inscribed  in  your  budget ;  you  would  not  have 
40,000  men  beyond  the  seas  ;  arid  this  great  question  which  occupies  you,  which  troubles 
you,  this  great  question  of  the  detainment  of  our  troops  in  Mexico  would  have  been  re 
solved. 

I  will  be  told,  "  But  it  would  have  been  very  disagreeable,  after  having  announced  to 
the  world  that  we  were  going  to  establish  a  monarchy  in  Mexico,  that  we  would  be  able 
to  treat  with  a  prince,  to  renounce  that  monarchy  and  that  prince,  and  to  treat  simply 
with  Juarez." 

Gentlemen,  that  is  what  I  call  a  sacrifice  of  self-love.  But  I  asserf  that,  when  we  treat 
with  a  vanquished  enemy,  under  the  conditions  of  which  you  are  aware,  when  honor  is 
safe,  we  can  rise  above  all  these  petty  considerations  of  self-love.  The  essential  point  is 
that  honor  should  be  unblemished. 

But,  gentlemen,  in  order  to  judge  of  the  propriety  of  a  course  of  action  to  be  adopted,  we 
must  not  only  examine  it  in  itself ;  we  must  judge  it  from  another  point  of  view — we  must 
judge  it  by  comparison  with  the  contrary  course.  Now,  do  not  judge  this  resolution  to  treat 
with  Juarez  by  itself  only  ;  judge  it  by  comparison  with  another  resolution,  that  of  founding 
a  monarchy  in  Mexico 

I  shall  endeavor  not  to  detain  you  too  long ;  but  we  must  examine  this  thing  as  serious 
men.  I  ask  pardon  for  using  this  expression  ;  but  I  do  not  take  as  a  serious  matter  this 
consideration  of  the  Latin  races  opposed  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  races.  No,  this  is  not  serious. 
Let  us  speak  like  statesmen.  I  ask  you,  gentlemen,  is  it  a  matter  of  common  sense,  in 
the  present  state  of  the  universe,  to  think  of  establishing  on  our  own  account,  at  our  own 


298  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

expense  and  on  our  own  responsibility,  a  monarchy  in  Mexico  ?  Truly  I  said  to  you  at  the 
beginning,  my  reason  is  confounded  when  I  think  of  such  an  undertaking. 

Let  us  examine,  coolly,  what  is  likely  to  happen.  How  long  will  you  remain  there?  We 
are  told  that  the  foreign  legion  will  be  recruited,  that  a  Mexican  corps  will  be  formed,  and 
that  we  can  then  withdraw.  But  when  will  this  be  accomplished  ? 

Some  time  ago  we  were  told  with  great  seriousness  that  the  French  debt  would  be  paid 
from  the  resources  of  Mexico;  now  we  are  told  with  the  same  seriousness  that,  when  the 
foreign  legion  and  the  Mexican  troops  shall  have  been  recruited,  we  will  be  able  to  with 
draw.  Permit  me  to  answer  this  assertion  and  remind  you  of  what  has  passed. 

We  entered  the  city  of  Mexico,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  on  the  17th  of  May.  Some  time 
afterwards  the  rainy  season  began.  You  know  that  it  lasts  four  months.  We  were  obliged 
to  remain  quiet  during  all  that  time.  Then  when  the  rains  ceased  we  had  to  take  the 
field,  and  in  October  we  commenced  to  make  what  has  been  wittily  called  an  electioneering 
tour  in  favor  of  Prince  Maximilian.  [Laughter  and  divers  manifestations  ] 

We  commenced  operations  only  in  November,  and  we  are  probably  engaged  in  them 
now.  The  Prince,  who  is  announced,  will  not  certainly  reach  Mexico  before  the  month  of 
April,  for  they  say  that  he  will  not  set  out  before  March.  He  will  therefore  arrive  in 
April,  and  he  will  scarcely  have  time  before  the  rainy  season  to  receive  the  felicitations  of 
his  subjects  ;  for  I  have  no  doubt  he  will  be  well  received.  Do  you  remember  that  a  new 
prince  has  ever  been  otherwise  received  anywhere  ?  I,  for  my  part,  remember  nothing  of 
the  kind.  [Laughter.]  He  will  have  scarcely  received  the  congratulations  of  his  subjects 
before  the  rainy  season  will  commence.  We  must  remain  quiet  again ;  troops  cannot  be 
moved  except  in  September  or  October.  You  will  yet  be  obliged  to  protect  him  for  some 
time.  So  you  are  certain,  in  following  this  plan,  to  remain  in  Mexico  during  the  whole  of 
the  year  1864.  And  I  set  aside  the  expenses  ;  I  will  speak  of  them  presently  ;  but  anyhow 
we  stay  in  Mexico  with  our  whole  army  for  the  whole  year  1864.  Certainly  this  will  be 
denied,  but  it  is  true  notwithstanding  ;  we  are  there  for  the  whole  of  1864,  and  I  shall 
thank  Heaven  if  we  can  get  out  of  it  in  1865.  I  shall  be  told  :  "  We  will  recruit  the  troops 
destined  for  the  Prince."  I  should  be  glad  of  it ;  but,  in  any  case,  the  matter  cannot  be 
effected  immediately,  and  you  cannot  withdraw  your  troops  all  at  once  ;  you  will  be  obliged 
to  withdraw  them  by  degrees.  Believe  me,  there  is  no  exaggeration  in  what  I  say.  You 
will  stay  in  Mexico  for  several  years,  whatever  you  do.  Now,  in  the  actual  state  of  the 
world,  is  it  a  wise  resolution  to  remain  in  that  position  with  40,000  men  beyond  the  seas, 
and  when  the  seas  might  cease  to  be  free  ? 

Now  let  us  also  take  into  consideration  the  question  of  finance.  Undoubtedly  we  are 
great  financiers  at  the  present  day  ;  we  are  rich  enough  to  treat  questions  of  finance  with 
disdain.  Well,  gentlemen,  I  have  adhered  to  the  narrow  ideas  of  former  times,  and  I 
entreat  you  to  allow  me  to  speak  briefly  of  the  question  of  finances. 

And  to  commence,  how  is  this  question  of  finances  to  be  resolved  ?  As  we  have  hereto 
fore  done,  we  will  pay  everybody.  You  pay  the  French  army  now  ;  you  will  have  to  pay 
the  Mexican  army,  and  I  do  not  intend  to  reproach  the  government  for  so  doing  ;  it  could 
not  be  otherwise  ;  it  would  be  absurd  if  it  were. 

In  what  condition  will  the  Prince  find  himself  on  his  arrival  there  ?  He  will  not  have  a 
dollar  in  his  treasury.  The  largest  part  of  the  revenue  of  Mexico  passes  through  the 
custom-houses.  These  custom-houses,  gentlemen,  are  under  sequestration  now,  and  while 
we  act  as  garnishees  for  our  allies,  the  English  and  Spanish  will  receive  the  greatest  part 
of  these  revenues.  This  must  be  the  case  ;  I  blame  no  person  for  it ;  I  blame  only  the 
state  of  affairs  ;  men  I  blame  for  their  obstinate  persistence  in  such  a  course.  So,  at  this 
moment,  the  Mexican  government  has  the  greatest  part  of  its  revenue  sequestrated  by  the 
occupation  of  its  two  custom-houses  of  Tampico  and  Vera  Cruz.  Moreover,  also,  in 
extending  ourselves  to  San  Luis  Potosi,  we  were  told  yesterday,  with  a  most  cavalier-like 
disregard  of  geography,  that  we  occupy  two-thirds  or  three-fourths  of  the  country. 

M.  JULES  FAVRB.     They  said  seven-eighths. 

M.  THIEBS.  Ah  !  that  is  still  better.  The  truth  is  that  we  do  not  occupy  the  twentieth 
part  of  it,  not  the  twentieth  part.  It  is  true  that  we  occupy  some  very  populous  provinces  ; 
but  assuredly  out  of  eight  millions  of  people  we  have  no  more  than  two  millions  under 
our  authority.  I  do  not  say  that  the  Prince  may  not  work  wonders  hereafter ;  that  he  may 
not  succeed  in  occupying  all  Mexico  ;  1  should  be  glad  if  he  did.  I  speak  of  the  present ; 
of  the  engagement  which  we  make  in  remaining  in  .Mexico.  What  revenues  will  he  have  ? 
None.  Then  we  are  truly,  I  shall  say,  too  honest  to  draw  him  from  his  family  and  his 
country  [laughter]  to  leave  him  in  Mexico  under  the  impossibility  of  paying  his  own  army. 
It  will  be  necessary  to  pay  everything  in  the  beginning,  and  that  will  amount  to  much 
more  than  twelve  millions  a  month. 

But  now  I  am  reminded  of  the  loans.  Gentlemen,  we  must  do  ourselves  justice ;  if 
loans  are  easily  made  for  France,  as  we  can  convince  ourselves  everj*  day — a  circumstance 
which  we  regard  with  satisfaction  not  on  account  of  the  loans  themselves,  but  on  account 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  299 

of  the  public  opulence  which  permits  them  to  be  made,  which  is  very  different  [various 
noises] — do  you  think  that  Mexico  can  borrow  as  easily  as  we  do?  If  you  wished  to  give 
your  guarantee  it  would  be  very  soon  effected  ;  you  could  borrow  for  Mexico  whatever  you 
wished.  But  I  imagine  we  are  not  going  to  be  asked  to  pass  a  guarantee  for  a  loan.  We, 
the  members  of  the  opposition,  are  few  in  number  in  this  assembly,  but  on  the  day  that 
such  a  demand  should  be  made  I  should  not  be  astonished  to  find  ourselves  much  more 
numerous.  You  will  not  therefore  ask  us  to  guarantee  any  loan.  When  Mexico  shall  ask 
for  three  or  four  hundred  millions  that  will  be  necessary  for  her,  do  you  think  that  she 
will  get  them  ?  I  shall  enter  into  no  details  ;  but  Mexico,  you  know,  has  very  heavy  debts. 
It  has  its  internal  debt ;  it  does  not  pay  it.  It  has  its  debt  due  to  us;  we  do  not  ask  it  to 
pay  it ;  we  will  allow  time  for  that.  But  it  has  its  external  debt,  and  that  we  cannot  treat 
lightly,  for  the  debtor  is  a  hard  one,  England.  And  you  know  that  this  external  debt  is 
about  300  millions  There  are  besides,  claimants  from  other  nations,  on  whose  account 
the  war  has  been  undertaken,  and  who  claim  200  millions  among  them  all.  And  aPPar- 
ently  we  have  not  gone  to  Mexico  to  have  the  unfortunate  persons,  whose  rights  we  under 
took  to  defend,  lose  their  indemnity. 

Well,  we  must  collect  three  or  four  hundred  millions  to  commence  with.  It  is  said  that 
the  Prince  can  obtain  that  sum.  I  have  never  had  the  honor  of  being  near  enough  to 
him  to  appreciate  his  qualifications ;  I  doubt  not  that  they  are  very  great ;  everybody 
says  that  he  is  a  very  estimable  and  engaging  prince.  It  will  not  be  too  much  to  have  all 
his  talents  to  succeed  ;  it  would  be  necessary  for  him  to  have  as  much  as  his  father-in-law, 
and  that  is  saying  much,  to  enable  him  to  succeed,  in  a  few  years,  in  restoring  order  in 
Mexico,  or  in  persuading  the  capitalists  of  Europe  to  lend  him  three  or  four  hundred 
millions. 

,  It  might  be  perhaps,  as  I  said,  a  very  disagreeable  course  to  treat  with  that  Indian, 
Juarez  ;  but,  if  you  adopt  the  contrary  course,  there  you  are  reduced  to  remain  in  Mexico 
for  one  year,  two  years,  I  do  not  know  how  long,  and  you  are  condemned  during  that  time 
to  pay  everything.  You  see  that  I  do  not  darken  the  picture ;  for  if  that  happens  in 
Mexico  which  has  happened  in  Dominica,  where,  after  the  most  brilliant  reception  extended 
to  the  Spanish  authority,  they  have  passed  in  a  year  or  two  to  a  fierce  war ;  if  that 
happens  which  has  happened  at  Santo  Domingo,  the  embarrassment  would  be  great.  But  I 
lay  aside  these  sinister  auguries  ;  I  suppose  that  the  Prince  will  succeed  ;  so  be  it.  Yet  we 
are  engaged  by  our  policy  to  remain  for  one  year,  two  years,  three  years,  I  know  not  how 
long,  beyond  the  seas,  and  in  the  mean  time  we  are  obliged  so  pay  everything.  I  confess, 
gentlemen,  although  our  young  colleague  has  highly  admired  this  business,  that  I  cannot 
prevail  upon  myself  to  admire  it  [Interruption  and  various  movements  ] 

M.  le  Baron  de  BEAUVEKGER.  The  young  colleague  asks  to  be  heard. 

M.  TRIERS.  Now,  have  these  creations  of  new  states  succeeded  so  well  with  us  that  we 
should  be  tempted  often  to  renew  the  experiment  ?  Can  it  be,  perchance,  that  what  is 
passing  on  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  or  in  Greece,  is  very  encouraging  for  the  founders  of 
new  monarchies?  Certainly,  if  there  ever  was  a  justifiable  establishment,  it  was  that  of 
Greece.  This  carries  me  back,  and  carries  all  of  us  back  who  have  reached  my  age,  to  the 
recollections  of  our  youth.  You  know  with  what  enthusiasm  I  shall  say  all  mankind 
demanded  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  Greece ;  it  was  necessary  to  rescue  those 
unfortunate  Greeks  from  the  sabre  of  the  Turks.  You  remember  the  frightful  massacres 
which  we  witnessed  at  that  period. 

There  was  a  reason,  not  more  respectable  than  this  one,  but  I  shall  say  more  influential 
with  statesmen  ;  it  was  that  if  they  had  not  thought  to  pacify  Greece,  the  eastern  ques 
tion,  that  formidable  question  which,  some  day,  if  it  ever  comes  up  again,  will  cause  so 
much  blood  to  flow,  the  eastern  question  would  have  arisen  immediately  ;  and  they  acted 
wisely  when  they  created  the  kingdom  of  Greece,  both  on  principles  of  humanity  and  on 
principles  of  public  policy.  And  then  it  was  not  really  very  troublesome.  Which  were  the 
powers  that  concurred  ?  Russia,  England,  France,  the  three  powers  that  enveloped 
Greece  with  their  navy,  and  covered  her  in  some  manner  by  their  armies.  That  could  not 
have  been  very  troublesome  ;  and  at  that  period,  when  people  were  not  yet  accustomed  to 
grand  financial  scheme?,  the  mouey  required  was  not  very  considerable  ;  it  was  twenty 
millions  for  each  of  the  three  powers  that  co-operated  in  that  affair.  There  was  no  danger, 
therefore,  not  much  expense,  and  an  absolute  necessity.  More  reasons  could  not  be  com 
bined.  No  regret,  therefore,  could  be  entertained  for  the  erection  of  the  kingdom  of 
Greece. 

And  yet,  has  all  this  so  well  succeeded  ?  After  a  reign  of  some  years  the  Greeks  have 
sent  King  Otho  back  to  you.  He  had  done  no  harm  ;  he  was  not  possessed  of  much  ability  ; 
he  interpreted  the  constitutional  system  in  a  certain  way  which  did  not  prove  successful  for 
him,  and  at  last  he  has  been  sent  back  to  Europe,  which  had  given  him  to  Greece. 

And  immediately  the  Greeks  were  told:  "Well,  gentlemen,  as  you  please;  your  king 
does  not  suit  you  ;  well,  we  will  give  you  another."  [General  merriment.]  Another  was 


300  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

sought  out  and  found.  Here,  gentlemen,  I  must  say  that  I  admire  the  wisdom  which  our 
government  has  manifested  on  this  occasion.  It  left  to  England  the  task  of  finding  a 
king,  and  that  was  not  easy.  England  addressed  herself  to  that  Danish  line,  now  so 
rudely  shaken  ;  she  detached  a  scion  from  it,  and  of  it  made  a  king  of  Greece.  England 
added  to  this  a  sacrifice  which  will  appear  to  her,  when  she  reflects  upon  it,  more  serious 
at  bottom  than  it  did  at  the  first  moment ;  she  ceded  the  Ionian  islands,  and,  what'is  more 
important  than  the  Ionian  islands,  the  fortress  of  Corfu. 

Well,  England,  who  sought  out  this  king  and  conducted  him  by  the  hand,  who  made 
such  sacrifices  as  these  for  Greece,  is  much  more  unpopular  there  now  than  we  are,  who 
did  not  interfere  at  all.  [Approbative  laughter.]  Well,  gentlemen,  is  it  a  very  tempting 
business  to  proceed  to  erect  states  outside  of  one's  own  country?  You  are  attempting  a 
Greece  at  the  distance  of  three  thousand  leagues  from  France.  And  with  what  support  ? 
When  we  established  Greece  we  had  the  support  of  England  and  Russia,  and  the  good 
wishes  of  all  the  world  ;  I  can  assert  that  it  was  the  general  desire.  Well,  here  we  are 
establishing  a  monarchy  in  Mexico  ;  with  whose  good  wishes  ?  It  would  be  very  embar 
rassing  to  answer.  Ah  !  I  will  tell  you  :  yes,  you  will  have  the  somewhat  sarcastic  good 
wishes  of  England — the  English  papers  will  give  you  the  proof  of  it — you  will  have  the  sar 
castic  good  wishes  of  England,  on  one  condition,  and  that  is  that  the  custom-houses  of 
Tampico  and  Vera  Cruz  shall  serve  principally  to  pay  her,  and  that  you  will  come  in  last 
when  the  accounts  have  to  be  settled.  [Various  manifestations.]  On  this  condition,  I  am 
convinced,  she  will  be  well  disposed ;  she  will  tell  you,  from  time  to  time,  that  she  is 
delighted  to  find  you  yet  in  Mexico,  as  she  often  repeats  in  her  newspapers.  But,  with 
the  exception  of  this  raillery,  discourteous  enough,  perhaps,  she  will  not  at  all  inconve 
nience  you  in  what  you  may  do  in  Mexico. 

But,  after  England,  there  is  the  Anglo  Saxon  race,  of  which  so  much  is  said,  and  of  which 
we  must  take  proper  account.  Well,  the  United  States  now  respect  and  flatter  you,  for  it 
would  depend  on  you  to  decide  the  question  if  France  pronounced  for  either  one  of  the 
two  parties,  and  she  will  do  well  not  to  do  so.  For  my  part,  I  entreat  her  not  to  do  so, 
and  I  strongly  approve  the  course  of  the  government  in  maintaining  neutrality.  [Several 
voices:  Good  !]  If  France  declared  for  one  of  the  parties  the  question  would  be  decided, 
for  all  depends  on  her.  Well,  it  is  not  very  astonishing  that  the  United  States  now  respect 
you.  It  seems  to  me  certain  even  that  if  you  caused  Prince  Maximilian  to  pass  by  way  of 
New  York,  the  interests  of  the  north  would  insure  him  a  good  reception.  I  grant  it.  But 
can  any  man  seriously  believe  that  when  this  civil  war  shall  have  been  terminated — the 
termination  of  which  we  should  desire,  should  ask  of  Heaven,  not  only  in  the  interest  of 
humanity,  but  in  the  interest  and  in  the  name  of  all  Europe — can  any  one  believe,  I  say, 
that  the  United  States,  who  have  proved  to  us  on  other  occasions  that  their  memories  are 
short,  will  remember  the  careful  impartiality  which  you  have  maintained  ?  And  do  you 
believe  that  if  you  effect  anything  serious  in  Mexico  they  will  aid  you  in  completing  it?  I 
doubt  it. 

In  the  first  place,  without  any  interference  on  their  part,  that  will  happen  which  hap 
pened  in  regard  to  the  Havana.  They  declared,  in  regard  to  the  Havana,  that  they  would 
not  interfere  in  the  matter ;  I  am  aware  even  that  they  did  not  interfere  much,  and  yet  all 
the  adventurers  of  the  southern  States  of  America  threw  themselves  on  the  Havana. 

Well,  you  will  certainly  have  some  fifty  thousand  or  one  hundred  thousand  adventurers 
out  of  employment  at  the  end  of  this  deplorable  war.  Where  do  you  wish  them  to  go  ? 
They  will  only  have  to  cross  the  Rio  del  Norte  to  enter  Mexico.  And  for  whom  will  they 
go?  For  us?  Is  that  possible ?  No,  no  one  can  believe  that.  You  see,  therefore,  that 
you  have  a  Greece  at  the  distance  of  three  thousand  leagues,  with  the  coldness  of  England, 
with  the  inevitable  hostility,  sooner  or  later,  if  not  of  the  northern  fctates  of  America,  at 
least  of  all  the  men  in  their  service,  who  will  find  their  occupation  gone  when  the  war  is 
finished.  [Cries  of  good  !  good  !  from  several  benches.] 

Well,  I  confess  it  is  in  vain  that  I  regard  the  question  under  all  its  phases ;  I  cannot  yet 
find  a  serious  motive  for  such  an  enterprise.  Ah  !  it  is  true  that  we  are  told,  "  Mexico  is 
such  a  fine  country  ;  it  is  the  finest  country  in  the  world  !  Read  the  descriptions  given  of  it. 
You  will  find  there  immense  resources,  which  will  indemnify  you  for  all  your  sacrifices." 

Gentlemen,  for  a  long  time  I  have  examined  that  question ;  I  have  had  the  honor  of 
being  several  times  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  and  it  was  my  duty  to  consider  the  question. 
I  have  considered  it  seriously  since,  and  I  am  astonished  at  what  is  circulated  in  this 
respect. 

Mexico  is  very  rich !  Well,  the  celebrated  Humboldt,  when  he  visited  it,  destroyed 
many  illusions  in  reference  to  it.  Mexico  had,  at  the  end  of  the  last  century,  a  colossal 
reputation  for  wealth,  and  this  is  easily  explained.  Spain  produced  for  herself  alone,  by 
her  colonies,  nine-tenths  of  all  the  precious  metals  scattered  throughout  the  world.  Now, 
all  these  metals  were  thought  to  come  from  Mexico  alone.  For  this  reason  Mexico,  under 
the  name  of  New  Spain,  had  a  colossal  reputation.  When  Humboldt  visited  it  many  illu- 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  301 

sions  were  destroyed  in  his  mind.  And  since  then  other  travellers,  who  had  not  the 
sagacity  and  reputation  of  Humboldt,  have  found  many  more  illusions  to  destroy.  I  do 
not  t-ay  that  Mexico  is  not  a  fine  country  ;  but  look  out  at  America  ;  from  the  great  lakes 
to  Cape  Horn  there  is  not  a  country  of  which  the  same  could  not  be  said  that  has  been, 
said  of  Mexico.  We  have  but  to  take  actual  facts  Consult  the  statistics,  then,  and  you 
will  see  whether  that  wonder  is  as  wonderful  as  they  say. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  the  cotton  of  Mexico  ;  and  certainly  that  which  is  of  more 
importance  to  a  country  than  rich  mines  is  a  large  amount  of  agricultural  productions ; 
that  is  better  than  gold  and  silver. 

Cotton,  if  Mexico  could  furnish  it,  would  be  a  very  precious  product.  We  have  been 
told,  it  has  been  widely  circulated,  that  Mexico  could  furnish  us  with  cotton.  Well,  here 
are  the  rigorous  facts  in  this  regard.  I  have  converged  with  merchants  who  applied  them 
selves  to  the  cultivation  of  cotton  ;  I  have  consulted  the  directors  of  the  agricultural  school 
of  Mexico,  and  here  is  what  they  have  told  me  : 

Cotton  can  grow  only  in  the  low  lands  along  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  which  resemble  those 
of  Texas,  but  which,  unfortunately,  are  most  of  the  time  subject  to  the  malaria.  Cotton 
grows  there,  it  is  true,  but  they  have  not  the  labor  of  Texas — that  is,  black  labor  ;  they 
have  nothing  but  Indian  labor,  and  the  Indians  are  unwilling  to  descend  to  the  low  lands. 
They  have  been  so  badly  treated  there  by  the  Spanish  planters  that  they  have  retired  into 
the  mountains,  where  they  live  on  little,  and  it  is  only  in  cases  of  extreme  necessity  that 
they  enter  into  any  relations  with  the  white  race.  They  descend  only  as  rarely  as  possible 
into  the  lower  regions. 

Cotton,  therefore,  cannot  be  cultivated  in  the  low  lands  for  want  of  labor ;  and  out  of 
five  crops,  two  or  three  are  always  lost,  because  the  rains  of  the  month  of  March  attack 
the  cotton  at  the  moment  when  the  cotton  balls  are  opening.  So  the  cultivation  of  cotton 
has  been  almost  abandoned  in  Mexico  ;  it  is  yet  cultivated  to  a  small  extent,  but  this  cul 
tivation  scarcely  suffices  for  the  very  few  cotton  factories  in  operation  in  Mexico. 

On  the  table  lands  it  cannot  grow.  On  the  table  lands  there  are  four  months  of  inunda 
tion  and  eight  months  of  drought,  and  for  this  reason  all  cultivation  is  difficult.  Cultiva 
tion  is  possible  only  in  the  valleys,  and  there  it  is  magnificent,  it  is  true.  There,  where 
they  can  collect  the  water  and  preserve  it,  where  they  can  employ  the  means  of  irrigation, 
either  natural  or  artificial,  every  class  of  cultivation  is  magnificent ;  that  is  incontestable. 

Yet,  there  the  same  difficulty  exists,  the  want  of  labor.  At  a  period  when  Mexico  is 
said  to  have  been  in  a  remarkable  state  of  prosperity,  at  the  end  of  the  last  century,  or 
about  1803,  when  M.  Humboldt  wrote  his  work,  do  you  know  what  the  soil  of  Mexico 
then  produced  ?— and  certainly  it  is  not  more  cultivated  at  the  present  day-.  It  produced  a 
hundred  and  forty-five  millions  a  year.  Now,  compare  this  with  the  agricultural  produc 
tion  of  France,  and  see  how  much  it  represents.  There  has  been  great  discrepancy  in 
regard  to  the  amount  of  the  agricultural  production  of  France  ;  it  has  been  variously  esti 
mated  at  about  six,  seven,  or  eight  thousand  millions.  Well,  according  to  Humboldt  the 
productions  of  the  soil  of  Mexico  were  145,000,000  at  the  commencement  of  this  century. 

But  they  say  that  there  are  mines  The  mines  can  yield  from  120,000,000  to  130,000,000. 
These  mines,  of  which  they  talk  so  much,  assuredly  are  rich,  but  their  wealth  is  not  the 
essential  thing.  You  must  know  that  gold  and  silver  diggings  are  found  everywhere— in 
California,  for  example.  California  presents  no  great  amount  of  gold  wealth  in  the  portions 
of  the  country  in  the  neighborhood  of  San  Francisco,  and  the  Californians  have  crossed 
the  Sierra  Nevada,  and  have  found  magnificent  silver  diggings  beyond  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
between  that  range  and  the  Rocky  mountains ;  and  they  have  found,  moreover,  mercury, 
which  is  indispensable.  Other  miners  have  ascended  the  Fraser  river,  opposite  Vancouver's 
island  ;  diggings  have  been  discovered  there  of  the  greatest  richneps.  The  Americans  have 
also  proceeded  towards  the  Colorado,  and  they  have  there  also  found  diggings  extremely 
abundant  in  the  precious  metals. 

When  you  are  told  that  a  country  is  the  richest  of  countries,  because  it  possesses  mines 
of  gold  and  silver,  the  assertion  is  not  serious.  The  essential  requisite  for  the  prosperous 
working  of  mines  is  to  have  large  capital,  good  managers,  much  continuity  of  effort.  This 
is  found  with  difficulty. 

Well,  in  Mexico,  for  want  of  these  requisites,  do  you  know  what  has  happened  ?  The 
greater  part  of  the  capital  invested  in  the  mines  of  Mexico  has  been  lost.  The  English 
have  lost  more  than  fifty  millions  of  piastres,  or  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  francs. 
The  Germans  have  lost  fifteen  millions  of  piastres,  or  seventy-five  millions  of  francs.  Con 
sequently  we  must  not  imagine  that  the  mines  of  Mexico  are  anything  wonderful. 

Yes,  there  are  silver  diggings  of  considerable  importance — that  is  undoubted  ;  but  there 
is  no  mercury  at  hand  ;  it  has  to  be  bought  in  Europe  or  in  California.  That  would  con 
tribute  very  much  to  increase  the  expenses  of  working.  All  the  speculators  of  Europe  that 
are  ready  to  follow  Prince  Maximilian  to  Mexico  have  written,  "  I  have  seen  letters  trans 
mitted  through  the  most  respectable  houses."  Do  you  know  what  replies  have  been  re- 


302  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

turned  ?  Not  to  be  too  confident,  for  that  there  was  nothing  more  hazardous  than  working 
the  silver  mines  of  Mexico.  They  have  been  told,  even,  that  it  would  be  better  to  direct 
their  attention  to  the  copper  mines. 

This  explains  to  you  why  Mexico,  with  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  agricul 
tural  production,  one  hundred  and  twenty,  one  hundred  and  thirty,  or  one  hundred  and 
forty  millions  of  mineral  production,  making  about  three  hundred  millions  in  all,  has  only 
a  commerce  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  or  one  hundred  and  forty  millions,  importation  and 
exportation  combined,  in  which  we  enter  to  the  amount  of  twenty  millions. 

Well,  gentlemen,  as  dreaming  is  the  order  of  the  day,  I  am  going  to  have  my  dream  too. 
I  grant  you  the  most  that  you  can  possibly  imagine.  I  grant  you  that  Mexico  is  going  to 
succeed  like  Brazil.  Yes,  Prince  Maximilian,  who  is  a  man  of  talent,  will  be,  moreover,  a 
prince  of  pre-eminent  ability  and  skill  ;  the  Mexicans  will  all  at  once  rally  round  the  new 
monarchy  ;  they  will  not  act  as  the  mulattoes  are  acting  in  Dominica — the  Prince  will  per 
form  the  miracle  of  bringing  the  old  and  the  new  regime  to  perfect  accord  ;  he  will  reign  ; 
everything  will  turn  out  for  the  best ;  everything  will  turn  out  as  in  Brazil. 

Well,  how  do  matters  go  in  Brazil  ?  Do  you  know  how  long  it  has  taken  Brazil  to  reach 
the  point  to  which  it  has  arrived  ?  Only  fifty  years  It  has  required  princes  of  great 
•wisdom,  uninterrupted  repose,  happy  relations  with  the  whole  world,  and  fifty  years,  I  re 
peat,  to  attain  a  revenue  of  one  hundred  millions,  and  a  commerce  amounting  to  five  or 
six  hundred  millions.  Whilst  we,  gentlemen,  see  our  commerce  doubled  in  ten  years — it 
was  so  said  from  the  tribune  the  other  day,  and  with  justice — whilst  we  see  it  in  that  space 
of  time  pass  from  two  to  four  and  even  five  thousand  millions,  Brazil,  in  twenty  years,  has 
risen  from  about  four  hundred  millions  to  six  hundred  millions  ;  it  has  increased  one-third. 
And  how,  gentlemen  ?  By  peace,  by  time,  by  labor. 

God  has  given  to  man  but  one  magic  ring — that  is,  labor  and  patience.  [Good,  good.] 
Brazil  has  employed  this  means,  which  is  more  efficacious  than  the  precious 'metals.  I  am 
going  to  give  you  a  proof  of  it. 

Brazil  has  precious  metals,  also ;  it  has  scarcely  occupied  itself  with  them.  It  has  de 
voted  itself  to  agriculture,  and  it  possesses  one  admirable  branch  of  agriculture,  coffee.  Do 
you  know  how  much  coffee  it  gives  to  the  world  every  year  ?  At  the  present  hour,  more 
than  two  hundred  millions  !  That  is  better  than  the  precious  metals.  With  the  aid  of  re 
pose,  calm  and  quiet  liberty,  excellent  princes,  not  a  single  enemy,  and  a  period  of  fifty 
years,  Brazil  has  arrived  at  this  state. 

I  ask  you,  suppose  Brazil  had  a  friend  in  Europe  who  had  deeply  obliged  it,  most  sensibly 
obliged  it,  could  it  possibly  make  the  fortune  of  that  friend,  or  repay  him  for  the  efforts 
made  in  its  favor  ?  [Divers  manifestations  ]  It  is,  then,  a  mere  dream  to  pretend  that 
Mexico1,  by  succeeding  like  Brazil,  could  indemnify  us,  and  pay  the  five  or  six  hundred 
millions  which  we  shall  have  spent  for  her. 

I  am  well  aware  that  people  say,  "Oh,  yes  !  but  you  forget  one  thing  ;  you  forget  that 
a  miracle  might  be  performed."  A  miracle  !  What  miracle  ?  The  miracle  of  California. 

Ah  !  that  is  true.  They  have  talked  to  you  of  a  province  called  Sonora,  and  which,  it 
is  said,  must  be  like  California.  It  is  said,  "  If  we  had  something  there  like  California  it 
would  not  be  a  thing  to  be  despised,  and  we  would  have  no  reason  to  regret  our  sacrifices 
and  our  efforts." 

Gentlemen,  I  have  detained  you  very  long 

SEVERAL  VOICES      No,  no. 

M.  THIERS  I  shall  require  only  a  few  minutes  to  illustrate  this  miracle  of  California. 
If  you  will  allow  me  to  speak  a  few  words  to  you,  you  will  see  whether  this  wonder  is  any 
thing  so  prodigious  after  all,  or  calculated  to  make  the  fortune  of  a  government. 

Well,  yes,  the  diggings  of  California  are  very  rich  ;  are  those  of  Sonora  equally  so  ?  No 
body  knows.  There  are  some  German  engineers  who  have  written  on  the  subject,  and  who 
question  it.  The  truth  is,  that  we  know  nothing  about  it ;  and  this  should  render  every 
body  very  cautious.  As  for  me,  it  does  render  me  very  cautious  ;  and  I  declare  that  I  know 
nothing  about  it.  But  there  is  one  thing  that  I  do  know,  because  I  have  studied  geogra 
phy,  and  that  is  that  Sonora  is  situated  about  ten  or  fifteen  degrees  lower  than  the  country 
where  they  seek  for  gold  in  California— that  is,  some  hundreds  of  leagues  further  south,  and 
that  the  climate  is  one  of  the  most  dangerous  for  Europeans  ;  moreover,  there  are  ferocious 
savages  there — the  Apaches — who  have  hitherto  rendered  that  province  almost  unin 
habitable. 

But  I  am  willing  to  concede  this  point ;  I  shall  make  everything  easy  to  the  partisans 
of  the  Mexican  monarchy.  I  am  willing  to  grant  them  that  Sonora  will  be  the  easiest 
province  in  the  world  to  reside  in.  Well,  things  will  go  on  as  they  did  ia  California  ;  and 
see  how  they  went  on  in  California. 

When  it  was  discovered  that  there  were  sands  yielding  gold,  which  not  only  offered  facil 
ities  for  gaining  two  hundred  or  three  hundred  francs  a  day,  but  that  also  those  famous 
veins  were  found  which  could  yield  twenty,  thirty,  or  forty  thousand  francs  a  day — oh,  it 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  303 

was  just  after  the  termination  of  the  European  revolutions— all  the  outcasts  of  all  classes,  as 
they  have  been  styled,  rushed  to  California.  They  obtained  much  money  at  first,  it  is 
true.  In  the  beginning,  many  of  them  killed  each  other — fatigue  and  misery  killed  many 
more ;  for,  even  whilst  they  possessed  gold,  gold  in  abundance,  they  had  misery  at  their 
sides.  They  came  to  San  Francisco  to  enjoy  the  treasures  which  they  had  collected. 

Well,  for  an  article  of  clothing  which  here  at  the  Palais  Royal  could  be  procured  for  five 
francs,  they  were  obliged  to  pay  one  hundred  francs.  It  was  very  simple:  the  storekeepers 
of  San  Francisco  profited  by  the  condition  of  things  and  sold  everything,  it  may  be  truly 
said,  for  its  weight  in  gold.  As  these  storekeepers  themselves  were  obliged  to  pay  in  Europe 
for  all  that  they  had  need  of  in  California,  and  that,  too,  at  very  high  prices,  they  did  not 
make  such  extraordinary  profits  as  some  people  might  be  induced  to  believe.  So  that  the 
gold  of  California  was  somewhat  diffused  everywhere,  and  it  is  well  that  such  was  the  case. 
For  my  part  I  do  not  question  this  ;  I  seek  merely  to  know  whether  that  gold  has  been 
accumulated  anywhere  in  such  a  way  as  to  enrich  a  friend  who  might  desire  therewith  to 
enrich  another  friend. 

The  gold  of  California  was,  therefore,  diffused  throughout  the  world.  After  a  brief  time 
what  happened  ?  The  sands  became  less  rich.  The  gold-seekers,  who  had  not  been  pru 
dent  enough  to  be  economical,  were  obliged  to  stop.  It  was  necessary  to  open  shafts ;  it 
was  necessary  to  examine  the  beds  of  auriferous  quartz  ;  this  quartz  it  was  necessary  to 
break  up ;  after  breaking  it  was  necessary  to  employ  washing  to  separate  the  gold  from 
the  stony  matter.  It  was  necessary  for  companies  to  take  the  matter  in  hand.  Now  only 
companies  carry  on  the  works  in  California,  and  the  gold-seekers  have  become  simply  la 
borers. 

There  is  no  great  evil  in  this,  perhaps.  But  let  us  see.  Has  the  government  of  Cali 
fornia,  or  has  the  federal  government,  made  any  great  fortune  ?  The  facts  are  these  :  The 
government  of  the  State  of  California  has  seen  its  revenues  increase  a  little,  not  much. 
As  to  the  federal  government,  it  was  for  a  short  time  engaged  in  a  quarrel  with  the  State 
of  California  ;  it  asserted  and  proved  that  the  revenue  from  the  customs,  although  consid 
erably  increased,  was  just  sufficient  to  pay  the  expenses. 

Consequently,  the  gold  of  California  has  been  diffused  throughout  the  world,  it  is  true  ; 
but  it  has  not  been  accumulated  anywhere  to  such  an  extent  as  to  provide  a  government 
with  the  means  of  handsomely  recompensing  a  friendly  government  that  might  have  ren 
dered  it  great  services. 

There  has  been  a  wonder  produced,  I  acknowledge,  an  admirable  one,  the  only  one  now 
left,  I  can  tell  you.  Who  has  wrought  this  wonder  ?  Who  has  profited  by  it  ?  A  good 
creature,  in  truth,  which  makes  no  noise,  which  makes  no  promises,  but  which  works — agri 
culture. 

Do  you  know  what  has  passed  within  twelve  years  in  California?  That  province,  which  was 
entirely  uncultivated,  is  now  as  well  cultivated  as  one  of  the  finest  provinces  of  France. 
And  how  has  this  wonder  been  wrought?  Because  among  the  gold-seekers  there  was  a 
number  of  men  who  had  the  good  sense  to  buy  up  at  very  low  prices  some  parts  of  that 
soil  which  is  so  fertile  ;  they  have  cultivated  these,  and  now  California  sends  corn  to 
Australia. 

Here  is  the  wonder.  Yes,  there  is  one  province  the  more  now  in  the  United  States,  mag 
nificently  cultivated.  But  the  federal  government  is  not  for  all  that  dispensed  from  the 
necessity  of  using  paper  money,  as  you  know  ;  and  as  to  the  State  of  California,  it  has  gained 
almost  nothing  by  it. 

Well,  will  the  wonder  be  repeated  ?  Suppose,  I  repeat,  that  Sonora  is  a  California  ;  I  ask 
whether  means  will  be  found  there  to  indemnify  France  for  some  hundreds  of  millions  which 
she  will  have  expended,  and  for  the  dangers  which  she  will  have  run  ?  Not  at  all.  We 
must  lay  aside  these  dreams  ;  we  must  come  to  positive  realities  ;  and  I  now  resume  this, 
perhaps,  too  long  discussion,  [no,  no;  go  on,]  which,  if  it  has  not  exceeded  your  powers 
of  endurance,  begins  to  exceed  mine. 

The  truth  is  this :  The  wisest  course  would  be  simply  to  content  ourselves  to  maintain 
our  honor  safe,  to  have  the  interests  of  France  so  likewise,  and  to  desist  from  the  further 
pursuit  of  a  dangerous  and  chimerical  enterprise,  in  the  result  of  which  I  can  perceive  nothing 
to  advance  any  great  interest  of  France. 

Now,  I  shall  be  told  :  "  We  have  addressed  ourselves  to  Prince  Maximilian  ;  the  Prince 
is  going  to  set  out ;  we  have  entered  into  engagements  towards  him." 

That  is  true,  gentlemen  ;  but  it  is  your  part  to  come  to  the  assistance  of  tho  government — 
it  is  your  part.  And  beware  !  we  are  about  to  assume  a  great  responsibility  ;  for,  according 
to  the  language  you  may  use,  the  result  may  be  very  different.  If  you  express  yourselves 
in  a  certain  way,  the  French  government  might  say  to  that  Prince,  and  this  course  would 
be  honorable  to  all  parties  :  "What  do  you  wish?  The  public  authorities  in  France  are 
not  favorable  to  this  enterprise,  and  I  will  not  be  able,  perhaps,  as  my  honor  would  lead 
me,  to  sustain  you  as  long  and  as  energetically  as  I  would  wish." 


304  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

Well,  the  Prince,  who  is,  assuredly,  a  sensible  man,  when  the  French  government 
•would  address  him  thus  in  accordance  with  your  wishes,  would,  perhaps,  decline  to  accept, 
and  we  might  return  to  that  President — not  a  very  attractive  personage,  undoubtedly — to 
that  President  Juarez,  who  is  at  the  head [interruptions  and  numerous  cries.] 

Gentlemen,  it  seems  that  those  who  interrupt  me  find  that  the  responsibility  which  we 
are  about  to  assume  by  this  language  that  we  will  use  is  not  heavy.  I  congratulate  them  for 
thinking  so.  As  for  me,  I  do  not  think  it  so,and  I  believe  that  when  you  will  have  encouraged 
the  government  to  persist  in  its  designs,  which  will  depend  on  your  words,  it  will  be  entirely 
out  of  place  for  you  hereafter  to  refuse  to  it  the  troops,  the  sailors,  the  millions  requisite  to 
carry  out  to  the  end  what  you  are  now  going  to  undertake.  For,  reflect  on  it  well,  hitherto 
your  honor  is  not  engaged  in  the  affair ;  but  the  day  that  the  Prince  shall  have  set  out  with 
your  support  and  your  guarantee,  you  must  sustain  him  whatever  happens.  [Various 
demonstrations  ;  applause  around  the  speaker,  who  takes  his  seat.] 

Kecess  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 

Speech  of  M.  Berryer. 

I  have  but  a  few  words  to  say.  On  this  great  question  I  have  already  formed  my  opinion, 
decided  both  by  the  study  which  I  have  made  of  all  that  has  transpired  to  this  day  in  our 
Mexican  expedition,  and  by  the  examination  which  I  have  made,  as  far  as  it  is  permitted 
to  penetrate  the  future,  of  the  consequences  of  the  enterprise  on  which  we  have  entered. 

The  disposition  which  I  feel  at  this  moment  I  believe  is  shared  by  the  immense  majority 
of  this  assembly.  I  see  in  the  state  of  the  debate  only  a  question  on  which,  in  virtue  of 
a  right  which  you  all  assert  for  yourselves  since  it  is  constitutionally  established,  I  would 
have  wished  to  obtain,  or  that  you  might  obtain,  some  explanations  on  the  part  of  the  organs 
of  the  government. 

The  question  for  me,  in  the  present  state  of  the  affair,  is  absolutely  foreign  to  those  facts 
already  passed  and  discussed,  on  which  the  speaker  on  the  side  of  the  government  has  in 
voked  the  authority  of  established  and  decided  facts.  I  shall  not,  therefore,  examine  its 
antecedents,  and  if  I  refer  to  them  at  all,  it  will  be  only  to  deduce  from  them  something 
illustrative  of  the  troubles  arid  difficulties  which  the  future  may  have  in  store  for  us. 

The  question  of  the  moment  now,  that  in  regard  to  which  no  judgment  has  been  reached, 
the  question  on  which  I  ask,  and  I  presume  others  as  well  as  myself  will  ask,  some  positive 
explanations  from  the  government,  is  this  :  Are  we  soon  to  discontinue  the  occupation  of 
Mexico?  When  are  we  to  put  into  execution  the  last  instructions  sent  to  General  Bazaine 
on  the  24th  of  August  last  ?  This  is  the  main  question. 

FROM  MANY  BENCHES.  That  is  so. 

M.  BERRYER.  That  is  to  say,  can  the  government  assure  France  that  it  has  resolved  to 
quit  Mexico  soon?  Or  shall  we  be  told,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  desires  to  pursue  the 
establishment  of  a  monarchy  in  Mexico,  conformably  to  the  instructions  sent  to  General 
Bazaine  ?  This,  1  repeat,  is  the  real  question. 

In  the  antecedent  stages  of  this  affair,  we  were  told  that  the  expedition  was  not  under 
taken  for  ourselves  alone.  That  is  true.  As  to  the  past,  I  shall  not  discuss  in  any  manner 
the  motives  which  determined  us  to  undertake  an  expedition  to  Mexico.  We  had  to 
avenge  our  honor,  which  had  been  wounded  and  deeply  outraged  in  the  person  of  the 
representatives  of  France.  We  had  to  obtain  legitimate  reparation  for  material  injuries 
done  to  our  fellow-citizens,  and  reparation  also  for  the  assaults  which,  through  a  couiae  of 
violence  unexampled,  had  been  made  on  the  persons  of  several  among  them.  To  avenge 
our  honor,  to  obtain  lawful  reparation  on  these  two  accounts,  is  assuredly  a  very  natural 
motive  for  undertaking  an  expedition  against  the  government  from  which  these  two  classes 
of  reparation  are  to  be  obtained.  We  had  undertaken  to  reach  this  difficult  result,  and, 
it  is  said,  we  had  not  undertaken  it  alone. 

Here  I  shall  say  a  word  about  the  past  in  order  to  determine  precisely  the  condition  in 
which  we  now  are.  On  the  31st  of  October,  1861,  a  treaty  was  made  between  three  powers 
equally  or  almost  equally  offended  by  Mexico.  For  a  long  time  Spain  had  injuries  to 
avenge,  and  injuries,  too,  of  the  greatest  moment.  In  1858,  the  Queen  of  Spain,  on  open 
ing  the  Cortes  of  Madrid,  pronounced  a  warlike  speech  against  Mexico.  The  very  idea  of 
such  an  enterprise  by  Spain  alone  awoke  all  the  ardor  of  Castilian  imagination  ;  recollec 
tions  reaching  backwards  for  three  centuries  and  the  long  possession  which  Spain  had  had 
of  that  territory,  all  gave  reasons  to  think  that  Spain  would  be  very  glad,  in  view  of  the 
abominable  disorder  which  reigaed  in  Mexico,  of  the  anarchy  which  caused  the  fall  one 
after  another,  in  forty  or  fifty  years,  I  do  not  know  of  how  many  governments,  more 
numerous  even  than  the  years  themselves — that  Spain,  I  say,  would  be  very  glad  to  find 
an  occasion  to  reconquer  Mexico.  Her  ideas  became  more  animated  and  her  resolutions 
more  precise  when  the  great  embarrassment  of  the  United  States  occurred  in  consequence 
of  the  civil  war  which  has  broken  out  in  that  country. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  305 

I  do  not  wish  to  read  any  extracts  to  you  at  this  hour,  but  a  letter,  a  despatch  addressed 
to  M.  Mon,  the  Queen's  ambassador  at  Paris,  says  precisely  that  this  may  be  the  proper 
occasion.  Its  terms  are  :  "  The  government  should  not  conceal  " — that  is  the  expression 
used  in  the  despatch — "  the  government  should  not  conceal  that  this  may  be  a  suitable 
occasion  for  awakening  ancient  recollections  and  placing  on  the  throne  of  Mexico  a  prince 
of  the  blood  of  the  Bourbons  more  or  less  intimately  united  to  that  house."  This  despatch 
was  addressed  to  M.  Mon  in  1861. 

This,  then,  was  the  position  of  Spain  ;  it  was  known  to  France  I  know  not  what  passed 
at  Vichy  and  under  what  point  of  view  General  Prim  presented  the  ideas  of  his  country 
in  regard  to  Mexico  ;  but  what  I  do  know  is,  that  a  despatch  arrived  immediately  from 
Madrid,  of  the  date  of  September  10,  1861,  announcing  that  they  desired  to  know  whether 
the  French  government  would  be  willing  to  unite  with  Spain  in  making  an  expedition  to 
Mexico  to  demand  reparation.  M.  Thouvenel  immediately  answered  that  France  was  well 
disposed  to  unite  with  Spain,  but  that  she  would  not  do  so  without  being  of  accord  with 
England,  her  ally.  And  then  in  that  same  conversation,  as  is  stated  in  a  despatch  of 
October  13,  M.  Thouvenel  indicates  that  it  was  a  monarchy  that  was  to  be  established  in 
Mexico  ;  and  as  to  the  prince  thai  might  be  chosen,  the  three  contracting  parties  engaging 
not  to  procure  the  elevation  to  the  throne  of  Mexico  of  any  prince  of  their  own  families, 
assuredly  Prince  Maximilian  was  the  best  candidate  to  be  presented  to  the  choice  of  the 
Mexicans.  This  was  the  position  of  France.  As  to  England,  she  was  in  a  quite  different 
disposition.  England  thought  that  it  was  necessary  to  perform  some  vigorous  act  against 
Mexico  ;  that  it  was  necessary  to  take  possession  of  her  ports  and  of  her  outlets,  to  seize 
her  custom-house  revenues,  and  to  remain  satisfied  with  that  method  of  obtaining  a 
reparation  which  she  considered  sufficient ;  but  at  the  same  time  and  in  the  most  formal 
terms,  in  her  despatches  to  Mr.  Wyke,  she  declared  that  she  did  not  intend  under  any  con 
sideration  to  interfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of  the  Mexican  republic. 

It  is  true,  therefore,  as  the  Hon.  M.  Thiers  has  said,  that  when,  on  the  31st  of  October, 
the  three  powers,  in  these  three  different  dispositions,  made  a  treaty  in  common,  it  was  a 
veritably  negative  treaty  ;  for  it  was  impossible  that,  when  they  came  to  deliberate  on  the 
direction  to  be  given  to  the  expedition  thus  agreed  upon,  each  of  the  plenipotentiaries 
should  not  strive  to  make  the  results  of  the  deliberation  incline  towards  the  principle,  the 
ruling  thought,  of  his  own  government. 

Thus  our  agent  was  to  think  of  the  establishment  of  a  monarchy  in  Mexico  in  favor  of 
Prince  Maximilian  ;  Spain  could  not  see  without  pain  an  Austrian  prince  coming  to  occupy 
a  position  which  she  would  have  asked  for  a  prince  of  her  own  family  ;  and  England,  who 
did  not  wish  to  interfere  in  any  manner  in  the  internal  affairs  of  the  country,  must 
necessarily  have  objected.  I  speak  not  of  the  protests  made  against  the  exaggerated 
nature  of  the  debts  due  to  us  ;  these  are  details  of  the  past  which  I  omit.  There,  gentle 
men,  was  the  thing  which  brought  on  dissension,  when  we  presented  ourselves  in  Mexico 
with  General  Almonte  in  our  ranks.  Moreover,  this  dissension  was  in  the  nature  of  things  ; 
it  was  in  the  dispositions  of  the  three  governments,  in  their  intentions,  which  were  not 
altogether  secret,  at  the  time  when  the  treaty  of  October  31,  1861,  was  concluded.  The 
plenipotentiaries  did  all  they  could  to  come  to  an  agreement  with  each  other.  First,  the 
treaty  of  la  Soledad  was  made,  a  treaty  more  or  less  blamed,  more  or  less  approved.  They 
proceeded  to  Orizaba.  It  was  there  that  it  was  necessary  to  pronounce  the  final  words, 
and  it  was  there  that  they  broke,  off  before  they  had  opened  communication  with  the  com 
missioner  of  the  government  established  at  the  city  of  Mexico. 

Here  commence  our  faults;  here  commences  our  resolution  to  undertake  the  whole 
enterprise  alone,  a  fault  into  which  we  have  been  very  naturally  led  ;  and  to  this  point,  in 
my  retrospective  observations,  I  call  the  attention  of  the  assembly.  We  were  led  by  false 
reports,  by  lying  communications,  with  which  we  have  been  saturated  by  the  press  and  in 
every  possible  way,  to  regard  as  an  extremely  easy  enterprise  our  taking  possession  of  the 
Mexican  republic.  There  yet,  gentlemen,  lies  our  illusion  ;  we  have  yet  to  do  with  the 
same  persons,  with  those  who  have  deceived  us,  with  those  who  have  brought  our  govern 
ment  to  engage  in  this  affair  with  forces  entirely  insufficient,  and  who  brought  us  to  the 
necessity  of  retiring  from  before  the  strong  position  of  Puebla  in  1862.  Here  is  a  warning  ; 
it  is  the  only  one  which  I  would  wish  to  deduce  from  the  past.  When  faults  are  past,  we 
can  gratify  ourselves  in  enumerating  them. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  glory.  Yes,  the  glory  of  our  soldiers  covers  everything  ;  it 
covers  all  faults.  But  this  glory,  which  never  fails  us,  will  ever  be  the  same.  In  all 
engagements  it  has  been  the  same  in  all  ages,  since  the  first  day  of  the  French  monarchy, 
since  the  first  Christian  king  has  sat  on  the  throne  of  France  ;  the  French  soldier  has  ever 
been  the  same,  and  unfortunately  many  administrations,  and  guilty  administrations,  have 
sought  to  cover  their  faults  with  the  never-failing  idat  of  the  valor  and  glory  of  the  French 
soldiers.  [Several  voices :  Good,  good  ] 

Let  us  come,  then,  to  events  subsequent  to  their  victory  ;  let  us  pass  over  the  antecedents. 
H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 20 


306  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

You  have  to  obtain  reparation,  to  avenge  your  honor.  Have  you  done  nothing  ?  The 
commissioner  of  the  government  said  awhile  ago  that  it  was  not  a  coup  de  main  that  could 
suffice  for  us,  and  that  an  enterprise  such  as  that  which  has  caused  the  flag  of  France  to 
triumph  before  San  Juan  de  Ulloa  could  not  be  a  sufficient  action  in  the  estimation  bf  the 
three  powers.  We  were  alone  ;  but  have  you  done  nothing  else?  In  what  condition  are 
we  now  ?  This  is  what  I  pray  you  to  consider.  I  finish  in  a  few  words  ;  I  have  but  little 
strength  to  continue  my  address. 

But  you  have  not  stopped  at  a  coup  de  main ;  you  have  not  confined  yourselves,  in  con 
formity  with  the  English  policy,  to  seizing  the  ports  and  custom-houses  ;  you  have  gone 
further  than  this  :  you  have  stormed  Puebla  after  a  heroic  struggle  ;  you  have  entered  the 
city  of  Mexico.  Have  you  done  nothing  in  that  capital  ?  You  have  constituted  a  govern 
ment  there,  a  provisional  government,  I  acknowledge — but  a  government,  however — and 
you  have  placed  at  its  head  the  very  man  to  whom  you  gave  admission  into  your  ranks, 
whilst  presenting  him  as  a  leader  of  revolution  in  opposition  to  Juarez  and  his  government. 
This  government  of  yours  has  appointed  a  junta,  a  council  of  notables — I  know  not  what 
name  they  give  it — an  assembly  of  thirty  members.  They  are,  you  see,  in  possession  of 
power.  Who  are  the  men  whom  you  have  placed  in  £hat  position  ?  Those  who  told  us 
that  they  were  the  representatives  of  the  majority  of  Mexico  ;  those  who  told  us  that  we 
had  only  to  show  ourselves  in  their  company  on  the  coasts  of  Mexico  to  have  all  arms  open 
to  receive  us,  to  have  ourselves  overwhelmed  with  grateful  acknowledgments  And  you 
have  not  been  contented  with  a  portion  of  the  territory  ;  you  have  taken  the  city  of 
Mexico  ;  you  have  established  a  government  there  ;  you  have  done  more — you  have  made 
several  expeditions  since  your  occupation  of  the  capital  ;  you  have  extended  your  forces 
over  a  space  more  or  less  extensive,  which  is  a  very  slight  matter,  when  I.  compare  the 
points  on  the  map  over  which  our  troops  have  been  directed  and  the  immense  extent  of 
Mexico.  But,  in  fine,  you  have  assured  to  yourselves  a  territory  around  the  city  of 
Mexico  already  subjected  ;  you  have  given  to  that  government  which  you  created  an  army 
which  you  pay,  which  is  at  its  disposal.  It  has,  it  says,  the  majority  of  the  country,  and 
you  -have  no  difficulty  in  establishing  an  archduke  emperor  or  king  of  Mexico.  You  have 
given  a  capital  to  that  government  ;  you  have  conquered  its  enemies  ;  you  have  compelled 
the  Mexican  nation  to  undergo  the  cruellest  insult  that  a  nation  proud  of  its  unity  and  of 
its  existence  can  suffer.  You  are  masters  of  the  capital  and  of  a  small  part  of  the  surround 
ing  provinces.  You  have  constituted  an  army  a  government.  You  are  masters  of  the 
ports,  the  sole  outlets  of  that  country.  Who  hinders  you  from  suspending  war,  hostilities, 
further  enterprises?  It  is  not  with  Juarez  that  you  must  treat,  but  with  the  government 
which  you  have  made.  [Applause  on  several  benches  ]  Has  that  government  lied  ?  Is 
it  composed  of  men  who  have  deceived  France,  of  men  who  do  not  represent  the  majority 
of  the  country  ?  Is  the  approbation  now  given  to  the  French  enterprise  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Mexico  a  mere  fiction?  Are  we,  then,  in  presence  of  a  nation  now  covered  with  false 
hood,  with  a  negation,  and  does  not  the  government  which  we  have  established  represent 
the  majority  of  the  wishes  and  intentions  of  the  people  of  that  country  ? 

They  said  that  we  had  6,500,000  inhabitants  subject  to  our  authority.  Well,  when  your 
honor  has  been  avenged,  when  victory  has  returned  to  you,  when  you  have  wiped  out  all 
the  affronts  which  those  barbarians  have  essayed  to  impress  for  a  moment  on  the  face  of 
France,  when  you  have  regained  victory,  when  you  are  masters  of  the  capital,  when  you 
have  founded  a  new  government  which  is  surrounded  with  all  the  powers  which  it  can  and 
ought  to  use,  all  is  terminated,  why  not  stop  short?  Why  not?  Is  there  nothing  done? 
Have  you  done  nothing  ?  This  is  something  that  you  would  not  like  to  confess. 

In  view  of  this  state  of  affairs,  which  appeals  to  me  to  be  the  true  one  ;  when  you  can 
withdraw  with  the  honors  of  war,  when  you  are  conquerors  of  your  enemy,  when  you  have 
overthrown  Juarez  in  his  capital,  when  you  are  masters  of  that  capital,  when  you  have 
established  there  a  government  to  which  you  have  given  an  army— a  considerable  military 
force  organized  by  you  ;  in  view  of  this  state  of  aifairs,  I  say,  what  hinders  you  from  treat 
ing  with  that  government?  Is  there  anything  in  it  that  touches  the  honor,  the  self-love, 
or  the  interests  of  France  in  any  way  ?  What,  then,  do  you  wish  to  do?  Do  you  wish,  on 
the  contrary,  to  persist  in  the  development  of  the  instructions  sent  to  General  Bazaine  ? 
But  you  cannot  now  think  of  persisting  in  your  enterprise,  unless  you  recognize  the  insuf 
ficiency  of  the  government  which  you  have  founded  at  the  city  of  Mexico,  unless  you 
recognize  that  the  majority  of  Mexicans  which  you  boast  of  having  obtained  is  a  pure 
fiction.  [Applause  on  several  benches  ] 

If  you  do  not  treat  with  that  government  which  you  have  founded  yourselves,  it  must 
be  because  thaf  government  has  not  the  majority  of  the  people  of  the  country  on  its  side, 
because  you  alone  support  it,  because  now  the  people  of  that  country  bow  their  heads 
merely  on  account  of  the  presence  of  your  arms,  and  they  would  rise  up  in  insurrection  on 
the  day  that  your  arms  would  be  withdrawn.  [Several  voices:  Good,  good.] 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  307 

And  it  is  into  such  a  country  as  that  that  you  wish  to  take  an  Austrian  prince  to  be  there 
the  representative  of  the  majority  of  the  people,  to  be  the  child  of  your  victories  !  No,  no  ; 
you  will  not  do  so ;  the  undertaking  would  be  foolish  ;  it  would  be  insane.  You  would 
deliver  yourselves  up  to  all  sorts  of  adventures.  You  cannot  honorably  call  Prince  Maxi 
milian  to  Mexico  if  that  country  is  in  such  a  state,  if  the  government  which  you  have 
placed  there  is  not  sufficiently  powerful  to  sustain  him  alone.  Or  else,  if  you  persist  in 
calling  him  thither  in  spite  of  everything,  you  yourselves  must  maintain  him  there. 

Maintain  him! — eh!  gentlemen;  that  maybe  for  long  years,  for  in  order  to  sustain 
him  nothing  less  will  be  required  than  to  hold  Mexico  in  subjection,  if  the  majority  is  not 
really  gained  over  to  the  government  represented  by  General  Almonte  and  the  members  of 
the  junta.  Think,  therefore,  before  consolidating  a  kingdom,  an  empire,  at  the  distance 
of  three  thousand  leagues  from  us,  think  of  what  has  happened  at  our  doors  !  We  received 
an  affront  from  the  Dey  of  Algiers;  we  avenged  that  affront ;  we  reduced  his  capital,  which 
is  over  against  our  ports ;  and  we  have  required  fifteen  years  of  fighting  to  establish  our 
authority  over  a  nation  which  had  within  itself  no  causes  of  internal  distraction,  which 
was  not  broken  up  into  hostile  parties,  and  which  we  delivered  from  the  yoke  of  the 
Turks  ;  we  have  required  fifteen  years  of  struggle  to  succeed  in  the  pacification  of  Algiers ! 
What  an  enterprise,  then,  would  not  the  pacification  of  Mexico  be,  the  extinction  there  of 
the  political  passions  of  the  parties  which  divide  it,  the  rallying  them  around  a  new  mon 
archy,  after  that  unhappy  country  had  been  for  fifty  years  subject  to  so  many  commotions 
and  revolutions  !  How  much  resistance  would  you  not  have  to  overcome  in  order  to  make 
such  a  people  pass  from  the  republican  to  the  monarchical  state ! 

How  do  you  propose  to  have  the  dissensions,  manifested  in  the  conferences  of  the  plenipo 
tentiaries  of  the  three  nations  at  Orizaba,  cease  all  at  once?  Do  you  believe  that  the  causes 
of  those  dissensions  have  disappeared,  or  that  others  will  not  arise  ?  It  was  already  some 
thing  to  have  brought  Spain  to  unite  with  you  ;  but  did  she  not  do  so  because  she  hoped  to 
succeed  by  your  means  in  reconquering  her  ancient  colonies  ?  Do  you  believe  that  the 
English,  who  possess  a  part  of  the  Antilles,  who  possess  Jamaica,  and  who  are  so  jealous  of 
their  interests,  will  ever  regard  with  pleasure  a  power  which  may  be  able  some  day  to 
compromise  British  interests  in  those  quarters?  Do  you  believe  that  they  will  throw  no 
difficulties  in  the  way  ? 

There  are  other  sources  of  difficulty  which  have  been  spoken  of,  and  spoken  of  with 
reason  :  they  are  those  respecting  the  position  of  the  United  States. 

The  actual  condition  of  the  United  States  is  deplorable.  As  for  me,  with  all  the  old 
traditions  of  my  country,  I  am  a  devoted  partisan  of  the  American  Union ;  I  have  seen  it 
tear  itself  to  pieces  with  the  profoundest  grief ;  I  always  hoped  that  in  the  daily  increasing 
power  of  that  great  federal  republic  we  should,  by  its  commerce,  by  its  navy,  by  the 
development  of  its  population  and  power,  find  a  powerful  ally  for  France  in  certain  grave 
conjunctures.  [Several  voices  :  Good,  good.]  Nothing  afflicts  me  more  than  the  actual 
division  of  the  United  States.  I  fondly  hope  to  see  peace  restored  with  the  least  possible 
sacrifice  to  either  part  of  that  great  people.  But  however  things  terminate,  do  not  forget 
that  the  northern  States  will  always  constitute  a  nation  of  great  power  and  influence 
throughout  the  whole  American  territory  ;  do  not  forget  that  our  course  in  this  expedition 
to  Mexico  is  a  source  of  offence  to  them. 

NUMEROUS  VOICES.  No,  no. 

M.  BERRYER.  Those  who  deny  my  assertions  have  not  sufficiently  studied  the  documents 
before  our  eyes  and  all  the  historic  facts  that  cannot  be  denied,  and  which  go  no  further 
back  than  these  last  three  years.  I  speak  not  of  that  deeply  rooted  sentiment  which  is  the 
vital  principle,  the  nervous  centre,  of  the  political  existence  of  the  United  States,  of  that 
sentiment  which  is  called  the  Monroe  doctrine ;  that  is,  the  sentiment  of  impatience  and 
hostility  with  which  the  United  States  consider  the  intervention  of  any  European  power  in 
the  affairs  of  America.  [Divers  manifestations.] 

I  speak  not  of  that  sentiment.  But  how  have  you  commenced  the  Mexican  expedition? 
By  the  treaty  of  October  31. 

And  what  did  you  say  in  that  tieaty  ?  Yielding  to  a  desire  of  England,  you  said  that  the 
United  States  were  invited  to  enter  into  it ;  you  prayed  them  to  do  so  ;  and  yet,  in  a  letter 
dated  July  25,  1862,  I  have  read  in  so  many  words  that  it  was  necessary  to  form  a  new 
establishment  in  Mexico  precisely  for  the  purpose  of  diminishing  the  influence  of  the  States 
of  the  north  and  preventing  that  power,  whose  prosperity  notwithstanding  might  be  so  useful 
to  our  commerce,  from  obtaining  a  troublesome  development  in  South  America.  Thus  the 
Mexican  expedition  has  been  partly  undertaken  against  the  United  States.  [Vehement 
denials  ] 

I  exaggerate  naught,  gentlemen  ;  I  speak  the  truth.  Read  over  again  the  letter  of  the 
month  of  July,  1862,  and  you  will  see  there,  in  so  many  words,  that  it  is  necessary  to 
arrest  the  further  progress  of  the  United  States. 

Well,  if  you  succeeded,  when  the  United  States — towards  which  such  a  course  has  been 


308  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

pursued,  and  which  hold  that  vital  principle  of  which  I  spoke  just  now — should  see,  after 
the  termination  of  their  war,  a  state  which  you  could  not  sustain  except  at  the  price  of 
immense  sacrifices,  (and  however  immense  they  should  be,  unfortunately  I  should  be  afraid 
they  would  prove  useless,)  when  the  United  States,  I  say,  should  see  this  establishment 
raised  up  in  opposition  to  them,  hostilities  would  arise  from  all  sides  The  republic  of  the 
north  would  not  support  the  imperial  monarchy  of  Mexico,  and  war  would  break  out 
eooner  or  later.  Such  are  the  perils  into  which  you  lead  Prince  Maximilian  by  inviting  him 
to  assume  an  impossible  and  impracticable  position,  one  which  would  be  ruinous  for  France 
if  she  persisted  in  such  an  enterprise.  [Applause  on  several  benches  ] 

NUMEROUS  VOICES.  Let  us  adjourn. 

The  PRESIDENT.  I  presume  the  discussion  will  be  adjourned  till  to-morrow? 

NUMEROUS  VOICES.  Yes,  yes. 

The  PRESIDENT.  However,  it  is  well  that  we  should  understand  on  what  ground  the  dis 
cussion  now  stands.  There  are  two  amendments  relative  to  Mexico. 

M  JULES  FAVRE.  Will  the  president  please  to  permit  me  to  make  a  simple  observation  ? 

The  PRESIDENT.  With  the  greatest  pleasure. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.   We  withdraw  our  amendment. 

M.  GLAIS  BIZOIN.  Yes,  if  the  discussion  is  continued  to-morrow. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  Yes,  we  withdraw  our  amendment,  if  the  discussion  continues  to-mor 
row  on  the  amendment  supported  by  M.  Thiers. 

The  PRESIDENT.  The  question  is  not  on  stopping  the  discussion,  but  on  properly  under 
standing  the  state  of  the  debate  at  present  and  before  adjourning  it  over  until  to-morrow. 
[Applause  ] 

A  portion  of  my  intended  remarks  is  rendered  unnecessary  by  the  withdrawal  of  one  of 
the  amendments  as  just  announced  by  M.  Jules  Favre.  It  remains  to  me  to  say  that  it  is 
necessary  to  specify  precisely  the  character  of  the  amendment  to  be  discussed  to-morrow, 
and  that  we  should  establish  the  difference  that  exists  at  bottom,  though  it  is  not  evident 
in  the  terms,  between  the  amendment  and  the  paragraph  of  the  address.  [Marks  of  assent.] 
When  I  read  both,  they  appear  to  me  perfectly  concordant  in  thought  and  purpose.  I  hope, 
then,  that  this  confusion  will  be  cleared  up  to-morrow. 

M.  THIERS    Mr.  President,  please  read  the  amendment. 

FROM  ALL  SIDES.  To-morrow. 

The  PRESIDENT.  I  will  read  it  to-morrow. 

The  assembly  adjourned  at  half  past  six  o'clock. 


DISCUSSION   IN  THE   FRENCH  CHAMBERS. 

SPEECHES  OF  MESSRS.  THIERS  AND  FAVRE. 

Corps  Legislative,  session  of  Wednesday,  27th  of  January,  1864,  presidency  of  his  excel 
lency  the  Due  of  Morny. 

President  DE  MORNY.  As  I  announced  yesterday,  I  proceed  to  read  the  amendment 
actually  under  discussion,  that  presented  by  Messrs,  de  Grramtnont,  D'Andelarre,  Thiers, 
Lambrecht,  Male"zieux,  Ancel,  Plichon,  Martel : 

"Whilst  applauding  the  courage  and  heroic  perseverance  of  our  soldiers,  France  is 
anxious  about  the  proportions  and  the  duration  of  the  expedition  to  Mexico  ;  she  earnestly 
desires  a  speedy  conclusion  to  put  a  stop  to  the  sacrifices  which  this  expedition  costs  us, 
and  to  prevent  the  political  complications  of  which  it  might  become  the  occasion." 

Now  the  paragraph  of  the  address  is  as  follows  : 

"The  distant  expeditions  to  China,  Cochin-China,  and  Mexico,  in  succession,  have  in 
fact  troubled  the  minds  of  many  persons  in  France  very  much  on  account  of  the  sacrifices 
and  obligations  which  they  induce.  We  should  be  happy  to  see  the  speedy  realization  of 
the  good  results  for  which  your  Majesty  gives  us  reason  to  hope." 

Gentlemen,  I  do  not  pretend  to  say  that  both  are  absolutely  identical ;  only  that,  com 
bining  the  double  quality  of  president  of.  the  Chamber  and  chairman  of  the  committee,  I 
am  so  much  the  more  entitled  to  demand  that  the  questions  should  be  well  weighed.  It 
is  for  the  general  interest,  and  I  know  the  Hon.  M.  Thiers  too  well  to  doubt  of  his  appro 
bation  in  this  respect. 

M.  THIERS.  Certainly,  certainly. 

President  DE  MORNY.  He  cannot  desire  an  equivocation  ;  M.  Berryer  cannot  desire  it 
either  ;  the  Hon.  M.  Jules  Favre,  who  presented  an  amendment  still  more  expressive,  will 
also  be  of  this  opinion  ;  and  I  can  affirm  that  the  committee  and  the  Chamber,  no  less 
than  the  government,  desire  on  equivocation. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  309 

M.  THIERS.  Nobody  desires  it. 

President  DB  MORNT.  If  no  one  desires  it,  I  must  say  that  the  terms  of  the  address  and 
the  terms  of  the  amendment  seem  almost  identical  The  difference,  therefore,  must 
appear  from  the  developments.  I  say  this  in  order  that  the  conclusions  should  be  well 
weighed  and  the  Chamber  may  know  what  it  will  have  to  vote  upon. 

The  committee  has  expressed  the  same  wish  to  see  the  Mexican  expedition  come  to  a 
speedy  conclusion.  It  expressed  it  after  having  heard  the  commissioners  of  the  govern 
ment.  Only  the  committee  did  not  deem  itself  authorized  to  propose  to  the  Chamber  to 
dictate  a  practical  solution  to  the  government,  leaving  to  each  one  its  responsibility.  The 
Chambers  vote  supplies,  or  refuse  them,  and  express  their  desires;  but  the  Chambers 
dictate  neither  the  management  of  the  armies  nor  the  diplomatic  conduct  of  the  govern 
ment.  [Good,  good.] 

What  had  the  committee  to  do  ?  It  has  expressed  its  wish  to  see  the  government  with 
draw  as  soon  as  possible,  and  with  honor,  from  Mexico.  It  did  not  wish  to  go  further, 
and  the  Chamber  will  understand  why  :  it  is  because  it  wQuld  have  thereby  accepted  a 
share  of  the  responsibility  for  the  consequences,  supposing  that  in  consequence  of  the 
adoption  of  the  proposition  of  the  honorable  M.  Thiers,  which  consists  in  treating  with 
Juarez,  or  of  the  proposition  of  the  honorable  M.  Berryer,  which  consists  in  treating  with 
Almonte,  a  reaction  should  follow,  and  all  those  who  have  taken  part  for  France  should 
be  persecuted,  should  see  their  goods  confiscated,  and  should  be  ruined  themselves,  perhaps 
massacred.  It  is  understood  that  the  Chamber  is  not  authorized  to  enter  upon  such 
responsibilities  ;  the  Chamber  lets  the  government  act,  as  it  is  acquainted  with  the 
question  and  can  judge  it  more  closely,  and  can  come  to  a  rational  decision  based  on  the 
full  knowledge  of  all  the  circumstances,  whilst  accepting  the  share  of  responsibility  that 
belongs  to  it.  As  to  the  committee,  it  had  but  one  wish  to  express  ;  that  wish  is  in  accord 
with  the  sentiment  of  the  Chamber,  with  that  of  the  country,  and  probably,  as  you  will 
understand  hereafter,  with  the  desires  of  the  government.  Consequently,  I  return  to  the 
starting  point :  I  request  the  authors  of  the  amendment  to  be  as  precise  as  the  honorable 
M.  Thiers,  who  has  spoken  on  the  other  amendment,  and,  in  defending  this  one,  to  specify 
their  conclusions. 

M.  THIERS.  Gentlemen,  since  I  have  been  referred  to,  you  will  consider  it  quite  natural 
for  me  to  take  the  floor. 

Well,  let  us  first  explain  clearly  the  principle  of  constitutional  right.  To  dictate  has 
not  been  for  a  moment  in  our  intentions.  We  would  be  forgetful,  even  under  the  most 
rigorously  constitutional  system,  of  the  limit  of  our  duties,  we  would  be  forgetful  of  the 
limit  of  propriety,  if  we  had  intended  to  dictate  a  course  of  conduct  to  the  government  ; 
and  as  for  myself,  I  said  some  days  ago  that  I  conceded  to  the  government  the  initiative 
in  all  things.  So  we  are  perfectly  agreed  on  that  point.  TI  e  word  dictate  is  not,  to  my 
eyes,  a  constitutional  expression.  I  repudiate  it,  for  my  part ;  but  whilst  repudiating  the 
word  dictate,  I  accept  from  the  mouth  of  the  president— and  I  cannot  accept  a  better  rendi 
tion  than  his— I  accept  the  word  wish.  [Sensation.]  Do  you  frankly  ask  us  our  wish  ? 
Do  you  sincerely  desire  it  ?  I  will  give  it  to  you  very  clearly. 

The  PRESIDENT.  That  is  what  I  ask. 

M.  THIERS.  So  we  are  agreed  in  this.  The  question  is  not  to  dictate  on  our  part,  but 
to  express  a  wish,  and  a  wish  well  deserves  to  be  taken  into  consideration,  for  each  of  us 
here  represents  France  in  his  own  very  slight  way,  and  I  do  not  propose  to  speak  here 
merely  as  a  deputy  from  Paris.  No,  we  are  all  equal  here,  quite  equal.  [Good.]  I  pro 
pose  to  speak  for  my  290th  part ;  I  know  not  whether  this  is  exactly  the  ratio  of  represen 
tation.  Well,  in  my  opinion,  the  wish  of  France  is  this  :  that  as  soon  as  possible,  and  as 
honorably  as  possible,  we  should  withdraw  from  Mexico.  [Interruption.]  Gentlemen,  it 
is  not  your  wish  that  I  propose  to  express. 

VARIOUS  VOICES.  You  have  our  approbation.     Your  wish  is  the  wish  of  the  committee. 

M.  THIERS.  So  much  the  better;  and  so  when  I  took  as  the  divisor  of  the  fraction 
which  I  represent  the  number  290,  I  was  mistaken  ;  I  should  have  taken  a  smaller 
number.  I  am  delighted  that  we  are  somewhat  more  numerous  than  I  thought. 

NUMEROUS  VOICES.  All,  all. 

M.  THIERS.  I  thank  Heaven,  we  are  all  agreed. 

M.  BELMONTET.  No,  not  all. 

M.  THIERS.  Only  it  is  necessary  to  endeavor  to  find  expressions  on  which  the  agreement 
can  be  maintained.  [Various  manifestations.] 

SOME  VOICES.  Ah  !  ah ! 

M.  THIERS.  Ah  !  well,  we  all  wish  to  withdraw  from  Mexico  as  soon  as  possible. 

SOME  VOICES.  Honorably. 

M.  THIERS.  Eh  !  undoubtedly.  The  president  did  us  the  honor  just  now  of  telling  us — 
or  rather  did  me  the  honor  of  telling  me,  for  he  was  pleased  to  address  himself  to  me — 
that  his  text  much  resembled  ours.  [Sensation.] 


310  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

President  DE  MORNY.  It  ia  not  my  text. 

M.  THIERS.  It  is  not  yours,  Mr.  President,  in  the  same  way  that  the  amendment  which 
I  have  signed  is  not  mine. 

Presi  lent  DE  MORNY.  I  have  not  said  that  it  was  yours. 

M.  TIIIERS.  Yes,  Mr.  President,  you  said  so ;  but  it  does  not  matter.  I  say  ours, 
because  the  necessary  concurrence  of  several  signers  in  the  presentation  of  amendments 
requires  this  expression. 

Well,  I  must  tell  the  President  that,  after  having  read  the  paragraph  of  the  address  with 
the  greatest  attention  and  sought  to  find  in  it  any  likeness  whatever  to  the  text  of  the 
amendment,  I  have  been  unable  to  discover  any.  What,  in  fact,  says  the  text  of  the 
address  ? 

"The  distant  expeditions  of  China,  Cochin -China,  and  Mexico,  in  succession,  have  in 
fact  troubled  the  minds  of  many  persons  in  France  very  much,  on  account  of  the  sacrifices 
and  obligations  which  they  induce  " 
Thus  far  we  agree. 

"  We  acknowledge  that  they  must  inspire  in  distant  regions  respect  for  our  countrymen 
and  for  the  French  flag,  and  that  they  must  also  develop  our  commerce,  but  we  shall  be 
happy  to  see  the  good  results  soon  realized  for  which  your  Majesty  gives  us  reason  to  hope." 
If  fatigue  has  yet  left  me  any  understanding,  it  seems  to  me  that  this  means  the  follow 
ing  :  Many  wicked  tongues  have  condemned  these  distant  expeditions  ;  they  have  said 
"that  they  trouble  the  minds  of  many  persons  in  France  very  much  on  account  of  the 
obligations  and  sacrifices  which  they  induce."  Well,  sire,  we  do  not  share  in  the  opinion 
of  these  wicked  tongues,  for  "we  acknowledge  that  these  expeditions  must  inspire  in 
distant  regions  respect  for  our  countrymen  and  for  the  French  flag."  [Interruption.] 

So,  the  sense  of  the  paragraph  of  the  address  is,  in  my  opinion,  thus:  These  distant 
expeditions  have  been  blamed,  but  we  are  not  of  this  opinion.  We  acknowledge  that 
these  expeditions  will  have  such  and  such  advantages  which  we  are  impatient  to  see 
realized. 

Such  is  the  sense  of  the  paragraph  of  the  address.  And  what  is  the  wish  that  we 
express  in  the  amendment  ?  Undoubtedly,  we  do  not  pretend  to  say  that  all  distant 
expeditions  have  been  useless  or  unfortunate ;  but  we  say  that  in  general  they  present 
great  dangers,  and  that,  in  particular,  the  expedition  to  Mexico  is  inauspicious  in  itself, 
and  destined  to  produce  only  calamitous  results.  [Various  interruptions.]  This  is  our 
idea 

Count  DE  LA  TOUR.  I  request  permission  to  speak. 

M.  THIERS.  And  see  here  in  what  terms,  very  different  from  those  of  the  paragraph  of 
the  address,  we  express  it : 

"  Whilst  applauding  the  courage  and  the  heroic  perseverance  of  our  soldiers,  France  is 
troubled  at  the  proportions  and  duration  of  the  Mexican  expedition  ;  she  ardently  desires 
that  a  speedy  conclusion  should  put  a  stop  to  the  sacrifices  which  this  expedition  costs  us, 
and  prevent  the  political  complications  of  which  it  might  become  the  occasion." 

So,  the  two  points  of  view  are  very  different :  on  the  one  side  there  are  persons  who  find 
that  maritime  expeditions,  although  they  are  attended  with  many  disadvantages,  have, 
however,  this  advantage  of  causing  our  countrymen  and  our  flag  to  be  respected,  of  pro 
moting  our  commerce,  and  these  persons  desire  that  those  results  should  be  speedily 
obtained ;  on  the  other  side  there  are  persons  who,  without  opposing  all  distant  expedi 
tions,  specify  this  to  Mexico,  and  to  this  attribute  no  possible  good  result,  and  desire  to  see 
it  discontinued  as  soon  as  possible. 

Now,  as  to  treating  with  such  or  such  a  government,  that  is  a  distinct  question. 
NUMEROUS  VOICES.  Not  at  all ;  not  at  all ;  that  is  the  very  question  itself. 
M.  THIERS.  I  retract  nothing  of  what  I  said  yesterday,  but  I  state  the  question  thus  : 
Treat  with  whom  you  please,  Juarez  or  anybody  else,  but  beware  of  sending  out  a  prince  ; 
for,  when  you  send  him  out  under  such  circumstances  as  the  present,  it  can  only  be  under 
your  responsibility.     [No,  no.]    We  are  honorable  men  ;  we  are  upright  men.     When  you 
send  out  a  prince,  do  you  not  make  yourselves  responsible  for  his  subsequent  fortune  ? 
NUMEROUS  VOICES.  No,  no. 

OTHER  VOICES.  We  do  not  send  him  out ;  he  goes  to  Mexico  freely  and  of  his  own  accord. 
M.  GRANIER  DE  CASSAGNAC.  That  depends  on  what  conditions  we  have  made  with  him  ; 
we  are  responsible  only  as  far. as  we  are  bound  by  our  engagements. 

M.  THIERS.  I  would  wish  to  be  able  to  sum  up  all  objections  in  one  in  order  to  reply  to 
them.  Let  one  objecter  be  appointed  to  discuss  with  me,  and  I  shall  take  it  upon  myself 
to  discuss  with  him  ;  but  I  cannot  do  so  with  fifty'persons.  When  fifty  persons  cry  out  all 
at  once,  they  can  gay  what  they  please  ;  but  I  defy  any  man  of  good  sense  and  good  faith 
to  tell  me  here  publicly  in  discussion  that,  in  sending  out  a  prince  to  Mexico  under  our 
responsibility,  we  do  not  assume  a  moral  engagement  to  sustain  him.  [Cries  of  No,  no.] 
What  would  the  contrary  mean?  [Noise.] 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  311 

M.  GRANIBR  DE  CASSAGNAC.  It  is  the  prince  himself  that  wishes  to  go  to  Mexico  ;  we  do 
not  send  him  there. 

M.  ANDBE  (de  la  Charente.)  You  cry  out  to  him  not  to  go,  and  yet  he  goes. 

M.  THIERS.  You  ask  for  light  and  I  give  it  to  you.  I  say  that  the  integrity  of  France 
is  pledged  to  protect  a  prince  when  you  send  him  beyond  the  seas. 

SEVERAL  VOICES.  No,  no. 

M.  THIERS.  Well,  let  those  who  think  that  the  good  faith  of  France  is  not  pledged  rise 
and  proclaim  it.  Let  them  so  record  their  votes,  and  then  the  prince  will  know  on  what 
conditions  you  send  him  to  Mexico.  [Numerous  exclamations  of  Very  good,  very  good.] 

M.  GRANIER  DE  CASSAGNAC.  He  knows  the  conditions. 

M.  THIERS.  They  say  that  we  conceal  ourselves  behind  equivocations.  It  is  not  we 

[Exclamations.] 

President  DE  MORNY.    Who  does  conceal  himself  behind  equivocations  ? 

M.  THIERS  That  was  not  intended  to  be  addressed  to  you,  Mr.  President ;  I  shall  always 
be  courteous  towards  a  president  who  shows  so  much  courtesy  to  me  . 

But  I  say  that  those  who,  in  taking  away  a  prince  from  his  family  and  country  to  send 
him  to  a  distant  region,  whilst  pretending  to  bind  themselves  to  no  engagements  towards 
him,  conceal  themselves  behind  equivocations.  What !  he  goes  at  our  call,  under  our  pro 
tection,  and  yet  we  are  under  no  engagement  to  him ! 

A  MEMBER.  Let  the  government  explain  ;  it  is  its  duty  to  tell  us. 

M.  THIERS.  It  is  pretended  there  is  no  engagement.  Why  then  were  we  told  yesterday, 
that  because  General  Almonte  and  his  friends  were  at  the  city  of  Mexico,  because  they  had 
formed  a  government  with  our  assent,  we  could  not  now  abandon  them  ? 

When  1  said,  "  Treat  with  any  party,  with  Juarez  if  you  wish,"  it  was  replied  :  "That 
would  be  a  shame."  They  are  not  very  choice  in  their  expressions  to  us,  you  are  witnesses  ; 
we  are  particular  with  them,  but  they  are  not  at  all  particular  with  us.  [Interruption.] 
For  my  part,  I  have  been  always  particular.  However,  it  does  not  matter  much  ;  I  shall 
sacrifice,  without  pain,  my  self-love  to  my  conscience  and  to  moderate  liberty.  They  may 
take  any  license  they  please  with  me  ;  I  shall  suffer  anything  that  does  not  attack  my  dig 
nity  and  self-respect,  and  I  shall  never  imprudently  compromise  the  sacred  cause  of  that 
moderate  liberty  which  France  now  claims,  and  for  which  I  shall  ever  struggle.  [Appro 
bation  from  several  benches.] 

Therefore,  we  were  told  yesterday  that,  in  abandoning  General  Almonte  and  some  of  his 
friends  who  have  compromised  us,  who  have  conducted  us  before  Puebla,  where  six  thou 
sand  French  have  been  stopped,  we  were  told  that  to  abandon  these  auxiliaries  would  be  a 
shame. 

How  !  it  would  be  a  shame  to  abandon  General  Almonte  and  his  friends,  to  whom  we  are 
under  no  obligation ;  and  when  a  prince  shall  have  been  installed  at  Mexico,  conducted 
thither  by  you,  when  your  soldiers  shall  have  overrun  a  part  of  Mexico  to  give,  so  they  say, 
the  Mexican  people  an  opportunity  to  vote  ;  when  all  this  shall  have  been  accomplished, 
you  will  dare  to  tell  us  that  there  will  be  no  engagement  entered  into  with  that  prince ! 
If  that  be  so,  gentlemen,  words  have  two  meanings  They  have  one  sense  to-day  and  to 
morrow  another.  For  us,  they  never  have  but  one  sense,  because  our  words  are  the  words 
of  honesty,  and  honesty  never  uses  but  one  language. 

Yesterday  I  said,  and  I  repeat  it  now — for  when  we  treat  of  suchmatters  as  these,  the 
quality  of  the  persons  increases  still  more  the  gravity  of  the  engagements  entered  into — I  repeat 
that,  when  a  prince  is  taken  from  one  of  the  greatest  reigning  families  of  Europe,  when  that 
family  is  asked  for  a  prince  to  be  delivered  up  to  the  hazards  of  those  civil  wars  so  frequent 
in  Mexico,  to  pretend  that  there  is  no  obligations  contracted  towards  him  and  his,  is  to  ad 
vance  a  very  strange  idea  not  at  all  honorable  to  France. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  I  allowed  myself  yesterday  to  call  the  most  serious  attention  of 
the  Chamber  to  the  course  of  action  to  which  we  are  about  to  be  dragged. 

What  was  said  yesterday  on  the  subject?  Mention  was  made  of  facts  already  judged  ; 
and  I  was  astonished  to  hear  so  experienced  a  lawyer  as  the  honorable  M.  Chaix  d'Est-Auge 
speak  of  faots  already  judged  where  there  is  question  of  politics.  It  is  all  well  enough 
when  we  speak  of  the  decisions  of  courts  ;  I  admit  that  then  the  authority  of  facts  already 
judged  may  be  invoked,  but  I  cannot  admit  it  in  political  matters.  I  can  admit  it,  for  ex 
ample,  for  the  guidance  of  the  Chamber,  when  it  verifies  the  powers  of  its  members  ;  be 
cause,  in  the  question  of  elections,  gentlemen,  you  are  supreme  judges.  In  this  case 
the  authority  of  adjudged  facts  can  be  invoked  ;  but  in  politics  is  there  ever  an  adjudged 
fact  ?  Truly,  I  have  never  before  heard  such  a  maxim  advanced.  It  matters  not,  however ;  I 
accept  the  expression  ;  but  it  should  serve  as  a  lesson  to  you.  You  may  now  judge  of  the 
use  that  will  be  made  next  year  of  your  decision  of  this  year.  They  will  tell  you  that  you 
have  already  decided,  that  you  have  authorized  the  establishment  of  the  Mexican  monarchy, 
that  you  cannot  permit  that  establishment,  Scarcely  commenced,  to  fall,  and  that  it  must 
be  sustained.  Well,  I,  who  consider  this  expression  of  adjudged  fact  rather  badly  employed 


312  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

yesterday,  I  say  that  it  will  have  some  share  of  truth  this  time,  and  that  it  will  be  difficult 
for  you  to  refuse  your  fleets  and  your  soldiers.  It  is  for  this  rea-on  that  I  entreated  the 
Chamber,  and  that  I  entreat  it  now  again,  to  be  on  its  guard  as  to  the  vote  that  it  will 
give.  When  on  the  morrow  of  the  day  of  your  vote  the  prince  shall  set  out,  the  situation 
will  be  very  seriously  changed.  At  present,  while  I  am  speaking,  we  are  still  free,  and  so 
is  the  government.  Let  it  employ  that  method  of  solution  that  it  may  find  best,  for  do 
not  think  that  I  constitute  myself  the  patron  of  Juarez  ;  I  know  not  him  or  his  For  me, 
Juarez  is  the  representative  of  the  party  reputed  to  b§  the  strongest,  and  I  say  :  Treat  with 
the  strongest  party,  with  the  party  which  you  consider  as  suchr  since  you  seek  to  rally  it 
around  you,  the  opinions  of  which  you  recognize  as  good,  since  now  the  honorable  General 
Bazaine  sacrifices  Monseigneur  de  Labastida  to  those  opinions. 

If  you  do  not  wish  to  treat  with  Juarez,  treat  with  the  prominent  men  of  his  party  ;  de 
mand  of  them  the  sacrifice  of  Juarez  ;  that  is  of  no  consequence  to  me  ;  for,  fortunately,  I 
am  not  charged  with  the  management  of  public  affairs,  and  in  any  case  it  would  be  here 
that  the  president  would  have  reason  to  say  that  the  word  dictate  would  be  out  of  place.  In 
fine,  let  the  government  act  as  it  pleases  ;  still  a  most  important  point,  a  point  most  emi 
nently  evident  and  clear  as  noonday,  is  that,  by  encouraging  the  departure  of  the  prince, 
we  make  an  engagement  to  found  a  monarchy  in  the  New  World.  Well,  I  say  that,  in  the 
general  state  of  affairs  throughout  the  world,  it  is  an  engagement  that  I,  for  my  part,  would 
never  wish  to  make,  and  which  I  never  shall  make.  Let  those  make  it  who  wish  ;  as  to 
me,  I  repudiate  utterly  any  such  responsibility.  [Vociferous  approbation  from  some  benches  ; 
applause  around  the  speaker  ] 

President  DE  MOBNY.  It  does  not  belong  to  me  to  discuss.  If  I  diseased,  I  should  re 
quest  to  be  superseded  in  this  presidential  chair,  and  I  would  proceed  to  take  my  place  on 
one  of  those  benches.  I  have  merely  desired  to  say  that,  for  greater  clearness  of  debate, 
very  precise  explanations  were  requisite.  Those  explanations  have  been  given.  They  have 
elicited  the  real  sense  of  the  amendment,  which,  if  members  confined  themselves  to  criti 
cising  the  expedition,  both  draughts  would  remain  liable  to  a  confusion  which  might  be  trou 
blesome  to  the  Chamber.  [That  is  true  ;  good.] 

Now,  it  is  well  understood  that  both  draughts,  the  paragraph  of  the  address  and  the  amend 
ment,  if  not  different  in  terms,  are  so  at  least  in  their  conclusions  The  Chamber  will, 
therefore,  know  what  it  has  to  decide  upon  and  what  it  has  to  do.  [Good,  good.] 

The  minister  of  state  requests  permission  to  address  you. 

His  excellency  M.  ROUHER,  minister  of  state.  Gentlemen,  I  do  not  rise  to  discuss  the 
various  arguments  employed,  either  by  the  honorable  M.  Berryer  or  by  the  honorable  M. 
Thiers.  I  rise  now  only  to  weigh  the  question,  and  determine  in  what  terms  we  should 
continue  the  debate. 

The  honorable  M.  Thiers  has  said  to  you:  "  We  wish  to  withdraw  from  Mexico  as  soon 
as  possible  ;  we  wish  to  withdraw  honorably."  The  Chamber  has  accepted  these  two  decla 
rations.  In  fact,  these  two  declarations  are  the  sentiment  of  the  majority  aud  the  senti 
ment  of  the  government.  [Good  ] 

But  the  government  thinks  that  it  would  not  be  honorable  to  withdraw  by  treating  with 
Juarez.  [Good,  good.]  The  government  thinks  that  it  cannot  treat  with  General  Almonte, 
who  does  not  represent  a  regularly  constituted  authority  ;  that  it  can  negotiate  only  with 
a  government  springing  from  universal  suffrage,  when  a  contract  shall  have  been  estab 
lished  between  the  Mexican  nation  and  the  Archduke  Maximilian,  if  he  is  elected.  In  thus 
treating  with  this  sovereign,  the  French  government  will  not  have  contracted  a  permanent 
and  indefinite  obligation  to  maintain  an  empire  in  Mexico. 

This  is  how  the  question  stands,  and  in  this  light  I  shall  discuss  it  in  my  turn.  But,  at 
present,  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion.  You  wish  to  treat  with  Juarez.  [No,  no  ;  yes, 
yes.] 

M.  THIERS.  No  ;  I  request  to  say  a  few  words. 

A  VOICE.  Yes  ;  you  proposed  to  do  so. 

The  MINISTER  OF  STATE.  Let  us  avoid  personal  reflections.  The  honorable  M  Thiers  has 
complained  that  the  organs  of  the  government  sometimes  attacked  him  with  harshness. 
If  they  have  done  so  they  have  acted  unintentionally  ;  they  respect  his  character  and  his 
person  alike. 

M.  THIERS.  I  thank  you. 

The  MINISTER  OF  STATE.  They  respect  him,  and  especially  share  his  sentiments  when  he 
speaks  of  his  desire  to  see  his  country  enjoy  a  regular  and  rational  liberty.     The  govern 
ment  believes  that  it  has  founded  that  liberty  in  France.     [Good,  good.] 
M.  THIERS.  Begun.     [Exclamations.] 

The  MINISTER  OF  STATE.  The  government  believes  that  it  has  founded  that  liberty  in 
France ;  the  government  is  convinced  that  the  developments  which  you  ask  would,  by 
their  precipitancy,  compromise  the  degree  of  liberty  now  attained.     [Marks  of  assent.] 
And  now,  to  return  to  the  point,  if  I  was  wrong  in  saying  that  the  honorable  M.  Thiers 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  313 

proposed  to  the  Chamber  to  express  a  desire  to  have  the  government  treat  with  Juarez,  I 
took  up  the  general  question,  and  I  declare,  in  the  name  of  the  government,  that  Juarez 
is  our  enemy,  and  that  we  will  never  treat  with  him. 

I  declare,  in  the  name  of  the  government,  that  it  is  equally  impossible  to  treat  with 
Almonte  ;  and  the  question  being  thus  laid  down,  I  reserve  to  myself  the  right  of  unfolding 
to  the  Chamber  the  considerations  which  justify  the  principle  of  this  expedition,  which 
legitimate  its  different  phases,  and  which  should  characterizj  its  speedy  solution.  [Good, 
good.] 

M.  BERRTBR.  I  ask  permission  to  speak. 

President  DE  MORNY    M.  Jules  Favre  is  entitled  to  the  tribune. 

A  MEMBER.  M.  de  la  Tour  oua;ht  to  have  it  before  him ;  he  speaks  against  the  amendment. 

M.  BERRYER.  The  question  does  not  seem  to  me  now  to  be  on  the  absolute  merits,  but 
on  the  present  phase  of  the  question,  as  you  have  very  properly  observed,  Mr.  President, 
and  on  the  difference  between  the  paragraph  of  the  address  and  the  amendment.  This  is 
the  point  reached  in  the  debate,  which  is  but,  in  some  sort,  a  preparatory  debate  to  the 
general  discussion  that  will  ensue  on  the  amendment.  It  is  thus  that  I  understood  the 
debate  to  have  been  commenced. 

President  DE  MORNY  I  started  the  debate  on  the  difference  between  the  two  texts,  it  is 
true,  but  that  question  is  exhausted,  and  it  has  assumed  the  proportions  of  the  real  discus 
sion  by  the  speech  of  M.  Thiers,  which  the  minister  of  state  has  just  answered  by  a  simple 
declaration.  It  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  allow  this  debate  to  go  on,  which  is  merely 
based  on  a  difference  in  the  understanding  of  the  two  texts,  which,  I  believe,  I  have  de 
monstrated  to  the  Chamber.  The  discussion  should  now  continue  on  the  main  point,  and 
M.  Jules  Favre  is  entitled  to  speak  on  the  subject. 

M.  BERRYER.  It  is  on  the  declaration  of  the  minister  of  state  that  I  desire  to  say  a  word, 
and  as  to  the  difference  of  the  two  draughts.  [Interruption.] 

President  DE  MORNY.  M.  Jules  Favre  insists  on  his  right  to  speak. 

M.  BERRYER.  I  have  but  one  word  to  say.     [Speak,  speak.] 

The  declaration  of  the  minister  of  state  is  a  reply  to  the  question  which  I  asked  yester 
day  of  the  government :  Is  it  willing  to  treat  with  the  government  which  it  has  established 
at  Mexico,  or  does  it  desire  to  wait  and  establish  the  authority  of  the  Archduke  Maximilian  ? 
[Interruption.] 

Allow  me.  The  minister  of  state  has  made  a  complete  reply  to  the  question  which  I 
submitted  yesterday  to  the  assembly.  The  minister  of  state  has  said :  The  government 
cannot  treat  with  Almonte,  because  Almonte  is  only  a  provisional  establishment  which  has 
no  legal  character  in  that  country  of  Mexico. 

The  government  must  wait  for  the  imperial  establishment  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian, 
if  he  is  elected,  [noise  ;]  the  government  must  wait  till  he  is  recognized  by  means  of 
universal  suffrage  in  order  to  treat  with  him  ;  and  here  it  is — in  view  of  the  answer  given 
to  my  question  of  yesterday  by  the  minister  of  state — that  the  difference  exists  between 
the  two  draughts  There  is  a  kind  of  equivocation  and  ambiguity  in  the  address  ;  there  is, 
on  the  contrary,  in  the  amendment,  a  very  clear  expression  of  the  desire  of  the  assembly 
to  see  a  speedy  conclusion  put  an  end  to  the  sacrifices  which  this  expedition  costs  us,  and 
prevent  the  political  complications  of  which  it  might  become  the  occasion. 

In  this  state  of  affairs  there  is  but  one  question  more,  and  on  this  the  assembly  desires 
to  be  satisfied  :  Is  it  true  that  the  government  has  made  no  engagement  to  bind  the  coun 
try,  either  in  a  financial  point  of  view,  or  as  regards  its  soldiers  ?  Are  we  under  any  obli 
gation,  or  are  we  not? 

His  excellency  M.  ROUHER.  If  you  had  read  the  report  of  the  honorable  M.  Larrabure  you 
would  have  been  instructed. 

M.  SEQRIS  I  request  permission  to  say  one  word,  in  order  to  complete  the  remark  of  the 
minister  of  state  in  reference  to  the  report  of  M  Larrabure.  Here  is  the  reply  of  the 
organs  of  the  government  which  I  find  in  that  report,  and  which  I,  for  my  part,  fully 
accept : 

"At  this  moment  the  Emperor's  government  declares  " — 

M.  THIERS.  At  this  moment ! 

M.  SEQRIS.  "At  this  moment  the  Emperor's  government  declares  that  it  has  made  no 
engagement  with  any  one  either  to  leave  a  corps  of  French  troops  in  Mexico,  or  to  guaran 
tee  any  loan  whatever;  it  declares  that.it  has  no  reason  to  think  that  it  is  necessary  to 
increase  the  number  of  the  French  forces  actually  on  the  soil  of  Mexico  ;  that  the  movements 
which  will  take  place  up  to  their  withdrawal  shall  be  for  no  other  object  than  to  replace 
the  sick  and  those  entitled  to  discharge." 

M.  THIERS.  At  this  moment !     [Various  kinds  of  manifestations  ] 

M.  SEQRIS.  That  is  exactly  the  declaration  which  the  minister  of  state  has  confirmed. 
His  excellency  M.  ROUHER,  minister  of  state.  I  retract  nothing  whatever  of  it. 
President  DE  MORNY.  M.  de  la  Tour  is  entitled  to  speak. 


314  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

COUNT  DB  LA  TOUR.  Gentlemen,  the  declarations  which  you  have  just  heard  have  enlightened 
us  on  what  we  have  to  do,  and  we  know  how  our  votes  should  be.  Undoubtedly  we  must 
regret  that  the  so  rapid  succession  of  the  expeditions  to  China,  Cochin-China,  and  Mexico, 
have  occurred  to  weigh  down  our  finances  almost  simultaneously,  and  to  derange  for  a 
moment  the  equilibrium  of  our  budget.  Undoubtedly  we  must  regret  that  the  defection 
of  Spain  and  England  has  constrained  us  to  give  such  considerable  proportions  to  our 
Mexican  expedition  ;  but  it  is  impossible  for  the  majority  to  give  way  to  the  exaggerated 
statements  made  in  this  assembly.  • 

It  is  impossible  for  us  to  lay  a  formal,  absolute  blame  on  our  troops  engaged  in  a  national 
contest  against  an  enemy  who  has  shown  himself  unworthy  of  our  generosity,  against  gen 
erals  who  have  even  violated  military  honor,  for  among  them  there  are  some  who  had 
been  let  free  on  their  parole,  and  who  have  again  taken  up  arms  against  us. 

In  the  first  place,  gentlemen,  the  simple  examination  of  the  situation  should  suffice  to 
make  us  reject  the  amendment  proposed.  Whenever  our  army  has  been  engaged  abroad 
in  a  conflict  for  a  just  and  noble  cause,  it  is  impossible  for  a  French  Chamber  to  desert  its 
flag,  and  in  a  kind  of  a  way  pass  over  to  the  enemy  by  passing  a  resolution  of  disavowal 
of  the  acts  of  our  soldiers.  [Interruptions  of  various  kinds.] 

Yes,  it  is  thus,  gentlemen,  that  I  believe  myself  authorized  to  interpret  the  amendment 
proposed  to  you  ;  it  is  a  formal  disavowal  of  the  expedition,  a  formal  censure  of  the  mon 
archy  which  we  propose  to  establish  in  Mexico.  Now,  I  believe  that,  from  the  moment 
we  were  led  to  Mexico,  the  very  best  course  for  us  to  adopt  was  precisely  to  endeavor  to 
establish  a  monarchy  in  Mexico. 

In  fact,  gentlemen,  consider  the  necessity  of  establishing  a  certain  equilibrium  in  Mexico. 
[Noise.] 

Please  dwell  upon  one  consideration,  certainly  a  most  important  one  ;  it  is,  that  one  of 
two  things  must  occur:  either  our  intervention  will  succeed  in  constituting  a  strong,  wise, 
honorable,  and  regular  government  in  Mexico — and  then  it  will  be  possible  for  you  to  derive 
some  advantages  from  your  expedition — or  else,  in  a  few  years,  Mexico  will  certainly  be 
swallowed  up  by  the  States  of  North  America,  which  have  already,  in  the  short  period  of 
twenty  years,  taken  away  from  it  three  of  its  finest  provinces — Texas,  California,  and  New 
Mexico.  [Increased  noise.] 

Gentlemen,  if  the  Chamber  is  not  willing  to  grant  me  a  few  moments  of  attention  I 
shall  stop.  [No,  no;  goon.]  But  I  believe,  however,  that  the  considerations  which  I 
have  to  present,  and  which  will  be  brief,  merit  the  interest  of  the  legislative  body. 

What  is  the  natural  and  normal  fruit  of  the  republican  form  of  government?  Revolu 
tions.  What  is  the  natural  and  normal  fruit  of  monarchy  ?  Stability.  So,  on  one  side, 
we  have  instability  ;  on  the  other,  stability.  Such  are  the  respective  results  of  monarchy 
and  republicanism. 

Now,  if  we  allow  republicanism  to  continue  in  Mexico,  without  any  effort  to  organize  in 
that  country  a  wise  and  honorable  government — that  is  to  say,  a  monarchical  government — 
it  will  be  utterly  impossible  for  us  to  derive  from  our  costly  expedition  the  advantages  for 
which  we  have  reason  to  hope. 

SEVERAL  MEMBERS      That  is  true. 

COUNT  DE  LA  TOUR.  It  is  impossible  for  me,  therefore,  to  blame  the  government  for  the 
policy  which  it  has  pursued,  and  I  shall  urge  the  legislative  body  to  vote  for  the  address 
as  it  stands.  I  oppose  the  amendment,  in  the  first  place,  because  we  ought  to  try  to  main 
tain  a  sort  of  equilibrium  in  the  New  World  ;  because  it  would  be  dangerous  hereafter,  for 
the  peace  of  Europe  itself,  that  Mexico  should  belong  to  a  power  so  important  as  the  United 
States,  which  would  very  soon,  by  taking  in  the  five  little  republics  of  Central  America, 
reach  the  Gulf  of  Darien  and  the  isthmus  of  Panama,  whence  they  would  rule  the  commerce 
both  of  the  Atlantic  and  of  the  Pacific  oceans.  I  oppose  the  amendment,  in  the  second 
place,  because  it  is  necessary  that  the  majority,  under  such  grave  circumstances,  whilst  fol 
lowing  the  dictates  of  conscience,  should  remain  united.  Our  union  is  indispensable  to  the 
country — within  for  its  peace,  without  for  its  influence  and  its  strength.  [Approbation  on 
many  benches.] 

M.  JULES  FAVRE  Gentlemen,  1  believe  I  divine  the  desire  of  the  Chamber,  and  conform 
myself  to  it,  in  taking  up  the  discussion  at  the  point  where  it  was  left  by  the  remarkable 
speeches  which  you  heard  in  the  session  of  yesterday,  and  by  the  circumstances  that  have 
occurred  in  that  of  to-day,  and  in  rejecting,  henceforth,  such  details  as  concern  accom 
plished  facts,  and  in  regard  to  which  many  reasons  might  be  presented  for  us  to  draw  up 
easy  but  useless  accusations. 

Already,  gentlemen,  we  have  had  occasion  to  express  our  opinions  on  the  causes  of  this 
expedition  to  Mexico,  which,  from  the  very  first  day,  we  have  considered  as  inauspicious, 
and  as  calculated  to  lead  the  country  into  serious  embarrassment. 

Succeeding  evente  have  not  been  such  as  to  authorize  us  to  change  our  opinion,  and  this 
opinion  has  received  the  support  and  defence  of  the  eminent  speakers  who  have  laid  before 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  315 

you  such  considerations,  political,  financial,  and  of  national  interest,  as  should  most  as 
suredly  strike  you  with  their  gravity,  and  which  I  shall  be  careful  not  to  repeat,  for  fear 
that  they  should  become  weak  in  my  hands. 

But,  if  you  will  allow  me,  I  shall  endeavor  to  look  at  the  question  from  an  entirely  dif 
ferent  point  of  view ;  and  the  minister  of  state  has  authorized  me  to  do  this  by  an  expres 
sion  to  which  he  gave  utterance,  and  which  leads  me  back  very  forcibly  to  the  natural 
prepossession  of  my  mind  on  this  subject. 

This  prepossession  is  in  regard  to  *right,  superior,  undoubtedly,  to  all  considerations  of 
policy  and  interest ;  and  if  this  right,  such  as  it  is,  revealed  to  us  both  by  the  eternal 
principles  to  which  we  can  never  prove  recreant  without  loss,  and  by  formal  engagements 
on  the  part  of  the  government — if  this  right,  I  say,  completely  confirms  the  conclusions  of 
which  you  heard  the  brilliant  developments  yesterday,  we  shall  have  deduced  from  thence, 
for  the  security  of  our  consciences,  the  support  of  a  demonstration  which  we  will  have  the 
right  to  call  inflexible. 

We  have  to  consider  these  questions  :  What  are  we  doing  in  Mexico  ?  What  ought  we 
do  ?  Should  we  withdraw  from  it,  and  under  what  conditions  ? 

M.  EDWARD  DALLOZ      May  I  be  permitted  to  say  a  few  words  ? 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  I  confess,  gentlemen,  I  am  not  in  any  way  embarrassed  by  that  which 
was  said  to  you  in  the  session  of  yesterday  by  the  honorable  commissioner  of  the  govern 
ment,  who  sought  to  put  forward,  as  his  justification  of  the  propositions  which  he  brought 
before  you,  the  support  given  by  the  votes  of  this  Chamber. 

He  received  for  answer,  in  my  opinion  very  justly,  that  those  votes  should  naturally  be 
inspired  by  circumstances  changeable  in  their  nature.  Moreover,  on  this  very  point  I  ask 
permission  of  the  honorable  commissioner  of  the  government  to  be  allowed  to  agree  with 
him  ;  and,  as  he  appeals  to  the  formal  engagements  of  the  government,  I  appeal,  also,  to 
the  votes  of  the  Chamber,  given  only  after  the  positive  declarations  of  which  I  shall  have 
the  honor  to  remind  you,  and  which  really  form  a  solemn  contract  between  the  majority 
and  the  government. 

And,  since  mention  has  been  made  of  the  authority  of  adjudged  facts,  it  seems  to  me 
that  an  authority  so  potential  might  have  been  invoked  to  qualify  that  which  has  been  re 
cognized  here  without  dispute,  that  is,  the  judgment  pronounced  by  public  opinion  on  the 
Mexican  expedition,  and  of  which  I  find  the  traces,  not  in  documents,  of  which  the  pro 
duction  might  be  criticised  by  you,  but,  on  the  contrary,  in  official  papers,  the  weight  of 
which  you  cannot  question. 

The  first  I  borrow  from  the  language  of  the  sovereign  himself.  When  the  session  was 
opened,  he  thought  it  indispensable  to  say  a  word  in  this  regard,  and  that  word  ought  to 
be  well  weighed  by  you. 

"  The  distant  expeditions, "  says  the  speech  from  the  throne,  "which  have  been  the 
object  of  so  much  criticism,  have  not  been  undertaken  in  pursuance  of  any  premeditated 
plan  ;  the  force  of  circumstances  has  brought  them  about,  and  yet  they  are  not  to  be  re 
gretted." 

For  what  good,  gentlemen,  remark  those  prepossessions  and  those  criticisms  in  a  docu 
ment  in  which  ordinarily  only  unanimous  approbations  are  mentioned  ?  It  must  necessarily 
be  that  those  murmurs  of  public  opinion,  whatever  otherwise  be  the  difficulties  which  they 
may  have  to  reach  the  throne,  have  been  very  powerful,  so  as  to  have  bee*n  noticed  in  a 
document  of  that  nature. 

I  wish  to  place  by  the  side  of  that  document  another  no  less  grave,  but  which  you  will 
perhaps  find  more  significant:  When  the  minister  of  finance  saw  himself  under  the  doubly 
painful  necessity — painful,  because  he  is  minister  of  finance,  and  painful  because  he  had 
made  an  engagement  to  the  contrary—  of  reopening  the  estimates  of  the  public  debt,  he 
did  not  dissemble  the  anxieties,  the  uneasiness,  the  restlessness  of  the  country.  For  this 
he  assigned  the  real  cause  when  he  said  : 

"I  had  thought  that  it  would  be  possible  to  avoid  this  necessity,  and  that  a  prompt 
settlement  of  the  affairs  of  Mexico  would,  on  the  one  hand,  have  limited  our  expenses  to 
a  sum  inferior  to  that  which  we  have  disbursed,  and,  on  the  other,  have  brought,  by  means 
of  a  loan  contracted  for  Mexico,  the  reimbursement  of  our  advances-.  But,  notwithstanding 
the  confident  hope  which  we  entertained  of  seeing,  within  a  day  not  far  distant,  a  regular 
government  established  in  Mexico,  we  cannot  repose  the  security  of  our  finances  on  the 
liquidation  of  her  debt  to  us." 

So,  the  minister  of  finance  did  not  dissemble  the  gravity  of  that  state  of  affairs  resulting 
from  this  exceptional  circumstance  that  has  arisen  to  trouble  our  finances,  at  the  same  time 
that  a  profound  emotion  pervades  the  whole  country  ;  and  I  am  not  rash  in  affirming  that 
the  minister  of  finance  is  really  an  anonymous  signer  of  our  amendment.  [Exclamations 
and  laughter.] 

But  I  find,  gentlemen,  a  concurrence  more  explicit,  more  precious  still,  in  a  report 


316  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

emanating  from  one  of  the  committees  of  the  assembly,  and  which  I  need  not  recall  to 
your  recollections. 

When  the  question  of  supplementary  credits  arose,  the  honorable  M.  Larrabure,  with  an 
ability  to  which  every  one  renders  homage,  enters  into  the  discussion  of  this  question 
in  his  report,  and  here  is  the  way  in  which  he  expresses  himself  : 

"  We  should  not  seek  to  conceal  the  fact  that  these  repeated  expeditions  disquiet  the 
nation.  Let  us  hasten,  however,  to  say,  in  order  to  be  just,  that  as  to  that  of  Mexico, 
which  weighs  most  on  the  public  mind  and  on  our  finances,  it  has  attained  the  increased 
proportions  which  it  is  now  seen  to  possess  only  by  a  chain  of  unfortunate  incidents  which 
the  government  could  neither  foresee  nor  prevent,"  &c.,  &c. 

And  he  added:  "  The  honor  of  our  flag  being  satisfied,  public  opinion  resumes  its  pre 
possessions.  In  the  state  of  affairs  in  Europe,  in  the  state  of  our  internal  necessities  and 
of  our  finances,  it  would  be  pleased  that  the  government  should  continue  only  as  short  a 
time  as  possible  to  expend  at  a  distance  those  resources  that  may  become  precious  to  us 
nearer  home  and  for  our  works  of  public  utility.  These  expeditions  will  perhaps  open  up 
new  horizons,  new  channels  for  trade ;  but,  at  present,  we  must  acknowledge  that  the 
country  is  less  struck  by  the  possible,  but  uncertain  or  distant  advantages,  than  by  the  real 
and  actual  charges  which  burden  it." 

I  could  multiply  these  quotations.  You  know  with  what  persevering  energy  the  honor 
able  reporter  of  your  committee  solicited  from  the  wisdom  of  the  government  and  the 
foresight  of  the  Chamber  the  cessation  of  a  state  of  things  which  appeared  to  him  so  inau 
spicious. 

And  beside  all  these  authorities,  beside  the  general  acknowledgment  of  everybody,  I  can 
also  place  that  of  the  committee  on  the  address,  for  our  honorable  and  able  president  told 
you  just  now  that  this  wish,  of  which  we  seek  here  to  determine  the  terms  of  expression, 
is  found  equally  earnest  in  all  hearts  Yes,  we  are  unanimous  in  regretting  that  imperious 
necessities — thus  it  was  that  your  committee  on  supplementary  credits  expressed  them 
selves — should  have  engaged  the  government  in  a  course  of  action,  from  which  we  hope  it 
will  withdraw  as  promptly  as  possible,  on  the  condition,  well  understood,  that  the  honor 
and  interests  of  France  be  not  compromised  [That  is  so  ;  that  is  so.] 

But  permit  me  to  tell  you,  it  is  here  precisely  that  the  difference  of  opinion  commences. 
[Laughter.  That  is  true.] 

Your  committee,  in  this  respect,  is  filled  with  entire  confidence  in  the  views  of  the 
government.  As  to  us,  we  respectfully  request  to  be  allowed  not  to  share  that  confidence. 
I  will  proceed  to  give  you  our  reasons  for  this,  and  to  explain  to  you,  in  our  turn,  the  desires 
which,  in  my  opinion,  might  influence  in  a  satisfactory  manner  the  policy  which  we  all 
wish,  favorable  to  the  grandeur  and  the  dignity  of  the  country.  Well,  no  one  will  contra 
dict  me  when  I  say  that  that  which  has  occasioned,  and  which  yet  occasions,  the  gravity  of 
the  situation,  is  precisely  the  ambiguity  which  weighs  upon  it  ;  it  is  that  it  was  at  its 
origin,  and  is  yet,  surrounded  with  obscurity.  Every  one  feels  it  here,  and  I  hope  that  the 
words  of  the  minister  of  state  will  succeed  completely  in  putting  an  end  to  it. 

As  for  me,  I  shall  strive,  from  my  point  of  view,  to  tell  what  the  causes  are  of  this 
obscurity,  how  essential  it  is  that  it  should  disappear  entirely,  and  on  what  conditions  the 
light  which  alone  can  strike  us,  that  of  honor  and  probity,  ought  forever  to  succeed  it. 

When  I  say  that,  from  the  beginning,  an  inauspicious  ambiguity  hung  over  this  situa 
tion,  am  I  not  right  ?  You  understand  it  perfectly,  and  I  have  no  desire  here  to  undertake 
a  discussion  which  is  exhausted,  and  belongs  henceforth  to  the  domain  of  history. 

Was  it  possible  to  avoid  war  in  1861  ?  After  those  dissensions  that  have  so  long  agitated 
and  ensanguined  the  republics  of  the  New  World,  was  there  not  beginning  to  appear  a 
constitutional  and  civil  authority  to  which  it  was  possible  to  give  our  adhesion,  and  which, 
consolidated  and  strengthened  by  the  protection  of  the  European  governments,  should  con 
tinue,  more  and  more  every  day,  to  acquire  a  happy  influence? 

This  is,  also,  gentlemen,  a  question  for  debate  which  I  shall  not  discuss  anew  before  you. 

It  has  been  decided  by  the  French  government.  The  French  government  thought  that 
that  new  authority  did  not  present  it  sufficient  guarantee ;  it  made  it  responsible  for  the 
iniquities  of  the  governments  which  it  had  combated  and  destroyed  ;  it  has  sought  to  lay 
upon  it  the  responsibility  of  the  bloody  acts  which,  nevertheless,  barred  its  passage  to 
power. 

All  these  things,  gentlemen,  I  recall  without  even  criticising  them  ;  and  I  say  that  when 
we  allude  to  the  interests  of  our  countrymen  which  have  been  outraged,  to  crimes  permitted 
to  go  unpunished,  to  the  law  of  nations  violated — when  we  allude  to  all  these  things,  in 
order  to  make  war  on  a  country,  we  are  right  and  just;  that  when  France  drew  the  sword 
against  Mexico,  supposing  that,  in  fact,  she  had  reason  to  do  so,  she  was  evidently  acting 
within  the  limits  of  right,  and  no  one  ever  denied  it. 

Only  it  is  here  that  for  me  the  uncertainty  begins,  and  I  take  the  liberty  of  asking  the 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  317 

government  to  be  pleased,  if  it  thinks  it  proper,  to  give  me  an  answer  to  the  question  which, 
at  the  present  moment  and  in  reference  to  facts,  I  take  the  liberty  of  proposing  to  it. 

It  is  incontestable  that  at  the  same  time  that  our  charqi  d'affaires  communicated  to  the 
department  of  foreign  affairs  facts  of  the  greatest  moment,  when  he  asked  the  armed  pro 
tection  of  France,  when  he  gave  information  that  the  indemnities  were  not  paid,  that  a 
law  of  Congress  had  appropriated  to  other  purposes  the  funds  that  were  to  be  applied  to 
them,  it  is  perfectly  certain,  I  say,  that  another  influence  was  at  work  upon  our  govern 
ment  besides  its  own.  It  has  been  sufficiently  intimated  to  you  for  me  to  recall  it  to  your 
minds. 

This  influence,  gentlemen,  was  that  of  persons,  some  condemned  by  the  political  law, 
others  proscribed  by  the  revolutions  of  their  country,  who  had  received  a  generous  hospi 
tality  in  France,  who,  full  of  illusions  and  hopes,  as  all  exiles  are,  took  their  dreams  for 
realities,  and  magnified  their  own  importance  to  such  an  extent  that  it  seemed,  on  nearing 
the  coasts  of  Mexico,  that  it  ought  to  be  enough  to  determine  the  course  of  revolutions 
there. 

I  do  not  concern  myself  now  as  to  whether  those  exiles  had  obtained  the  ear  of  the  gov 
ernment,  whether  they  had  not  been  directly  placed  under  its  protection,  and  whether,  to 
speak  truly,  from  the  first  day  that  the  expedition  was  resolved  upon  up  to  this  time  at 
which  I  am  speaking,  the  French  government  has  not  appeared  to  manage  their  affairs. 

In  fact,  whilst  negotiations  were  being  carried  on  for  the  reparation  of  our  grievances, 
the  Mexican  exiles  pursued  their  intrigues  and  their  dreams  ;  they  entertained  the  French 
cabinet  with  their  lamentations,  and  unveiled  to  its  eyes  the  prospect  of  a  revolution  which 
might  prove  fortunate  ;  for,  in  place  of  those  governments  of  a  day  succeeding  each  other 
merely  to  lay  before  the  eyes  of  the  world  the  scandalous  and  pitiful  spectacle  of  their 
mutual  overthrows,  they  piomised  to  the  great  French  monarchy  a  monarchy  which  as 
suredly  could  not  be  its  rival,  but  which,  being  placed  in  its  orbit,  an  agent  of  civilization 
in  the  New  World,  would  diffuse  everywhere,  with  our  arts  and  our  civilization,  the  pros 
perity  which  is  their  attendant. 

That  these  dreams  were  grand,  gentlemen,  I  shall  not  assume  to  discuss  ;  but  that  they 
were  dreams,  when  I  so  affirm,  who  can  now  contradict  me  ? 

Governments  should  not  allow  themselves  to  be  led  into  the  opinions  of  persons  around 
them  ;  they  have  too  great  a  responsibility,  precisely  because  they  have  immense  power, 
not  to  have  demanded  from  them  a  severe  account  of  the  determination  to  which  they  may 
have  come  in  an  unreflecting  manner. 

Well,  not  only  did  the  government  open  its  ears  to  the  words  of  those  exiles — here  it  is, 
gentlemen,  that  my  question  rests,  and  that  it  combines  itself  in  the  strictest  manner  with 
the  brilliant  discussion  of  the  honorable  M.  Thiers  and  of  the  honorable  M.  Berryer— but 
it  is  incontestable  that  when  nothing  was  yet  known  in  Europe  of  the  resolutions  of  France 
and  of  the  allied  powers,  the  exiles  had  already  opened  negotiations  with  Prince  Maxi 
milian. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  take  the  liberty  of  asking  the  government,  Had  it  any  knowledge 
of  this?  One  of  two  things  must  be  true  :  either  the  government  was  ignorant  of  those 
negotiations,  or  it  was  acquainted  with  them.  If  it  was  ignorant  of  them,  you  understand, 
gentlemen,  what  accusation  we  have  a  right  to  bring  against  it ;  for  those  to  whom  it 

promised  its  support,  those  for  whom  it  lavished  the  blood  and  the  treasures  of  France 

[Murmurs  on  several  benches.] 

Is  it  the  case  that  the  government  was  not  acquainted  with  them  ?  As  for  me,  gentle 
men,  I  am  convinced  that  it  is  not  so  by  any  means.  I  will  soon  proceed  to  deduce  my 
proofs  from  official  documents.  The  government  knew  that  the  Archduke  Maximilian 
had  been  visited  by  the  exiles  ;  that  a  negotiation  had  been  begun. 

I  stop  short  for  a  moment,  gentlemen,  and  I  ask  myself  whether  the  Archduke  Maximil 
ian  is  the  first  comer ;  whether  he  is  some  person  picked  up  at  random  in  the  midst  of  a 
revolution,  nourished  by  the  exaggerated  hopes  or  by  the  factitious  promises  of  the  exiles; 
or  whether,  on  the  contrary,  he  does  not  belong  in  Europe  to  a  reigning  house,  and  whether, 
consequently,  the  designation  that  shall  be  made  of  him  is  not  a  designation  eminently 
political  ? 

The  answer  to  this  question  could  not  be  doubtful.  I  believe  that  it  would  be  proper  for 
the  government  to  tell  us  what  the  negotiations  have  been  in  this  respect  with  the  house 
of  Austria.  Has  the  house  of  Austria  been  aware  of  these  projects  ?  Has  it  approved 
them  ?  It  could  not  have  been  ignorant  of  them.  If  it  has  not  approved  them,  the  French 
government  finds  its  policy  condemned  by  this  very  fact  from  the  very  first  day  that  it 
sprung  into  existence  ;  for,  by  the  side  of  a  reigning  prince  of  a  powerful  sovereign  who 
disposes  of  the  forces  of  a  great  empire,  they  proceed  to  take  him  who  is  the  nearest  to 
him  by  blood,  his  brother.  It  knows  that  that  Emperor  does  not  approve  the  negotiations 
of  which  that  prince  is  the  object,  and  yet  the  French  government  continues  them.  And 
here,  gentlemen,  by  the  invincible  logic  of  facts,  by  a  chain  of  events  through  which  your 


318 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


wisdom  alone  can  break,  the  responsibility  of  France  commences  where  her  action  com 
mences,  and  her  protection  is  extended  which  we  could  not  disavow  without  dishonor  to 
ourselves.  [Good.] 

It  is  certain,  then,  that  in  those  first  moments,  when  negotiations  were  going  on,  when 
the  exiles  made  frequent  journeys  to  Vienna,  when  they  broached  the  matter  to  Prince 
Maximilian,  the  government  knew  all  these  things,  and  approved  them.  The  government 
foresaw  that  eventuality  ;  that  the  exiles  might  stir  up  a  reactionary  movement  in  their 
country,  thanks  to  the  presence  of  the  French  armies,  ami  then  it  seemed  opportune,  if  a 
throne  was  raised,  to  seat  upon  it  a  prince  of  the  house  of  Austria. 

These  purposes  could  not  continue  confined  to  the  government  alone  ;  public  opinion  and 
this  Chamber  are  judges  of  them.  They  may  be  good  or  bad  ;  but  it  is  evident  that  you 
would  renounce  your  right  of  initiative  if  you  did  not  express  some  opinion  on  this  point. 
I  have  no  opinion  to  offer;  in  accordance  with  the  ideas  which  I  enunciate,  and  of  which 
you  must  acknowledge  the  simplicity  and  force,  I  hasten  to  proceed  with  the  examination 
to  which  you  have  been  invited. 

France,  thus  involved  with  these  exiles,  saw  a  double  prospect  opened  before  her.  She 
was  going  to  Mexico  to  avenge  the  injuries  done  there  to  our  countrymen  ;  she  had  the 
right  to  do  this.  She  was  going  there  to  obey  the  instigations  of  the  exiles  and  to  establish 
there  that  eventual  monarchy  for  which  she  reserved  her  eventual  candidate  also  ;  in  this 
I  positively  maintain  that  France  had  not  the  shadow  of  a  right  to  support  her — she  had 
in  her  favor  only  an  intrigue  of  which  she  made  herself  the  instrument.  [Several  voices  : 
Good,  good.] 

Are  we,  then,  reduced  to  this  remarkable  degree  of  humiliation  that  we  have  to  discuss 
here  in  your  presence  the  question  whether  a  great  people  can  proceed  to  instigate  internal 
changes  among  another  friendly  people  by  means  of  the  appearance  in  its  waters  of  an 
armed  force  unfurling  there  the  standard  of  a  party  ? 

I  do  not  wish  to  insult  you  so  far  as  to  believe  that  any  discussion  could  be  had  on  this 
subject  within  these  walls.  The  law  of  nations  condemns,  brands,  such  attempts  ;  when 
ever  they  have  been  tried  in  history,  they  have  almost  always  met  with  the  pointed  con 
demnation  of  impartial  and  honorable  minds. 

M.  GLAIS  BIZOIN.  Good,  good. 

M.  JULES  FAVBB  Yes  ;  I  have  the  right  to  assert  that,  in  this  war  undertaken  by  France, 
there  were  two  motives — the  one  perfectly  legitimate,  the  other  not  so. 

Now,  what  has  happened  ?  These  things  were  so  well  understood  that,  at  the  discussion 
of  the  address  of  1862,  when  events  were  yet  in  a  state  of  uncertainty,  it  was  sought  to 
throw  a  discreet  veil — too  discreet,  perhaps,  for  the  veracity  of  the  French  administration — 
over  facts  which  now  stand  forth  in  the  full  light  of  day. 

When  this  Mexican  expedition  was  resolved  upon,  when  the  Chamber  was  called  upon  to 
take  it  into  consideration  in  the  discussion  of  the  address  of  1862,  we,  gentlemen,  for  our 
part,  saw  in  it  the  germs  of  real  misfortune  to  our  country  ;  we  asked — and  you  will  see  in 
what  terms — that  this  expedition  should  be  restricted  within  what  appeared  to  us  legal 
limits  ;  and  certainly,  gentlemen,  many  of  those  who  do  me  the  honor  of  listening  to  me, 
and,  I  am  convinced,  many  of  those  even  who  deemed  it  their  duty,  in  'obedience  to  the 
dictates  of  their  consciences,  to  vote  against  an  amendment  presented  by  the  opposition, 
wished  in  the  bottom  of  their  hearts  that  no  departure  had  ever  been  made  from  that  policy. 

"  We  see  with  regret,"  said  we,  "the  Mexican  expedition  undertaken  ;  its  purpose  seems 
to  be  to  interfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of  a  people.  We  request  the  government  to  prose 
cute  only  the  reparation  of  our  grievances." 

This,  gentlemen,  was  the  interest  of  France,  which  we  defended.  As  to  the  other  object, 
which  appeared  to  us  involved  in  clouds  and  obscurity,  we  manifested  our  distrust  and 
warned  the  government. 

Now,  gentlemen,  rumors  have  reached  us  irt  Europe  from  the  American  shores  which 
have  given  us  to  understand  that  there  was  an  underground  intrigue  carried  on,  and  that 
there  was  already  some  agreement  with  a  prince  of  the  house  of  Austria.  We  said  so  to 
the  Chamber.  Our  assertions  received  from  him  who  sat  on  that  bench  [the  speaker  points 
to  the  bench  occupied  by  the  commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  government]  the  most 
unqualified  denial.  Listen,  gentlemen,  to  the  words  of  the  honorable  M.  Billault:  . 

"And  as  to  those  rumors,"  said  the  honorable  member,  "which  gave  umbrage  to  the 
ambassador  of  her  Britannic  Majesty,  permit  me  not  to  dwell  upon  them.  Some  officers, 
at  their  departure,  said  that  they  were  going  to  Mexico  to  enthrone  a  foreign  prince  there. 
How  !  Do  you  imagine  that  the  great  secret  of  the  diplomacy  on  the  subject,  if  it  ever 
had  any  existence,  would  have  thus  been  intrusted  to  the  first  comer  setting  out  to  Mexico  ? 
This  surely  is  not  serious.  If,  as  you  say,  our  ally  has  been  disquieted  by  such  rumors, 
you  told  us  also  that  she  immediately  applied  to  that  quarter  where  she  could  really  learn 
whether  they  were  well  founded  ;  she  asked  our  minister  of  foreign  affairs1,  and  you  acknowl 
edge  yourselves  the  answer  denied  all  these  rumors. 

"The  facts  then  remain  as  they  really  are:  a  war  legitimately  imposed  on  us  by  our 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  319 

honor  and  our  interests,  and  which,  in  concert  with  onr  allies,  we  will  carry  on  with  earnest 
ness  ;  a  hope,  a  possibility,  for  the  unfortunate  Mexicans,  if  they  have  strength,  or  energy, 
or  cohesion  enough  to  desire  to  procure  for  themselves  the  benefits  of  a  good  government ; 
if  they  know  how  to  save  themselves  in  that  way  ;  we  will  be  glad  of  it ;  we  will  find  in  it 
the  only  real  guarantee  of  the  security  of  our  countrymen  ;  we  will  guide  them  with  our 
counsels  and  with  our  moral  support ;  but  to  constrain  them  to  it  by  force,  never!" 

Is  it  clear,  gentlemen?  In  fact,  it  is  perfectly  certain  that  the  English  ambassador 
applied  for  information  to  the  honorable  M.  Thouvenel,  that  the  cJiargi  d'affaires  of  the 
United  States  of  America  made  the  same  request,  and  that  they  were  answered  that  there 
was  no  truth  in  the  report  of  negotiations  with  a  prince  of  the  house  of  Austria.  Now, 
the  negotiations  did  exist ;  they  existed  before  the  departure  of  our  troops  ;  they  had  been 
made  the  subject  of  one  of  the  secret  conditions  of  the  treaty  of  October  31,  1861.  If  you 
interrogate  the  text  of  that  treaty,  assuredly  you  will  find  there  nothing  of  the  kind  ;  but 
if  you  go  to  the  official  documents  which  were  unknown  at  that  time,  and  which  I  might 
call  the  official  documents  of  diplomacy,  you  will  see  in  them,  gentlemen,  that  the  plan 
had  been  prepared  in  advance,  that  the  name  of  Prince  Maximilian  had  been  suggested, 
and  that  he  had  already  received  the  support  of  Prance.  This  appears,  among  other  papers, 
(for  I  could  make  numerous  quotations  to  you  in  this  regard, )  from  a  despatch  which  bears 
the  date  of  October  11,  1861,  addressed  by  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  of  France  to  the 
French  ambassador  in  London.  It  is,  as  you  see,  anterior  to  the  treaty  which  bears  the 
date  of  the  31st  of  the  game  month,  and  here  is  what  we  collect  in  it  relative  to  the  sub 
ject  with  which  we  are  now  occupied  :  "I  replied,"  says  the  minister,  "  to  the  English 
ambassador  that  I  was  perfectly  agieed  with  his  government  on  one  point :  that  I  acknowl 
edged,  with  Lord  Russell,  that  the  legitimacy  of  our  coercive  action  in  regard  to  Mexico 
evidently  resulted  only  from  our  grievances  against 'the  government  of  that  country,  and 
that  those  grievances,  as  well  as  the  means  of  redressing  them  and  of  preventing  their 
recurrence,  could  constitute  the  only  object  of  an  ostensible  treaty."  There  was  then  a 
treaty  which  was  not  ostensible,  and  the  despatch  proceeds  to  inform  us  on  what  it  might 
turn.  Here,  in  fact,  is  what  I  read  further  on  : 

' '  But  that  it  seems  to  me  useless  to  go  beyond  this,  and  to  prohibit  in  advance  the  eventual 
exercise  of  a  legitimate  participation  in  the  events  of  which  our  operations  might  be  the 
origin,"  &c. ,  &c.  And  further  on  :  "  We  are  allowed  to  suppose,  in  fact,  that  if  the  issue  of 
the  American  crisis,"  (listen  to  this,  and  see  how  much  reason  we  had  yesterday  to  tell  you 
that,  in  the  forecast  of  the  government,  the  Mexican  expedition  and  the  enthronement  of 
the  Archduke  Maximilian  were  connected  with  the  dissensions  of  the  United  States,  and 
that  about  that  time  it  was  towards  this  end  that  all  the  wishes  of  the  government  were 
directed,)  "we  are  allowed  to  suppose,  in  fact,  that  if  the  issue  of  the  American  crisis 
confirmed  the  separation  of  the  north  and  the  south,  the  two  new  confederations  would 
both  seek  for  compensation,  which  the  Mexican  territory,  delivered  up  to  social  dissolution, 
would  offer  to  their  competition.  Such  an  event  could  not  be  a  matter  of  indifference  to 
England,  and  the  principal  obstacle  which  could,  in  our  opinion,  prevent  its  accomplish 
ment  would  be  the  establishment  in  Mexico  of  a  reparative  government  strong  enough  to 
arrest  its  internal  dissolution." 

So,  gentlemen,  it  is  not  only  for  the  purpose  of  avenging  our  countrymen,  it  is  not  only 
to  obtain  a  miserable  indemnity,  (which  most  assuredly  coul  1  never  be  considered  as  a 
thing  of  very  great  importance  in  comparison  with  events  so  great  as  those  indicated,)  that 
the  government  decided  to  proceed  against  Mexico  ;  it  wished  to  prepare,  to  facilitate  its 
own  domination  ;  it  wished,  in  view  of  what  was  being  accomplished  in  the  United  States, 
to  have  its  place  and  its  share  of  power  by  the  side  of  the  great  American  republic,  in  that 
great  state  which  was  going  to  be  founded  under  its  patronage,  and  which  should  be  its 
vassal  for  long  years,  and  thus  to  exercise  in  the  Wew  World  a  preponderance  worthy  of 
the  great  name  of  France. 

Such,  gentlemen,  was  the  idea  ;  I  find  it  in  the  despatch  which  I  have  just  read. 
Now,  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  minister  of  state,  ignoring  here  the  ideas  which  at  that 
period  were  those  of  the  government,  should  desert  the  true  ground  of  the  question — that 
is  to  say,  that  of  the  preparation  of  a  monarchy  for  Mexico,  that  of  the  negotiations  entered 
into  in  accordance  with  the  suggestions  of  the  exiles,  that  of  the  responsibility  of  France, 
which  was  already  embarrassing. 

And  on  this  subject,  also,  I  take  the  liberty  of  remarking  to  the  Chamber  that  if  the 
interests  of  France  could,  to  a  certain  point,  understood  in  a  certain  manner,  excuse  or 
explain  Utopias  so  dangerous  as  these,  the  government  ought  to  be  stopped  by  a  considera 
tion  which  it  was  not  allowed  to  ignore  :  it  was  that  of  the  rights  of  Mexico,  of  its  nation 
ality,  which  France  could  not  attack  without  proving  recreant  to  the  principle  on  which 
her  own  government  was  founded,  and  without  committing  a  real  act  of  high  treason  against 
the  law  of  nations. 

SEVERAL  VOICES.  Good,  good. 


320  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  You  are  acquainted,  gentlemen,  with  the  events  that  ensued,  and  I 
have  but  a  few  words  to  say  of  them. 

You  know  how  the  alliance,  which  existed  between  Spain,  England,  and  France,  was 
broken  at  Orizaba.  At  that  period,  when  those  events  were  known  in  Europe,  the  dis 
cussion  was  reopened  on  the  subject  on  the  occasion  of  the  voting  of  the  budget  We 
reproduced  our  observations  ;  we  said  that  the  government  had  by  experience  learned  the 
emptiness  of  the  hopes  entertained  by  the  exiles ;  that  it  knew  what  reliance  could  be 
placed  on  their  promises  ;  that  it  was  evident  that  they  were  destitute  of  popularity  in  their 
country ;  that  the  aggression  of  the  French  army,  (even  the  latter  had  the  exiles  in  its 
camp,)  far  from  enfeebling  the  government  of  Juarez,  would,  on  the  contrary,  strengthen 
it ;  and  that  we  hoped  it  would  be  pleased  to  stop  short  and  discontinue  operations  which 
thenceforward  would  be  causeless.  In  fact,  the  reparation  of  the  grievances  which  they 
went  to  obtain  could  then  be  procured,  for  the  French  had  taken  possession  of  Vera  Cruz 
and  Tampico  ;  they  were  in  healthy  locations  which  they  could  keep  secured  from  all  kinds 
of  epidemics,  where  they  could  not  only  treat,  but  wait  until  those  treaties  had  been  car 
ried  into  effect. 

What  reply  did  we  then  receive  from  the  government  ?  Did  it  tell  us,  as  the  minister  of 
state  has  just  done,  that  we  were  in  presence  of  an  enemy,  and  that  it  was  necessary  for 
us  to  follow  him  up  in  an  implacable  manner  ;  that  it  was  impossible  for  us  to  treat  with 
Juarez,  who  was  branded  as  an  odious  tyrant  by  the  animadversions  of  all  honorable  men 
to  whom  the  interests  of  Mexico  were  dear  ? 

Not  at  all.  Here  is  the  language  used  by  the  government,  and  I  recommend  it  also  to 
your  attention  : 

"When  the  French  flag,  which  I  hope  will  happen  soon,  shall  float  over  the  walls  of  the 
city  of  Mexico,  we  shall  not  desist  from  this  generous  and  protective  policy  ;  all,  reaction 
ists  or  liberals,  violent  men  or  moderate  men,  shall  be  admitted  alike  to  this  grand 
expression  of  the  public  will ;  there  shall  be  freedom  for  all  under  the  folds  of  the  flag  of 
France  ;  and  you  know  well  that  it  will  not  be  the  first  time  that  it  shall  have  harbored 
just  national  manifestations  under  its  tutelary  folds.  To  all  there  shall  be  left  entire  liberty 
of  choice,  and  then,  if  the  tyranny  of  Juarez  suits  them,  yes,  if  it  suits  them,  they  will 
say  so!" 

And  you  all,  gentlemen,  cried  out,  "Good,  good." 

As  for  me,  I  could  entertain  no  other  opinion  than  this,  with  the  reservation,  however, 
that  it  appears  to  me  at  least  very  strange  that,  in  order  thus  to  hold  the  electoral  urn  in 
which  the  votes  of  the  Mexicafns  are  to  be  deposited,  we  should  be  under  the  necessity  of 
sending  out  forty  thousand  French.  But,  as  to  the  principle,  I  confess  that  it  is  beyond 
censure.  Yes,  if  France  is  willing  to  remain  neutral  in  presence  of  the  national  will,  I 
have  nothing  more  to  say,  unless  it  be  that  she  has  continued,  in  spite  of  the  official  declara 
tion,  to  attack  it  openly,  since  that  national  will  manifested  itself  by  facts  the  most  expres 
sive,  since  the  government  of  Juarez  rallied  around  itself,  I  shall  not  say  the  unanimous 
entirety,  but  a  sufficient  portion  of  the  Mexican  people  to  wage  war  against  our  brave 
soldiers. 

Is  it  not  true  that  our  government  and  our  army  have  been  deceived  ?  Is  it  necessary  to 
remind  you  of  that  dolorous  but  eloquent  order  of  the  day  issued  by  General  Lorencez, 
who,  on  turning  back  to  those  who  called  themselves  his  friends,  and  who,  in  reality,  were 
only  traitors  to  him,  said  to  them,  You  have  told  us  that,  in  marching  towards  your  cities, 
we  would  find  only  crowns  of  flowers  ;  yet  we  have  met  with  an  energetic  resistance, 
favored,  it  is  true,  by  natural  accidents,  a  resistance  which  certainly  has  not  stopped  our 
brave  soldiers,  by  the  action  of  which  French  blood  has  flowed,  and  flowed  in  consequence 
of  lying  promises.  This  was  the  result  of  the  expedition  in  its  first  phase. 

At  the  time  of  the  discussion  of  thtf  address  of  1863  we  renewed  our  opposition.  In  view 
of  the  events  that  had  transpired,  we  demanded,  in  the  name  of  justice,  the  cessation  of 
that  expedition  which  to  us  appeared  fraught  with  mischief  for  France. 

I  know,  gentlemen,  at  that  time  to  which  I  refer,  as  you  can  do  yourselves,  the  honor 
able  minister  of  state  replied  to  me  in  words  of  eloquence  which  sent  a  thrill  of  sympathy 
throughout  this  hall,  to  which  I  was  somewhat  grieved  that  I  could  not  respond. 

Yes,  in  our  nation,  which,  above  all,  is  generous  and  warlike,  whenever  the  flag  appears 
compromised  or  threatened,  there  are  no  reasons,  no  scruples,  no  opinions  that  can  arrest 
us  ;  we  go  where  honor,  danger  calls,  where  our  brethren  are  threatened.  [Good,  good.] 

And  yet,  is  it  not  true  that  alongside  of  these  great  interests  for  which  our  predilections 
are  as  strong  as  yours,  there  is  another  one  which  towers  above  them  all  ?  Must  we  not 
ask  ourselves  whether,  before  we  seek  for  glory,  we  ought  not  to  be  most  sedulously  regard 
ful  of  justice  ?  And,  supposing  we  did  not  have  justice  on  our  side,  would  it  not  be  most 
impious  and  unchristian  to  assert  that,  because  the  flag  of  France  has  been  not  vanquished, 
but  obliged  to  suspend  its  career  of  victory  for  a  time,  on  account  of  fallacious  promises, 
it  is  absolutely  necessary,  in  order  to  redeem  its  honor,  to  plunge  it  again  in  human  blood  ? 
[Divers  manifestations.] 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  321 

As  to  us,  we  have  protested  against  that  doctrine,  and  whilst  avoiding  the  utterance  pf 
a  single  word  that  could  wound  the  susceptibilities  of  the  nation,  we  have  thought  it  our 
duty,  as  it  was  our  right,  to  tell  the  country  what  we  believed  to  be  the  truth. 

You  voted,  gentlemen,  against  the  amendment  which  we  presented.  You  know  what  resist 
ance  was  encountered  before  the  walls  of  Puebla  ;  twenty- two  days  of  struggle  and  conflict  be 
fore  an  open  city !  If  those  unfortunate  soldiers,  who  know  no  obstacles,  who  lavish  their 
lives  with  an  intrepidity  which  is  wholly  irresistible,  yet  were  stopped  during  that  fatal  time 
which  weighed  on  all  our  hearts  like  a  mournful  anxiety,  it  was  quite  necessary  that  they 
should  be  employed  at  something.  It  was  repeated  to  you  with  the  utmost  complacence, 
in  order  to  obtain  your  votes,  that  there  was  in  Mexico  only  the  phantom  of  a  government, 
which  would  disappear  at  the  breath  of  Almonte.  That  phantom  has  clothed  itself  with 
all  the  energy  of  will,  of  power,  and  of  national  resistance. 

After  that  event  it  could  no  longer  be  doubtful  to  any  one  that  that  mistake,  stated  to 
be  such  even  in  1862,  had  acquired  all  the  light  of  evidence.  We  had  fallen  into  the  trap 
of  exiles  ;  we  were  carrying  out  their  designs — that  is  to  say,  the  designs  of  men  legitimately 
detested,  covered  with  crimes,  and  who  could  not  do  aught  else  than  compromise  our  troops. 
[Cries  of  dissent.]  It  was  forbidden  to  us  to  go  any  further,  unless  to  go  to  the  city  of 
Mexico,  whither  we  had  made  an  engagement  to  go.  The  route  was  open.  We  were  re 
ceived  there  as  conquerors  ;  the  official  reports  so  assert.  Many  triumphs  of  that  kind  have 
been  dearly  bought  by  those  who  obtained  them. 

However  that  be,  the  army  entered  the  city  of  Mexico.  There,  in  my  opinion,  ter 
minated  the  military  expedition,  and  the  political  expedition  commenced.  How  waa  this 
double  mission  managed  ? 

As  to  the  political  mission,  according  to  the  report  of  General  Forey,  it  appears  that,  from 
the  moment  our  troops  entered  the  capital,  the  city  was  in  a  measure  encircled  by  a  cordon  of 
partisan  rangers,  who  rendered  the  country  around  impracticable  to  such  a  degree  that  fears 
were  entertained  for  the  safety  of  our  communications.  In  this  condition  of  things,  General 
Forey  felt  the  necessity  of  constituting  a  civil  power  as  soon  as  possible,  and  he  did  well. 

But  how  did  he  do  in  order  to  constitute  a  civil  power  ?  It  is  here  that  it  is  important 
to  refer  to  the  words  uttered  by  the  honorable  M.  Billault,  which  determined  your  vote  ; 
for,  once  again,  I  rely  on  the  acts  of  the  government  and  on  yours,  asking  of  the  govern 
ment  and  of  you  no  more  than  to  apply  the  consequences  which  flow  from  the  premises  to 
which  I  refer. 

Well,  M.  Billault  told  us  that  when  we  should  reach  the  city  of  Mexico,  we  should  plant 
there  the  standard  of  France — that  is  to  say,  the  standard  of  liberty  and  of  respect  for  na 
tionalities  ;  that  all,  without  exception,  would  be  called  upon  to  manifest  the  national  will. 
That,  gentlemen,  was  the  declaration.  Ah !  I  do  not  complain  of  official  documents,  I 
do  not  complain  of  discourses  delivered  within  these  halls,  I  do  not  complain  of  programmes 
which  are  pompously  announced  here ;  I  only  say  that  facts  are  in  flagrant  contradiction 
with  speeches  and  writings. 

So,  after  you  had  announced  to  France  and  to  Europe  that  the  government  which  was 
to  be  established  should  rest  exclusively  on  the  national  will,  see  what  has  been  done. 

M.  Dubois  de  Saligny,  the  person  on  whose  counsels  the  government  much  relied — too 
much,  if  I  am  well  informed,  since  M.  Dubois  de  Saligny  has  ceased  to  be  in  the  service  of 
the  department  of  foreign  affairs — M.  Dubois  de  Saligny,  whose  predilections  were  well  known, 
who  could  not,  moreover,  fail  to  support  the  success  of  those  friends  with  whom  he  had 
made  the  campaign,  nominated  a  junta  composed  of  thirty -five  persons.  Out  of  these  thirty- 
five  persons  there  were  twenty-two  who  had  held  public  functions  under  the  government 
overthrown  by  that  of  Juarez.  And  if  I  wished — a  thing,  however,  which  I  will  take  care 
not  to  do — to  go  through  their  biographies,  you  would  see  how  far  these  persons  were  involved 
in  the  reactionary  policy,  which,  notwithstanding,  we  had  assumed  to  ourselves  uo  mission 
to  reinstate. 

Better  still,  in  referring  to  the  history  of  Mexico  and  of  its  late  revolutions,  I  find  that 
those  constituent  juntas  and  provisional  governments  were  a  kind  of  national  custom,  and 
that  when  in  1860  General  Miramon,  of  whom  I  have  a  word  to  saj  directly,  attained 
power  by  a  coup  d'etat,  he  formed  and  immediately  assembled  a  junta. 

Well,  I  have  had  the  consolation  of  finding  among  the  members  of  the  junta  of  1863 
the  greater  part  of  the  members  of  the  junta  of  1860. 

This,  gentlemen,  is  the  way  in  which  the  national  will  has  been  consulted.  Then  these 
35  members  named  195  others;  these  195  constituted, "with  the  35,  an  assembly  of  230 
persons. 

Is  there  any  serious  man  that  can  have  a  moment's  doubt  as  to  the  results  of  the  vote  of 
such  an  assembly?  The  papers  announced  that  it  was  unanimous.  Certainly  ;  and  there 
was  something  stronger  still,  and  it  must  be  told:  that  vote  was  dictated  by  the  force  of 
circumstances,  and  it  was  impossible  for  any  of  the  members  of  that  junta  to  have  pre 
served  a  real  and  serious  independence.  But  what  must  we  say  of  those  230  persons  thus 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 21 


322  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

assembled  to  flaunt  in  the  eyes  of  Europe  and  the  world  the  pretended  miseries  of  their 
country,  to  accuse  it  of  every  crime,  of  every  disgrace,  of  every  indignity,  when  they  had 
been  themselves  in  the  service  of  every  preceding  government  which  they  attack  ! 
SEVERAL  VOICES    Good,  good. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  That  is  a  spectacle  of  abjection  and  abasement  most  disgraceful,  from 
which  I  turn  away  my  eyes,  and  on  which  I  ask  your  permission  to  insist  no  longer.  [Mur 
murs  of  disapprobation  from  some  benches  ;  approbation  from  others.] 

But  what  is  most  serious  is,  that  this  junta,  thus  constituted,  has  not  contented  itself 
with  saying  that  it  represented  the  national  will ;  it  has  done  something  much  better  ;  it  has 
cast  a  vote,  and  what  is  that  vote,  gentlemen  ?  It  has  been  for  a  constitutional  monarchy. 
They  have  not  stopped  there  ;  they  have  chosen  a  prince. 

Now,  who  could  this  prince  be?  The  reply  is  in  every  mouth,  and  it  is  very  certain 
that,  as  we  did  not  for  an  instant  doubt  the  unanimity  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables,  so 
there  was  no  more  reason  to  doubt  that  their  candidate  would  be  Prince  Maximilian. 

Well,  gentlemen,  permit  me  to  say,  if  ever  the  Archduke  Maximilian  succeeds  in  reach 
ing  the  throne,  I  hope,  and  you  all  hope,  he  will  be  the  model  of  princes ;  but  what  I  as 
sert  is  that,  for  the  present,  he  is  the  model  of  official  candidates,  [boisterous  laughter  from 
some  benches  ;  marks  of  disapprobation  from  others,]  and  I  know  not  that  a  man  has  ever 
been  presented  with  such  a  manoeuvring  of  precautions  and  such  a  concurrence  of  chances 
of  success.  And  when  the  Assembly  of  Notables  met  again,  the  announcement  might  well 
be  made  : 

"The  nation  adopts  for  its  form  of  government  a  limited,  hereditary  monarchy,  with  a 
Catholic  prince. 

"  The  sovereign  shall  take  the  title  of  Emperor  of  Mexico.  The  imperial  crown  of  Mex 
ico  is  offered  to  his  Imperial  Highness  Prince  Ferdinand  Maximilian,  archduke  of  Austria, 
for  himself  and  his  descendants. 

"In  case  the  Archduke  Ferdinand  Maximilian  should  not,  on  account  of  unforeseen  cir 
cumstances,  be  able  to  take  possession  of  the  throne  which  is. offered  to  him,  the  Mexican 
nation  leaves  it  to  the  kindness  of  his  Majesty  Napoleon  III,  Emperor  of  fche  French,  to 
designate  another  Catholic  prince  to  whom  the  crown  should  be  offered." 

Let  us  go  to  the  bottom  of  things,  gentlemen  ;  let  us  reason  like  serious  men,  like  honor 
able  men,  and  let  us  say  this  vote  is  not  the  vote  of  Mexico,  but  the  vote  of  France,  repre 
sented  by  her  victorious  army  ;  it  is  the  will  of  France  that  prevails,  that  is  imposed  on 
the  Assembly  of  Notables,  and  thereupon  I  here  replace  my  question.  This  Prince  Maxi 
milian,  whom  I  found  at  the  beginning  of  the  negotiations,  I  find  here  again  in  the  vote 
of  the  junta,  which  is  the  expression  of  the  ideas  of  Marshal  Forey,  there  representing  his 
government,  and  I  interrogate,  gentlemen,  the  honorable  member  of  the  government  who 
is  now  before  the  assembly,  and  I  ask  him  :  Is  not  that  there  the  influence,  the  act,  and 
the  influence  of  France  ?  Are  we  to  be  made  to  believe  that,  when  the  glorious  eagles  of 
France  occupied  Mexico,  when  the  blood  of  our  soldiers  had  flowed  in  streams  before  Puebla — 
[Interruption.] 

His  excellency  the  MINISTER  or  STATE.  You  are  not  willing  to  avenge  it. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  We  all  regret  it  alike,  and  I  know  not  that  we  can  make  use  of  any 
expression  of  sympathy  in  this  respect  which  would  appear  exaggerated. 

What  is  certain  is  that  the  enterprise  had  succeeded  ;  we  had  reached  the  city  of  Mexico, 
victorious,  all-powerful,  and  once  more,  no  reasonable  man  can  doubt  but  that  whatever 
victorious  France  may  wish  can  be  and  will  be  done. 

The  candidacy  and  proclamation  of  Prince  Maximilian  were  the  work  of  France,  the 
work  of  the  army.  Do  you  believe  that,  in  an  event  of  so  much  importance,  there  was  in 
volved  the  accomplishment  of  promises  most  solemnly  made  and  engagements  entered  into 
by  France?  This  is  what  it  behooves  us  to  examine  well  in  this  presence. 

When  General  Forey  departed  from  Europe  he  did  not  set  out  without  instructions  from 
his  government,  and  we  will  find  in  the  imperial  letter,  to  which  allusion  has  already  been 
made,  an  exact  and  circumstantial  plan  of  the  line  of  conduct  to  be  followed  by  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  army  after  his  entrance  into  the  city  of  Mexico  ;  and  here  again  we 
ask  ourselves  whether  the  words  in  this  affair  have  not  been  belied  by  the  acts. 

Here  is  what  the  Emperor  said  :  "  When  we  shall  have  reached  the  city  of  Mexico,  it  is 
desirable  that  all  the  conspicuous  men,  of  every  shade  of  opinion,  (of  every  shade  of  opinion,) 
who  shall  have  embraced  our  cause,  should  come  to  an  understanding  with  you  to  form  a 
provisional  government." 

And  listen,  gentlemen :  ' '  That  government  shall  submit  to  the  Mexican  people  the  ques 
tion  of  the  political  regime  that  is  to  be  definitively  established.  An  assembly  shall  then 
be  elected  in  accordance  with  the  Mexican  laws." 

Here  are  the  instructions  which  you  gave,  and  these  you  have  violated.  [Divers  excla 
mations.]  The  Mexican  people  have  not  been  consulted. 

His  excellency  the  MINISTER  OF  STATE.  They  will  be  consulted. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  323 

M.  JULES  FAVRB.  It  was  not  the  people  that  declared  that  the  monarchical  principle  was 
re-established  and  that  Prince  Maximilian  should  be  called  to  the  throne  ;  it  was  the  junta. 
[Renewed  exclamations.] 

Thus  you  acted  in  opposition  to  your  instructions,  to  the  orders  which  you  received  from 
your  sovereign  to  conform  yourselves  to  the  national  sovereignty  ;  these  instructions  you 
have  violated,  and  instead  of  seeking  for  the  elements  of  a  provisional  government  in  an 
assembly  composed  of  different  opinions,  among  all  men  of  note,  you  have  sought  for  them 
only  in  one  party  ;  that  party  alone  has  been  the  executor  of  your  orders,  and  those  orders 
were  the  destruction  of  the  republic.  [Prolonged  interruption.] 

SEVERAL  VOICES.   Now  you  have  it.     [Prolonged  disturbance  and  various  manifestations.] 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  And  it  is  not  only  the  Emperor  of  the  French  who  thought  that  there 
could  be  imposed  on  the  Mexican  people  a  government  which  was  not  of  their  choice,  and 
that  it  was  necessary,  above  all,  to  consult  them.  The  Archduke  Maximilian  has  used  the 
same  language,  and  this  is  also  one  of  those  points  over  which  there  reigns  an  obscurity 
which,  for  my  part,  I  would  wish  with  all  my  heart  to  see  completely  dissipated. 

In  fact,  we  have  all  reasoned,  or  at  least  the  speakers  who  have  preceded  me  have 
reasoned  on  this  supposition,  that  the  Archduke  Maximilian  accepted  the  crown.  Where 
is  his  letter  of  acceptance  ?  Is  it  in  the  desk  of  the  minister  of  state  ? 

As  you  were  told,  the  post  of  king  will  end  by  becoming  so  difficult  that  no  one  will 
desire  it,  and  whenever  a  crown  becomes  vacant  it  will  be  hard  to  mid  any  one  to  take  it. 
As  to  Prince  Maximilian,  do  not  believe  that  he  has  unconditionally  accepted  that  which 
has  been  offered  'to  him. 

When  the  Mexican  deputation  left  America  to  come  to  Europe,  it  was  received  in  France 
with  all  the  regard  due  to  it ;  but,  if  I  am  well  informed,  the  reception  with  which  it  met 
in  Austria  was  very  much  cooler  indeed  ;  it  had  not  the  honor  of  being  received  into  the 
presence  of  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  although  assuredly  his  Majesty  appears 
extremely  interested  in  the  destinies  of  his  brother. 

His  Majesty  believed  that  this  affair  was  of  such  a  nature,  that  it  partook  so  much  of  the 
romantic,  that  he  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  it. 

In  lact,  gentlemen,  in  the  correspondence  printed  in  all  the  journals  of  Europe,  I  find 
the  following  fact :  The  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  has  been  asked  what  part  he  intended  to 
take  in  the  instalment  of  his  brother,  and  here  is  what  he  answered  :  "  What  do  you  wish 
me  to  do  ?  If  my  brother  had  desired  to  retire  to  a  convent,  I  could  not  have  prevented 
him  from  doing  so  ;  how  cuuld  I  hinder  him  from  going  to  Mexico?" 

There  is,  perhaps,  a  great  difference  between  the  two  suppositions.  I  do  not  wish  the 
Archduke  Maximilian  to  renounce  the  world  and  enter  into  religion,  but  I  do  not  certainly 
wish  him  any  the  more  to  try  the  Mexican  adventure. 

That  which  is  an  official  fact  is  that  the  speech  delivered  by  the  young  archduke  at 
Miramar,  in  presence  of  the  delegation,  did  not  receive  the  honor  of  insertion  in  the  Aus 
trian  Moniteur,  and  that  speech  deserves  to  be  cited,  at  least  in  some  of  its  points,  for  it 
complicates  still  more  the  situation  which  we  are  seeking  to  clear  up.  What  does  the 
archduke  reply  ?  "On  the  result  of  the  vote  of  the  assembly  of  the  country,  I  must, 
therefore,  in  the  first  place,  make  the  acceptance  of  the  offered  throne  depend." 

And  this  is  not  all  :  "  If  solid  guarantees  are  obtained  for  the  future." 

Here  is  something  for  France,  who  is  the  godmother,  who  presents  her  candidate.  The 
prince  to  whom  she  addresses  her  request  says  to  her :  I  must  have  guarantees ;  without 
guarantees  there  can  be  no  acceptance.  Such  has  been  the  stipulation  of  the  prince.  He 
understands  remarkably  well  that  it  is  a  slippery  position  ;  that  the  part  of  improvised 
Emperor  cannot  be  played  with  impunity  in  Mexico  unless  the  actor  is  sustained  by  some 
important  power  like  France.  He  wishes  France  to  sustain  him.  Such  are  the  guarantees 
that  he  demands. 

"  And  if  the  universal  suffrage  of  the  noble  people  of  Mexico  points  to  me,  I  shall  be 
ready,  with  the  consent  of  the  illustrious  chief  of  my  family,  and  confiding  in  the  protec 
tion  of  the  Almighty,  to  accept  the  crown." 

Well,  I  ask  the  government  where  is  the  acceptance,  where  are  the  guarantees,  where  is 
the  vote  of  the  Mexican  people ;  and  as  long  as  all  these  preliminary  conditions  are  not 
fulfilled,  France  has  no  right  to  interfere,  to  carry  on  war,  to  prolong  an  expedition  which 
has  no  purpose,  which  has  no  longer  any  cause,  unless  it  be  a  war  waged  against  a  people 
defending  their  independence  and  their  nationality.  [Numerous  cries  of  disapprobation.] 

This  is  the  position  in  which  we  stand.  I  spoke  to  you  just  now  of  the  Austrian  cabinet. 
See  how  a  sheet,  which  is  not  its  official  organ,  but  its  officious  organ,  expresses  itself  in 
reference  to  the  speech  delivered  at  Miramar  by  the  young  archduke  :  "It  is  easily  under 
stood  that  the  archduke  could  so  much  the  less  accept  the  offer  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables, 
(an  offer  which,  hitherto,  has  met  with  no  adhesions  except  in  a  small  number  of  depart 
ments  occupied  by  the  French  troops,)  as  other  conditions,  such  as  particularly  the  effective 
support  of  the  maritime  powers,  are  yet  only  matters  of  doubt.  England  has  not  yet 


324  MEXICAK   AFFAIRS. 

officially  promised  her  support,  although  public  opinion  in  that  country,  is  favorable  to  the 
project." 

Well,  England  has  explained  her  position.  I  do  not  wish  to  fatigue  your  attention  with 
quotations  already  too  long,  but  I  have  in  my  possession  the  words  spoken  by  Lord  Russell, 
in  which  he  declares  that,  whatever  modifications  may  be  effected  in  Mexico,  he  will  not 
oppose  them,  but  that  at  the  same  time  he  will  give  them  no  kind  of  support. 

So  England  confines  herself  to  a  strict  neutrality,  and  isolated  in  the  midst  of  the 
American  continent,  surrounded  by  jealous  rivals,  the  Emperor  whom  we  are  going  to 
install  in  Mexico  will  have  no  other  safeguards  than  the  guarantees  which  we  shall  have 
given  him  and  which  he  asks  in  the  most  formal  manner  of  us. 

Well,  I  have  reason  to  say  that  in  this  affair  the  purpose  which  France  had  in  the  begin 
ning,  the  reparation  of  the  grievances  of  our  countrymen,  is  entirely  lost  to  view.  You 
can  no  longer  say  that  you  pursue  the  reparation  of  the  grievances  of  our  countrymen  ;  it  is 
impossible.  That  great  and  legitimate  object  has  been  attained. 

Now,  do  you  wish  to  oppose  the  will  of  the  Mexican  people,  and  are  we  condemned  to 
undergo  those  strange  conditions  made  for  us  by  this  expedition  which  I  am  right  to  call 
deplorable,  which,  to  establish  a  government  in  Mexico,  to  constitute  an  empire  there, 
has  placed  us  under  the  necessity  of  sacrificing  French  blood  ?  [Interruption.] 

They  tell  us  that  the  population  is  unanimous ;  that  we  are  not  only  masters  of  the  city 
of  Mexico,  but  that,  from  all  quarters,  the  partisans  of  Juarez  are  abandoning  him  and 
coming  over  to  us. 

What  truth  is  there,  gentlemen,  in  such  talk?  If  we  must  consult  official  documents — 
and  I  take  them  from  the  Moniteur — here  is  what  I  find,  gentlemen  : 

"We  call  the  attention  of  our  readers  to  the  correspondence  from  Mexico  which  we 
publish  below.  These  documents  testify  to  the  extreme  eagerness  with  which  the  Franco- 
Mexican  troops  have  been  received  by  the  people  of  the  cities  and  localities  successively 
occupied,  and  give  us  reason  to  presume  that  at  no  distant  day  the  greater  part  of  Mexico 
will  have  spontaneously  adhered  to  the  empire." 

The  word  spontaneously,  gentlemen,  deserves  to  figure  elsewhere  than  in  the  columns  of 
the  grave  Moniteur.  It  is  certain,  that  when  people  are  forced  to  acknowledge  that  the 
adhesions  come  only  from  the  points  occupied  by  our  troops,  to  add,  then,  that  the  empire 
is  spontaneously  recognized  is  assuredly  to  presume  a  little  too  much  on  the  credulity  of  its 
readers. 

The  truth  is,  that  in  Mexico  we  are  really  masters  only  of  the  territory  which  is  under 
the  wheels  of  our  cannons,  under  the  steps  of  our  soldiers.  [Marks  of  disapprobation  ] 

Here  is  something  that  proves  it  in  an  invincible  manner :  We  are  masters  of  Vera  Cruz  ; 
we  have  entered  the  city  of  Mexico.  Instead  of  seeking  to  consult  the  national  will,  in 
conformity  with  the  instructions  given  him,  General  Forey  has  organized  an  expedition  ; 
we  have  resumed  militaiy  operations  ;  and  why?  What  can  be  the  object  of  them  ?  Who 
can  now  explain  and  assign  a  reason  for  this  military  movement,  this  new  sacrifice  of  men 
and  money  ?  Evidently,  gentlemen,  there  is  no  man  who  can  explain  it  in  reference  to  the 
legitimate  interest  of  France  ;  and  if  it  is  not  possible  to  explain  how  this  military  enter 
prise  thus  continues,  do  you  know  what  it  means  ?  It  is,  that  outside  of  the  city  of  Mexico 
we  meet  resistance,  which  we  are  under  the  necessity  of  vanquishing,  if  not  at  the  cannon's 
mouth,  at  least  by  the  presence  of  our  arms.  Yes,  wherever  we  tread  the  soil  we  are  masters 
of  it ;  but  as  to  any  adhesions  whatever  coming  from  countries  not  occupied,  we  are  not  in 
formed  of  a  single  one. 

As  to  military  events,  God  forbid  that  I  should  come  here  with  premature  news,  to 
throw  alarm  in  any  way  through  the  country.  [Interruption  from  many  benches.] 

BARON  DE  GBIGER.  You  are  not  doing  anything  else  but  that. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  They  have  spoken  to  you  of  triumphal  marches  ;  they  have  told  you 
that,  wherever  we  have  presented  ourselves,  we  have  been  received  as  liberators.  Yet  we 
cannot  conceal  from  ourselves  that  Guadalaxara  resists,  and  that  we  are  on  the  point  of 
undertaking  the  siege  of  it ;  and,  if  military  operations  are  yet  indispensable,  I  ask  the 
government,  once  again,  to  tell  us  what  can  be  the  cause  and  the  excuse  for  them.  Is  it 
not  evident  that  it  is  because  we  are  fighting  against  Mexican  nationality  ?  [Murmurs  of 
disapprobation  from  several  benches.] 

I  would  much  like  to  know  what  kind  of  a  government  it  would  be  that  could  resist  the 
co-operation  extended  to  adverse  parties  by  a  victorious  army  in  possession  of  its  capital. 
As  to  me,  I  know  none  to  which  I  would  give  the  advice  to  make  a  trial  of  the  kind. 

Mexico  resists,  notwithstanding  ;  and  it  is  here  that  we  have  to  ask  ourselves  what  we 
have  to  do  ;  whether  it  is  possible  for  us  to  continue  such  a  policy,  and  if  wje  must  march 
even  to  San  Luis  de  Potosi. 

You  have  only  to  cast  your  eyes  on  the  map,  and  you  will  be  convinced  that  the  com 
missioner  on  the  part  of  the  government  fell  into  an  involuntary  but  capital  error  when 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  325 

he  told  you  that  we  occupied  the  greater  part  of  the  Mexican  territory.  [Cries  of  disap 
probation.] 

SEVERAL  VOICES.  He  did  not  say  that.     He  said  the  greater  part  of  the  people. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  What  we  occupy — I  shall  not  go  into  details — are  the  great  centres 
of  population  ;  but  we  do  not  occupy  all  the  great  centres  of  population.  To  the  north  as 
well  as  to  the  west  there  are  yet  found  cities  of  vast  importance,  in  which  the  Mexican  au 
thority,  which  we  combat,  is  found  installed  and  disposed  to  resistance.  And  it  will  there 
fore  be  necessary  for  us  to  undertake  a  campaign  against  each  of  these  cities.  And,  over 
and  above  the  40,000  men  already  in  Mexico,  we  must  yet  send  thither  10,000  or  15,000 
men  ;  that  is,  henceforth  we  must  augment  our  effective  force  in  Mexico,  in  order  to  carry 
on  this  deplorable  expedition,  to  effect  the  conquest  of  Mexico  for  the  benefit  of  an  Austrian 
prince,  to  dissipate  the  clouds  which  the  Mexican  exiles  have  gathered,  and  to  create  that 
power  which  is  repudiated  by  those  even  who  have  most  interest  in  sustaining  it.  The 
country  must  be  told  that  it  is  yet  necessary  to  keep  50,000  or  60,000  men  in  Mexico,  with 
all  the  materials  requisite  for  their  transportation  and  maintenance.  Is  that  what  you 
wish  ?  [Manifestations  of  denial.] 

Now,  is  it  difficult  to  know  how  and  why  we  cannot,  under  present  conditions,  constitute 
anything  in  Mexico  ?  You  were  told  yesterday,  gentlemen,  in  very  precise  terms,  the  reason 
of  our  feebleness  compared  to  our  military  power,  which  nothing  resists.  It  comes  from 
the  fact  that  we  rely  on  the  support  of  a  detested  party,  composing  only  a  minority  of  the 
nation. 

We  have  expended  fifteen  millions  in  feeding  and  clothing  the  Mexican  army  ;  we  have 
made  our  generals  grasp  the  hands  of  Miramon  and  Marquez.  Mirarnon  and  Marquez !  Do 
you  know  who  they  are — what  they  represent?  Here  are  the  official  documents,  which  tes 
tify  that,  in  1857,  Miramon  and  Marquez,  repulsed  from  Vera  Cruz,  entered  Tacubaya. 
There  they  ordered  the  massacre  of  the  prisoners  and  of  the  sick  who  were  in  the  hos 
pitals. 

A  VOICE.  And  of  the  surgeons. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  They  had  them  deliberately  shot.  Among  the  victims  were  seven 
physicians,  one  of  them  an  Englishman.  The  seven  physicians  suffered  the  same  fate  as 
the  rest.  Here  is  the  order  to  Marquez,  signed  by  Miramon  : 

"  YOUR  EXCELLENCY  :  This  very  evening,  and  under  the  strictest  responsibility  of  your 
excellency,  you  will  cause  to  be  shot  all  the  prisoners  belonging  to  the  class  of  officers, 
subaltern  and  superior,  and  ^ou  will  render  me  an  account  of  the  number  of  those  who 
shall  have  met  this  fate.  God  and  law. 

"MIRAMON. 

"MEXICO,  April  14,  1859." 

And  as  among  these  prisoners  there  was  an  English  physician,  England  protected  ;  and 
see  in  what  energetic  terms  the  first  secretary  of  the  department  of  foreign  affairs  in  Eng 
land  expresses  himself : 

"  Mr.  Seymour  Fitzgerald  has  replied  to  me,  that  it  was  inopportune  on  my  part  to 
make  complaints  to  the  government  of  her  Majesty,  when  he  had  in  his  hands  a  remon 
strance,  written  by  a  merchant  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  (he  was  not  pleased  to  tell  me  his 
name,)  concerning  Mr.  John  Duvall,  a  subject  of  her  Britannic  Majesty,  who,  in  company 
with  several  others,  foreigners  and  natives,  had  been  assassinated  in  the  cruellest,  most 
inhuman,  and  most  shameful  manner,  by  order  of  the  authorities  of  the  city  of  Mexico, 
solely  because  they  had  found  them  in  attendance  on  the  wounded  at  Tacubaya,  as  it  was 
their  duty  to  be  in  their  quality  of  surgeons.  He  added,  that  her  Majesty's  government 
has  never  known  of  acts  so  barbarous,  so  unworthy  of  a  people  pretending  to  pass  for  civil 
ized,  yet  meriting  the  execration  of  the  whole  world." 

And  it  is  through  such  scenes  of  blood,  gentlemen,  in  the  midst  of  such  crimes,  that 
Miramon  attained  the  reins  of  power  !  At  that  period  Marquez  was  thrown  into  prison. 
Do  you  know  why?  Why?  Because  he  had  carried  off  600,000  francs  belonging  to  the 
English  legation. 

The  first  act  of  Miramon ,  on  attaining  power,  was  to  set  him  at  liberty.  England  pro 
tested  ;  and  see  in  what  energetic  terms  : 

"  The  undersigned  desires  particularly  to  persuade  his  Excellency  S.  D.  Theodosio  Lares 
that,  in  conformity  with  the  well-known  sentiments  of  her  Majesty's  government,  of  which 
sentiments  he  is  happy  to  be  at  this  moment  the  interpreter,  he  will  always  be  at  his  ex 
cellency's  disposal,  to  aid  him  to  issue  from  the  position  in  which  the  administration,  of 
which  he  forms  a  part,  is  actually  placed,  in  case  that  administration  should  present  some 
plan  of  conciliation,  to  put  an  end  to  the  civil  war  which  desolates  the  republic  in  so 


326  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

lamentable  a  manner,  and  which,  if  it  continues,  will  imperil  even  its  existence  as  a  nation. 
But  he  would  be  wanting  in  his  duty,  and  to  the  assurance  which  he  has  given  to  his  ex 
cellency  of  the  interest  which  the  British  government  takes  in  the  continuation  of  its  ami 
cable  relations  with  Mexico,  and  in  the  honor  and  prosperity  of  the  republic,  if  he  neglected 
to  call  his  excellency's  attention  to  the  rumor,  mentioned  in  the  papers,  of  the  liberation 
of  General  Marquez,  and  of  his  being  placed  at  the  head  of  an  important  military  com 
mand. 

"  Since  the  arrival  of  the  undersigned  at  Mexico,  that  general  has  rendered  himself 
guilty  of  several  atrocious  assassinations,  among  others,  one  of  a  British  subject,  (Dr. 
Duvall,  one  of  the  victims  of  Tacubaya,)  who  was  seized  at  the  moment  that  he  fulfilled 
the  duties  of  his  profession  as  surgeon,  duties  considered  sacred  among  all  civilized  nations, 
and  he  committed  the  still  greater  baseness  of  desiring  to  justify  himself  by  calumniating 
his  victim. 

"  Some  weeks  afterwards  he  rendered  himself  again  guilty  of  an  assassination  commit 
ted  on  the  person  of  an  American  citizen,  put  to  death  by  his  orders  and  without  any 
form  of  trial. 

"Subsequently  he  seized  the  money  confided  to  his  charge  for  transportation,  and 
aggravated  his  crime  by  alleging,  in  order  to  exculpate  himself,  that  he  had  need  of  money 
to  establish  the  government  and  the  opinions  which  he  pretended  to  sustain." 

These  are  the  acts  of  which  we  have  demanded  an  account  from  Juarez,  and  for  this  we 
have  become  the  friends  and  allies  of  those  who  have  dishonored  themselves  by  commit 
ting  them.  And  you  are  astonished  that  resistance  is  offered  to  you  when  we  place  such 
men  as  this  at  the  head  of  the  Mexicans,  who  remember  those  abominable  acts  that  deserve 
to  be  branded  with  infamy  by  all  civilized  nations 

No,  no,  we  have  deceived  ourselves  ;  let  us  withdraw.  Our  brave  soldiers,  our  officers, 
men  of  so  much  delicacy  of  feeling,  and  so  full  of  honor,  have  no  business  in  the  midst  of 
such  vile  and  bloodthirsty  adventurers,  among  whom  they  find  themselves  astray. 
[Vehement  applause  from  some  benches  ;  murmurs  of  disapprobation  from  others  ] 

At  Mexico,  how  do  they  act?  You  know  that  General  Forey  was  scarcely  installed 
there  when  he  issued  that  decree  of  sequestration  which  the  government  has  been  under 
the  necessity  of  revoking  ;  but  it  was  not  possible  for  him  to  escape  from  the  inflexible 
law  of  his  situation.  He  had  come  to  sustain  those  who,  after  having  flattered  him,  were 
going  to  become  his  masters  ;  they  tried  at  least  to  be  so,  and  when  the  provisional  govern 
ment  was  established  in  the  persons  of  General  Almonte,  General  Salas,  and  the  arch 
bishop  of  Mexico,  then  the  pretensions  of  the  reactionists  were  clearly  manifested  ;  they 
desired  to  go  back  upon  the  past. 

Ah,  you  believe  that  the  Mexicans,  whom  you  have  gone  to  sustain,  understand  the 
generosity  of  France  ?  They  have  seen  in  her  intervention  the  success  of  their  schemes, 
of  their  guilty  hopes ;  they  have  wished  to  rescind  the  decree  of  Juarez  and  resume  the 
property  that  had  been  sold  Then  the  general  ordered  in  a  firm  tone  that  justice  should 
have  its  course,  that  no  change  should  be  made  as  to  the  execution  of  the  obligations 
relative  to  the  national  property.  And  what  ensued?  The  provisional  government 
resisted  ;  it  resisted  the  hand  that  had  raised  it  from  the  dust,  that  had  made  it  what  it  is, 
that  had  invested  it  with  its  ephemeral  power. 

General  Bazaine  spoke  in  a  commanding  tone  ;  he  caused  a  communication  to  be  inserted 
in  the  papers.  Out  of  three  members  of  the  provisional  government,  two  humbled  them 
selves  ;  as  to  the  third,  it  was  in  his  conscience  that  he  obtained  his  strength.  Far  be  it 
from  me  to  reproach  him  for  having  entirely  separated  from  the  government  ;  but  in  the 
name  of  the  dignity  of  France,  I  find  my  sensibilities  very  much  hurt  at  seeing  one  of 
those  three  beads  turning  against  us  and  appearing  to  teach  us  an  insolent  lesson  by 
placing  beside  the  communication  of  General  Bazaine  the  protest  which  I  here  quote.  It 
was  printed  in  the  official  journal.  Assuredly,  in  France,  such  a  thing  would  have  been 
impossible.  General  Forey  says,  in  his  proclamation,  that  he  brings  to  the  Mexicans  the 
benefit  of  warnings  in  matters  regarding  the  press  ;  it  is  not  certainly  for  that  that  we 
have  made  war.  [Exclamations  and  laughter.]  But,  in  spite  of  that  legislation,  after  the 
communication  of  General  Bazaine,  Monseigneur,  the  archbishop  of  Mexico,  had  the  following 
printed  : 

"  His  illustrious  excellency  Monseigneur  the  archbishop,  being  opposed  to  taking  any  part 
in  the  questions  of  the  promises  to  pay,  of  the  sales,  and  of  the  continuation  of  the  construc 
tions,  and  other  points  decided  in  accordance  with  the  sense  of  the  two  preceding  communica 
tions,  published  in  the  number  of  the  Official  Gazette  to  which  this  is  a  supplement,  makes 
his  dissent  known  to  the  public,  in  order  to  relieve  himself  from  all  responsibility  on  the 
subject." 

So  he  separates  from  us  ;  he  declares  that  we  have  violated  the  divine  law  ;  that  as  for 
him  he  cannot  follow  us  in  such  a  course.  He  has  sent  in  his  resignation,  and  the  papers 
have  reported  that  when  mass  was  to  te  heard  by  that  army,  which  everywhere  met  with 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  327 

passive  and  due  obedience,  Monseigneur  closed  the  doors,  of  his  church,  and  mass  was 
heard  only  because  cannons  were  planted  to  blow  down  the  gates  of  the  cathedral. 
[Various  demonstrations  and  disturbances  throughout  the  Chamber  ] 

Such  is  the  order  which  you  have  established  in  Mexico  ;  I  advise  you  to  congratulate 
yourselves  on  it.  As  for  me,  such  order  appears  anarchy  ;  for  you  have  placed  in  power 
those  whom  the  national  will  had  overthrown  ;  you  combat  those  whom  it  sustains.  Such 
is  your  real  situation,  and  it  is  for  this  that  I  earnestly  ask  of  you  to  put  an  end  to  it. 

The  government  tells  us  that  it  is  going  to  reply.  It  has  uttered  one  expression  which 
I  have  received  with  real  satisfaction  :  it  has  told  you  that  there  was  no  other  solution 
than  universal  suffrage. 

Well,  if  the  information  given  to  us  in  the  session  of  yesterday  is  correct,  if  in  reality 
we  occupy  a  territory  representing  a  population  of  5,500,000  inhabitants — that  is  the 
figure  given  ;  it  has  been  given  officially,  and  we  must  keep  it  in  mind  in  order  that  we 
may  be  able  hereafter  to  regulate  the  truth  of  any  assertions  that  may  be  made  to  us — if, 
I  say,  you  have  in  your  favor  five  millions  five  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  make  them 
vote,  and  make  them  vote  freely.  The  imperial  order  makes  this  a  duty.  It  is  in  the 
name  of  national  sovereignty  that  you  have  landed  in  Mexico.  You  have  no  intention  of 
abjuring  your  principle  ;  it  must  be  propagated.  This  principle  you  consider  as  the 
source  of  truth  and  right,  and  according  as  you  proclaim  it,  you  will  not  certainly  stifle  it 
under  the  heels  of  your  victorious  generals.  Well,  if  you  wish  to  have  a  vote,  you  have 
under  your  hand  an  electoral  population  sufficient  for  the  vote  ;  make  them  vote.  Only 
you  are  permitted— I  am  mistaken,  you  are  ordered,  while  supervising  the  vote  and  con 
forming  yourselves  to  the  lofty  ideas  of  the  Emperor,  you  are  ordered  not  to  influence  that 
vote.  You  should  leave  the  election  to  the  Mexican  nation  itself.  In  this  peaceful 
accomplishment  of  its  most  sacred  rights,  it  is  necessary  that  Mexico  should  make  known 
its  wish  ;  it  is  necessary  that  from  its  entrails,  not  torn  by  the  knife  of  the  sacrificers  like 
those  of  the  ancient  victims,  [noisy  demonstrations,]  but,  on  the  contrary,  rendered  fertile 
by  modern  law,  by  the  benefits  of  civilization,  should  issue  at  last  that  cry  which  will  be 
the  proclamation  of  its  real  sovereignty.  Here  is  what  the  government  ought  to  do. 

But  I  confess,  gentlemen,  in  view  of  the  resolutions  which  have  been  taken,  in  view  of 
consummated  facts  and  of  those  now  being  accomplished,  I  frankly  acknowledge  my  fears 
lest  the  part  which  it  seems  determined  to  act  should  prove  very  difficult  of  execution  ; 
and  yet  the  unanimous  sentiment  of  this  assembly,  the  sentiment  of  all  France,  is  that 
this  occupation  of  Mexico  should  not  be  prolonged  ;  it  is  that,  as  far  as  the  honor  and 
interests  of  France  allow,  it  should  cease  as  soon  as  possible  ;  it  is  that  our  brave  soldiers 
now  in  Mexico  should  soon,  again  see  their  native  lacd.  Numerous  considerations  of 
various  kinds  have  been  laid  before  you  to  justify  this  opinion  ;  permit  me,  in  conclusion, 
to  produce  only  one.  [Hear,  hear.] 

Is  it  true  that  the  lessons  of  history  will  be  always  lost,  that  they  will  teach  nothing  to 
those  who,  notwithstanding,  ought  constantly  to  dtaw  their  inspirations  from  them?  Is 
it  a  fact  that  in  them  we  shall  not  find,  by  going  back  to  the  events  of  bygone  years, 
salutary  warnings  by  which  we  ought  to  profit? 

Gentlemen,  fifty-six  years  ago,  the  chief  of  the  powerful  house  which  now  reigns  over 
France,  to  whom  we  cannot  certainly  refuse  the  possession  either  of  genius  or  power,  who 
had  accustomed  Europe  to  tremble  before  his  slightest  will,  whose  friendship  was  sought 
by  the  greatest  potentates,  that  man  one  day  had  his  Mexico  also.  He  conceived  the  idea, 
in  accordance  with  a  policy  which  always  appeared  to  me  fatal,  though  however  it  has  been 
celebrated  as  grand,  of  levelling  the  Pyrenees  for  the  sake  of  a  family  alliance  ;  and  it 
must  be  granted,  gentlemen,  there  seemed  to  be  special  pretexts  in  that  case,  as  in  this  one 
of  Mexico.  Wh  m  need  I  remind  of  the  state  of  the  Spanish  nation  at  that  time  ?  Her 
monarchy  was  represented  by  an  aged  monarch  almost  imbecile  ;  beside  him  a  dissolute 
and  violent  queen,  a  favorite  justly  unpopular  on  account  of  his  haughtiness  and  his 
usurped  power  ;  and  to  crown  all,  gentlemen,  a  son  secretly  conspiring,  an  impious  son 
who  had  learned  in  the  teachings  of  the  Jesuits  that  all  means  are  good  when  they  can 
conduce  to  success.  What  did  the  Emperor  do  ?  The  Emperor  wished  to  regenerate  Spain. 
He  constituted  himself  the  sovereign  judge  of  her  chiefs,  summoned  them  before  him  at 
Bayonne,  and  by  a  stroke  of  his  hand  dashed  the  crown  from  the  head  of  the  king.  He 
took  it  up  to  give  it  to  his  brother.  The  latter  passed  the  Pyrenees.  Were  there  ovations 
wanting  to  him  ?  Was  not  he.  also,  able  to  gather  up  crowns  of  flowers  ?  Did  not 
courtiers  throng  around  the  triumphal  car  of  the  new  king  ?  You  have  been  told  with 
reason,  the  race  of  courtiers  is  imperishable.  After  success  came  the  conflict ;  it  lasted 
five  years,  a  heroic  conflict,  signalized  by  victories  that  eminently  displayed  the  valor  of 
our  soldiers  ;  a  sterile  conflict,  however,  for  their  blood  could  never  cause  the  tree  to  grow 
whose  roots  they  had  to  fertilize  on  the  soil  of  Spain.  And  then  one  day  the  storm, 
lowered  from  the  north  ;  the  tempest  burst  in  its  fury;  and  then  the  great  captain  saw 
with  anguish  his  glorious  legions  sacrificed  for  an  interest  which  was  not  a  French  interest, 


328  .  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

aud  the  clash  of  arms  on  many  a  battle-field  [louder,  we  cannot  hear]  resounded  a  grand 
lesson  to  the  world. 

Well,  gentlemen,  can  we  say,  at  the  present  time,  that  all  is  calm,  that  all  is  security 
around  us?  On  casting  our  eyes  around  us,  are  we  not  struck,  as  the  honorable  M.  Thiers 
said  yesterday  for  Mexico,  with  the  small  number  of  those  who  declare  themselves  our 
friends  ?  Ah  !  when  we  find  before  us  these  causes  of  distrust,  we  can  all  declare,  with 
legitimate  pride,  they  do  not  frighten  us  ;  for  if  we  can  be  divided  when  there  is  question 
of  internal  affairs,  if  we  cry  out  for  liberty  with  earnestness,  if  you  sometimes  refuse  it  to 
us,  [cries  of  disapprobation,]  when  there  is  need  of  making  headway  against  Europe  we  are 
all  united,  and  all  united  we  are  invincible.  [Good,  good.]  But  do  you  know  on  what 
condition?  On  condition  that  we  always  have  justice  on  our  side,  and  that  it  be  not  pos 
sible  some  day,  as  was  done  in  1813,  to  arouse  against  us  the  feelings  of  the  nations,  by 
their  being  told  that  we  have  violated  their  rights,  falsified  the  promises  of  France,  and 
oppressed  their  liberty.  [Murmurs  from  some  benches;  applause  around  the  speaker.] 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  March  8,  1864. 

SIR  :  I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  25th  of  February, 
accompanied  by  translations  into  English  of  the  discourses  pronounced  in  the 
French  Chambers  on  the  25th,  26th,  and  27th  of  January  last,  concerning 
Mexican  affairs. 

Thanking  you  for  your  courteous  attention,  I  avail  myself  of  the  opportunity 
to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  very  distinguished  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Sen  or  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  Sfc. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.  3 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  February  26,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  to  you,  for  the  information  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  copies  in  English  of  some  of  the  protests  made 
by  the  authorities  and  citizens  of  the  Mexican  republic  against  the  intervention 
which  the  Emperor  of  the  French  has  been  engaged  in  carrying  through  in  my 
country. 

I  much  regret  that  I  have  not  in  my  possession  all  the  protests  of  this  kind 
which  it  would  be  fitting  to  submit  to  the  consideration  of  the  civilized  world, 
that  it  might  know  without  difficulty  on  which  side  the  national  will  really  lies 
upon  the  question  now  debated  in  Mexico.  However,  such  as  I  have  been  able  to 
collect,  and  which  I  send  enclosed,  are,  in  my  opinion,  sufficient  to  place  beyond 
all  doubt  the  fact  that  while  the  French  and  their  agents  have  occasion  for  all 
the  pressure  of  their  bayonets  to  obtain  in  places  occupied  by  their  forces  some 
acts  of  adhesion,  signed  by  persons  unknown,  and  often  full  of  fictitious  names, 
the  same  towns,  when  freed  from  military  pressure,  expressed  their  will  against 
intervention,  through  the  medium  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens  among  the 
local  authorities,  freely  and  popularly  chosen,  who  represented  faithfully,  there 
fore,  the  will  of  their  constituents,  and  are  again  doing  the  same  thing  the  instant 
they  see  themselves  free  from  the  foreign  invaders.  It  is  notorious  that  many 
of  the  protests  against  intervention  have  been  made  in  places  in  which,  at  the 
time,  there  was  no  armed  force  of  the  national  government.  They  were,  there 
fore,  the  free  expression  of  the  will  of  those  who  signed  them,  and  there  cannot 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  329 

be  the  slightest  suspicion  that  they  could  have  been  dictated  by  fear  or  violence, 
which  there  was  no  means  of  bringing  into  play. 

I  avail  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  very 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  8fc.,  fyc. 


Manuel  Doblado,  governor  of  the  state  of  Guanajuato,  to  its  inhabitants. 

GUANAJUATO,  July  28,  1863. 

FELLOW- CITIZENS:  The  honorable  congress  of  the  state,  upon  terminating  its  legislative 
labors,  has  delegated  to  me  the  exercise  of  its  powers,  amplifying  the  extraordinary  facili 
ties  with  which  it  had  before  invested  me. 

This  new  testimony  of  confidence  imposes  upon  me  the  duty  of  addressing  you,  in  order 
to  make  known  to  you  the  use  that  I  propose  to  make  of  the  authority  which  has  been 
deposited  in  my  person. 

The  events  which  have  recently  occurred  in  the  city  of  Mexico  have  placed  the  foreign 
question  in  its  true  light,  and  presented  it  with  a  precision  and  an  exactitude  which  re 
moves  all  possibility  of  error.  These  events  reveal  nothing  less  than  the  deliberate  inten 
tion  of  converting  the  republic  of  Mexico  into  a  colony  of  France. 

The  theatrical  farce  by  which  it  has  been  sought  to  divide  and  to  distract  public  opinion 
has  no  other  object  than  to  place  the  country,  by  means  of  certain  artificial  transitions, 
under  the  domination,  of  the  French  arms. 

In  all  this  there  is  only  the  good  faith  that  a  conquered  people  may  hope  to  receive  from 
their  conqueror. 

The  invading  general  has  affected  to  believe  that  the  military  question  was  concluded, 
when  he  yet  has  the  intimate  conviction  that  it  has  only  commenced. 

No  one  now  is  ignorant  of  the  deplorable  causes  which,  contributed  to  bring  about  the 
disasters  which  occurred  to  the  armies  of  the  east  and  of  the  centre. 

The  invading  general  also  knows  them,  and  he  knows  that  without  the  aid  of  those 
causes  he  would  not  to-day  be  in  Mexico. 

The  military  question  begins  now  on  the  day  when  the  country  raised  the  flag  of  resist 
ance.  The  solution  of  this  question  is  yet  known  only  to  Providence.  He  will  award  to 
each  that  which  is  his  just  due. 

The  political  question  is  a  question  of  right,  and  on  this  field  Mexico  is  omnipotent. 

Nationality  is  the  life  of  a  people.  The  Mexicans  have  inherited  independence  from 
their  fathers.  They  achieved  that  independence  by  virtue  of  their  courage  and  their  sacri 
fices,  not  by  intrigue  ;  nor  did  they  purchase  it  with  corrupt  gold. 

The  right  which  exists  on  our  side  is  evident ;  it  is  incontrovertible,  unprescriptible.  It 
is  the  right  which  England  has,  and  Spain  and  France,  under  their  respective  nationalities  ; 
and  to  place  this  right  in  doubt  is  to  reject  all  public  law,  is  to  imperil  the  very  existence 
of  nations  as  independent  states,  to  attack  at  its  very  base  the  principle  of  natural  right, 
and  to  introduce  chaos  into  established  international  relations. 

Force  is  not  right.  It  is  necessary  to  repeat  this  principle  a  thousand  times,  however 
trite  it  may  seem.  Force  disposed,  many  years  ago,  of  Poland,  but  the  rights  of  the  Poles 
still  exist,  and  only  burst  forth  the  more  brilliantly  each  time  the  sacred  fire  of  insurrec 
tion  appears. 

The  Emperor  Napoleon  has  had  the  power  to  invade  Mexico,  but  he  has  no  right  to  con 
vert  it  into  a  colony  of  France.  It  has  been  attempted  to  found  a  right  upon  the  unhappy 
condition  of  the  republic,  and  upon  its  continual  revolutions. 

But  this  is  only  the  sophistry  of  bad  faith,  in  which  even  its  authors  do  not  believe.  It 
is  true  that  we  have  committed  many  errors,  and  that  all  parties,  in  attempting  to  put  in. 
practice  their  respective  theories,  have  failed,  devoured  by  the  revolutionary  spirit.  But 
only  the  Mexicans  have  a  right  to  complain  of  these  evils  The  right  to  reproach  is  ex 
clusively  our  own.  Foreigners  have  no  right  to  take  cognizance  of  our  domestic  dissen 
sions,  and  still  less  to  bring  charges  against  us  for  acts  done  in  the  exercise  of  our  national 
sovereignty. 

The  invader  well  knows  these  truths,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  each  step  he  takes  in 
the  country  he  repeats  the  deceitful  watchword  of  his  designs :  "  We  do  not  come  to  impose 
a  government  upon  Mexico  ;  we  come  to  protect  the  free  choice  of  that  the  Mexicans  wish 
to  give  themselves."  This  hypocritical  pretence  does  not  merit  refutation  ;  it  has  already 
been  set  aside  by  the  nation  en  masse,  when  it  laughed  with  scorn  at  the  news  of  the  mon 
archy  of  Maximilian. 


330  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

The  good  sense  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  has  comprehended  that  there  cannot 
be  freedom  where  there  is  compulsion ;  that  the  French  army  is  not  a  protector,  but  a 
usurper  ;  that  these  phrases  with  which  it  is  sought  to  deceive  the  people  are  only  the  set 
phrases  which  conquerors  in  all  times  have  us  d  with  lying  tongues ;  diplomatic  expedients, 
invented  in  order  to  paralyze  resistance  ;  involuntary  confessions,  but  very  significant  of 
our  right  to  freely  govern  ourselves  without  the  intervention  of  any  foreign  influence 
whatever. 

Presented  thus  the  political  question,  and  being  clear  as  the  light  of  the  noonday  sun 
the  right  of  Mexico  not  to  admit  the  protection  offered  to  her  at  the  point  of  French  bayo 
nets,  the  course  which  should  be  followed  by  all  Mexicans  is  plainly  marked  out.  It  is  to 
fight  to  the  last  against  the  invaders  ;  to  exhaust  to  the  uttermost  every  resource  of  the 
country  in  order  to  make  the  war  successful ;  to  reject  all  thought  of  compromise  as  an 
impossible  means  when  treating  of  the  independence  and  sovereignty  of  the  nation,  which, 
from  their  very  nature,  are  indivisible  and  inalienable,  and  to  die  if  it  is  necessary,  but 
with  the  consciousness  that  the  honor  of  Mexico  has  been  saved. 

This  is  the  course  which  the  government  of  Guanajuato  will  pursue  in  order  to  corre 
spond  to  the  confidence  which  the  representatives  of  the  people  have  manifested  in  the 
person  who  exercises  its  functions. 

For  an  enterprise  so  grand  and  so  holy  no  co-operation  should  be  refused — no  individual 
should  be  rejected.  Under  the  flag  of  independence,  for  the  first  time  thrown  to  the  breeze 
by  the  venerable  curate  Miguel  Hidalgo,  all  political  parties  have  a  place,  for  under  its 
shadow  there  is  harm  only  to  traitors.  To-day  I  call  upon  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  state, 
whether  conservative,  moderados,  or  liberals,  to  lend  their  services,  each  one  in  the  sphere 
which  may  be  possible,  to  the  cause  of  independence.  To-day  disappear  with  political 
hatreds  all  the  unhappy  denominations  born  of  civil  war.  In  the  bloody  struggle  upon 
which  we  have  now  to  enter  there  are  only  two  distinctions  which  can  henceforth  be 
known— Mexicans  or  Frenchmen  and  traitors;  invaders  or  invaded ;  freemen  or. slaves. 
It  is  not  a  sense  of  peril  which  counsels  me  to  this  invocation  to  fraternity.  During  the 
three  years  of  my  administration,  tolerance  has  been  a  practical  truth  in  the  state  of 
Guanajuato,  where  the  same  respect  and  the  same  guarantees  have  been  enjoyed  by  men  of 
all  shades  of  opinions  and  from  all  the  states.  If  it  were  not  unworthy  of  a  government 
to  pronounce  its  own  panegyric,  I  could  recount  to  you  a  thousand  acts  which  testify  that 
the  idea  of  a  universal  fusion  has  formed  one  of  the  cardinal  bases  of  my  administration. 

Nor  is  it  fear  of  the  great  power  of  the  French  empire  which  incites  me  to  make  this 
call  for  reconciliation.  The  power  of  France  is  great.  This  incontestable  fact  will  later 
form  our  glory. 

But  the  question  is  not  now  which  of  the  two  nations  has  the  most  power,  but  which  of 
the  two  has  justice  on  its  side.  Possessing  the  right,  we  have  the  obligation  to  defend  it, 
even  when  all  the  physical  conditions  of  war  are  unfavorable  to  us. 

What  would  have  become  of  Spain  in  1808  if  she  had  stopped  to  consider  the  number 
and  the  strength  of  the  French  armies  which  had  been  perfidiously  introduced  into  her 
principal  cities  and  fortresses  before  she  had  commenced  her  glorious  uprising  ? 

What  would  Mexico  now  be  if  the  father  of  our  independence  had  stopped  to  calculate 
the  immense  resources  of  the  crown  of  Spain,  and  the  poverty  with  which  he  was  sur 
rounded  at  the  moment  when  he  proclaimed  our  emancipation  ? 

I  am  very  far  from  feeling  that  spirit  of  boastful  arrogance  which  would  preannounce 
triumphs  and  enumerate  imaginary  forces.  Our  weakness  is  a  fact ;  it  is  a  fact  which  itself 
has  led  to  the  invasion.  But  our  duty  is  to  defend  ourselves,  and  when  a  duty  is  to  be 
complied  with  we  do  not  count  the  number  of  our  adversaries,  nor  are  we  deterred  by 
obstacles.  We  cannot  lose  our  independence  with  honor  without  first  having  defended  it 
with  arms  to  the  last  extremity. 

Then,  and  only  then,  shall  we  have  a  right  to  the  consideration  of  the  world  ;  then,  and 
only  then,  shall  we  transmit  to  our  sons  the  right  of  rebellion  against  their  oppressors 
whenever  they  shall  have  the  power  to  rise ;  and  only  thus  can  we  wash  away  with  our 
blood  the  stain  which  has  been  thrown  upon  the  flag  of  the  nation  by  those  few  degraded 
Mexicans  who,  through  the  asperity  of  parties,  through  hunger,  or  from  motives  the  most 
vile,  have  lent  themselves  to  serve  as  the  instruments  of  the  invader,  and  have  filled  posi 
tions  which  reveal  the  lowest  grade  of  abjectness. 

Guanajuateneses,  Providence  has  destined  us  to  live  in  an  epoch  of  trial. 

Let  us  rise  to  the  height  of  the  situation. 

Be  great  in  the  day  of  the  struggle,  as  our  domestic  discords  have  made  us  before  appear 
weak.  Let  us  demonstrate  to  our  enemies  that  we  are  not  unworthy  of  forming  an  inde 
pendent  nation. 

Let  us  make  them  feel  the  difference  between  this  faction  of  beggars,  political  chevaliers 
d' Industrie,  who  have  asked  the  aid  of  the  Emperor,  and  the  immense  majority  of  the  nation 
with  whom  the  love  of  nationality  dominates  as  a  vigorous  and  puissant  passion,  who 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  331 

possess  that  noble  pride  which  is  inspired  by  patriotism,  and  who  have  a  sacred  and  inex 
tinguishable  attachment  for  the  preservation  of  our  independence. 

The  lash,  the  pillory,  and  secret  executions  already  cause  the  hand  of  the  conqueror  to 
be  felt  in  the  city  of  Mexico. 

Who  among  us  has  not  felt  his  brow  redden  with  shame  on  hearing  of  this  infamous 
treatment  applied  to  Mexican  citizens  ? 

Fellow-citizens,  the  conqueror  comes  boasting  that  his  steps  will  be  marked  by  peace,  by 
security,  and  by  abundance.  Let  us  wait  a  little,  and  our  deceived  brothers  will  be  restored 
to  themselves  when  they  see  that  all  these  promises  are  deceitful,  that  they  are  only  the 
delusive  utterances  of  an  accomplished  trickster. 

Our  destiny  is  war.  Let  us  enter,  then,  upon  the  struggle  with  the  dignity  of  freemen, 
with  the  courage  of  independent  Mexicans,  and  with  faith  in  God,  who  will  never  abandon 
the  cause  of  justice. 

The  future  is  dark,  because  it  is  a  future  of  sacrifices  ;  but  the  reward  is  imperishable  ;  it 
is  the  glory  of  Hidalgo  and  of  Iturbide. 

Posterity  will  judge  us  all ;  and  when  this  epoch  of  passions  and  of  hatreds  shall  have 
passed  away,  it  will  honor  with  posthumous  impartiality  these  Mexicans  who  have  died 
defending  the  independence  of  their  country,  and  the  traitors  who  have  cowardly  sought 
to  deliver  it  over  to  the  French  covered  with  opprobrium  and  with  infamy. 

Viva  la  independencia !    Viva  la  republica !    Viva  el  gobierno  constitucional  Mexicano  ! 

MANUEL  DOBLADO. 


PROCLAMATION. 

Citizen  Manuel  Doblado,  constitutional  governor  of  the  State  of  Guanajuato,  to  its  inhabitants  : 

GUANAJUATENESFS  :  The  French  and  the  traitors  are  already  knocking  at  the  gates  of  the 
State,  I  return,  therefore,  to  take  charge  of  its  government,  in  order  to  fulfil  my  duty  by 
defending  it,  and  am  resolved  to  pursue  the  destiny  which  Providence  may  present  to  me 
in  the  place  where  the  popular  will  has  located  me. 

The  Frenchman  proceeds,  using  advantageously  our  political  antipathies,  and  deceiving 
at  once  progressionists  and  retrogressibnists,  in  order  to  build  up  a  governing  power  purely 
French  on  the  ruin  and  discredit  of  both. 

Neither  the  one  nor  the  other  will  be  persuaded  of  this  truth,  although  both  have  been 
cruelly  disappointed.  Time  alone,  and  the  falsity  of  the  invader's  promises,  evidenced  by 
want  of  fulfilment,  will  cause  the  deluded  to  retrace  their  steps  when  it  may  be,  perhaps, 
too  late  to  remedy  the  evil. 

The  loyal  Mexicans,  who  see  clearly  the  object  at  which  the  conqueror  aims,  have  marked 
out  a  path  in  which  there  can  be  no  vacillation,  and  therefore  pursue  it  with  a  firm  step 
and  calm  conscience. 

All  are  resolved  to  fight  incessantly  until  they  fall  or  save  independence  and  the  consti 
tutional  government  of  the  republic.  They  know  all  the  disadvantages  of  the  situation 
and  the  resources  of  the  enemy,  but  they  comprehend  that  when  the  annihilation  of  a 
nation  is  in  question,  weakness  is  no  excuse,  because  duty  is  satisfied  only  when  all  that 
could  be  has  been  done. 

The  insurrection  is  now  an  undeniable  fact.  Wherever  there  are  Frenchmen  and  traitors 
there  are  champions  of  independence.  They  are  fighting  at  one  and  the  same  moment 
from  Vera  Cruz  to  Queretaro,  and  in  the  very  gutters  of  the  city  of  Mexico  ;  the  upheaving 
of  insurgents  reminds  the  incredulous  that  the  country  is  occupied  militarily,  but  not  con 
quered.  The  pacification  of  the  country  under  the  empire  of  the  French  flag  is  impossible. 

The  invasion  will  cause  the  state  countless  losses,  for  which  neither  the  invaders  nor  false 
Mexicans  who  have  called  them  will  be  responsible.  The  government  of  the  state  has 
maintained  order,  peace,  and  individual  guarantees  from  its  establishment,  in  the  year 
1860,  until  now,  notwithstanding  that  it  has  found  itself  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  ele 
ments  of  destruction.  If,  hereafter,  it  should  find  itself  compelled  to  abandon  that  path 
and  enter  that  of  reprisals  and  coercive  measures,  let  the  blame  rest  on  the  traitors,  who, 
to  satisfy  petty  ambition  and  wretched  passions,  have  brought  upon  their  country  the 
scourge  of  foreign  war.  Upon  them  let  the  tremendous  responsibility  of  whatever  may 
happen  fall. 

Fellow-citizens,  the  hour  of  struggle  approaches  ;  the  time  of  trial  has  arrived.  In  the 
pages  of  modern  history  there  is  no  glory  comparable  with  that  which  Spain  and  Russia 
acquired  when,  at  the  beginning  of  this  century,  they  opposed,  in  an  insurrection,  an  in 
destructible  wall  to  Napoleon  I.  Both  appeared  to  succumb  speedily  to  the  immense  power 
of  the  modern  Artaxerxes ;  but  the  people  arose,  and  those  two  powers  overturned  him 
who  had  won  the  prestige  of  invincible. 


332  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

Let  us  imitate  the  heroic  example  of  those  great  nations,  nor  allow  the  power  and  num 
ber  of  our  enemies  to  affright  us.  It  may  well  be  that  the  chances  of  war  may  be  adverse 
to  us  at  first ;  but  fortune  will  come  at  length  to  crown  our  constancy.  The  question  is 
not  between  Mexico  and  France  exclusively.  There  are  interests  and  considerations  of  a 
high  order,  which  will  be  developed  in  time,  when  Mexico,  sustaining  with  courage  and 
honor  the  unequal  struggle,  will  prove  to  the  world  that  she  is  perfectly  worthy  to  form  by 
herself  a  sovereign  and  independent  nation. 

Viva  la  independencia !  &c.,  &c. 

MANUEL  DOBLADO. 

GUANAJUATO,  November  9,  1863. 


PROTEST  OF  THE  CONGEESS  OF  SONOEA  AGAINST  FOEEIGN   1NTEEVENTION. 

The  protest  which  was  made  and  signed  at  San  Luis  Potosi,  on  the  22d  of  July  of  the 
present  year,  by  the  permanent  deputation  of  the  congress  of  the  Union,  in  the  name  of  that 
sovereign  body,  against  all  acts  that  have  taken  place,  or  may  occur  hereafter,  under  the 
power  or  influence  of  French  intervention,  being  well  known  throughout  the  republic  as 
well  as  abroad,  and  the  political  importance  of  the  same  being  of  such  a  nature  that  it 
makes  it  useless  to  show  forth  the  legitimate  considerations  which  gave  rise  to  it,  express 
ing  with  as  much  truth  as  energy  the  grievances  and  attempts  which  the  present  govern 
ment  of  France  has  committed,  and  contiues  to  commit,  against  the  most  sacred  rights  of 
the  nation,  allied  with  Mexican  traitors,  and  violating  all  principles  of  international  law, 
trampling  under  foot  and  scorning  the  individuality  of  Mexico  as  a  sovereign  nation,  and, 
without  any  more  right  than  that  of  brutal  force,  scandalizing  the  whole  civilized  world, 
pretends  to  arrogate  to  herself  the  authority  to  impose  upon  us  the  form  of  government 
which  ought  to  rule  over  us  and  the  administration  we  should  adopt,  and  leaving  nothing 
new  to  add  to  that  historical  monument  that  testifies  so  amply  the  will  and  sentiments  of 
the  nation,  manifested  by  the  legitimate  organ  of  its  representatives,  and  fixes  the  impre 
scriptible  rights  of  the  Mexican  nation,  sustaining  its  autonomy,  rights  that  can  never  be 
ceded  to  a  foreign  power  by  a  revengeful  faction  of  fanactics  and  traitors. 

Therefore  the  constitutional  congress  of  the  free  and  sovereign  state  of  Sonora,  faithful 
interpreter  and  legitimate  representative  of  the  people  of  the  same,  whose  sentiments  of 
patriotism  and  zeal  for  its  independence  are  so  well  known,  declares :  that  it  makes  the  pro 
test  made  and  signed  by  the  permanent  deputation  of  the  sovereign  congress  of  the  United 
Mexican  States,  in  the  city  of  San  Luis  Potosi,  on  the  22d  of  July,  1863,  its  own,  as  also 
any  former  acts  and  protests ;  that  it  will  always  consider  as  null  and  vexatious  to  the 
sovereignty  of  the  nation  and  to  that  of  the  state  all  and  every  act  that  may  have  for  its 
origin  the  French  intervention  in  any  of  the  political  affairs  of  the  Mexican  republic,  and 
that  it  disowns  and  will  repel  as  usurper  any  foreign  power,  as  well  as  any  other  created  in 
the  country  which  does  not  emanate  from  the  legitimate  federal  constitution  which  the  na 
tion  gave  freely  to  itself  on  the  5th  of  February,  1857. 
Hall  of  Sessions  of  the  Congress  of  Sonora  at  Ures,  on  the  21st  of  October,  1863. 

DOMINGO  ELIAS,  SEN. 

PASCUAL  ELIAS,  JUN. 

JESU8  GULJADA. 

KAMON  MARTINEZ. 

FRANCISCO  MOHENA  BUELNA. 

NIEVES  E.  ACOSTA,  Deputy  Secretary. 

JOSE"  M    REDONDO,  Deputy  Secretary, 


[Annexed  to  Mr.  Romero's  letter  of  February  26,  1864.] 

MINISTET   OF   FOEEIGN   EELATIONS   AND   GOVERNMENT. 

Second  class — seal  5th — half  a  dollar.  For  the  term  of  two  years  included  in  the  years 
1858  and  1859. — General  bureau  for  the  administration  of  the  revenue  from  stamped  pa 
per.— Established  for  the  years  1862  and  1863,  conformably  to  the  supreme  order  of  Marcn 
16,  1861. 

MANUEL  GOMEZ,  R.  P.  S., 
Principal  Bureau  of  'Stamped  Paper,  Sonora. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  333 

CITIZEN- GOTBENOR  OP  THE  STATE  :  The  undersigned,  who  compose  the  patriotic  association 
formed  in  this  city  under  the  title  of  "Independence  Club,  Liberty  or  Death,"  have  re 
solved  to  address  ourselves  to  the  enlightened  chief  magistrate  of  the  republic,  intrusted 
with  the  defence  of  its  independence,  and  invested  with  full  and  complete  powers  by  the 
national  legislature,  and  to  manifest  to  him,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  as  I  have  the 
honor  to  do  through  the  worthy  mediation  of  this  government,  our  firm  and  decided  reso 
lution  to  repel  with  profound  hatred  and  eternal  malediction,  by  all  the  means  in  our  power, 
and  in  every  possible  way  becoming  ug  as  true  patriots,  every  interventionary  pretension 
of  the  French  invaders,  manifesting,  at  the  same  time,  the  closest  and  most  sincere  adhe 
rence  to  the  wise  institutions  by  which  we  are  governed,  and  which  the  nation  has  estab 
lished  for  itself  through  the  instrumentality  of  its  legitimate  representatives  and  in  the  ex 
ercise  of  its  indisputable  power  and  sovereignty,  laid  down  in  the  great  constitutional 
charter  of  1857  and  in  the  laws  of  reform. 

We  likewise  declare,  as  our  final  resolve,  that,  being  deeply  penetrated  with  patriotic 
sentiments,  such  as  ought  to  animate  every  loyal  Mexican,  we  are  firmly  resolved  to  co 
operate  with  all  our  strength  in  the  grand  work  of  the  national  defence,  and  to  shed  our 
blood  and  that  of  our  sons  for  the  liberty  and  independence  of  our  fatherland,  most  un 
justly  and  wickedly  threatened  with  destruction  by  the  invading  hosts  of  the  most  ambi 
tious  tyrant  of  Europe,  the  degenerate  colossus  of  our  age,  the  hated  despot,  the  associate 
of  bandits  and  traitors,  the  unprincipled  Napoleon  III. 

Be  pleased,  citizen-governor,  to  transmit  these  short  but  truthful  manifestations  of  our 
feelings  to  the  supreme  magistrate  of  the  nation,  which  we  are  ready  to  reduce  to  practice 
at  whatever  cost. 

ALAMOS,  July  16,  1863. 

A.  ALMADA,  President. 

VICTORIANO  ORTIZ  Y  RODRIGUEZ,  Vice- President. 

LEOPOLDO  GIL  SAMANIEGO,  Secretary. 

JUAN  J.  MENDOZA,  Secretary. 

Inocencio  Garcia,  Aurelio  Garcia,  Laureano  Jelin,Exiquio  Ordenan,  Francisco  Miranda,  Luis 
Teyechea,  Juan  Lopez,  Saturnine  Alvarez,  Jose  Maria  Flores,  Priciliano  Orduno,  Eduardo 
Retes,  Luis  Acosta,  Jesus  Camargo,  Juan  J.  Zarate,  Severiano  Avilez,  Diego  Avilez,  Jesus 
Ramirez,  Leocadio  Miranda,  Juan  J.  Estrada,  Ramon  Ibarra,  Manuel  Amarillos,  Antonio 
Gamez,  E.  Baldenegro,  Jesus  Almada,  Juan  S.  Moreno,  Rosalino  Corral  y  S.  Miguel  Ser 
rano,  Cecilio  Ocen.  To  be  a  free  Mexican  or  perish  :  Carlos  C.  Avilez,  Macario  Escalante, 
Luis  Acuiia,  R.  J.  Rodriguez,  Jesus  S.  Campos,  Juan  Marquez,  Jose  Maria  Trevina  y  Al 
varez.  Signed  for  the  following  citizens,  by  their  request :  Jos£  Maria  Valenzuela,  Este- 
van  Valenzuela,  Regiro  Salas,  Calixto  Hernandez,  Juan  Benitez,  Francisco  Lopez,  Satur- 
nino  Corrales,  Juan  Alvarez,  Ignacio  Beltran,  Jesus  Pinuela,  Porfirio  Balderrama,  Fulgencio 
Rojo,  Jesus  Gastelo,  Adolfo  Tesiseco,  Miguel  Salas,  Ignacio  Rodriguez,  Concepcion  Cam- 
pay,  Higineo  Esqueo,  Bernardo  Camargo,  Tranquilino  Gutierrez,  Santiago  Navarro,  and 
Manuel  Campos,  Leopoldo  G.  Samaniego,  Isidoro  Sonsa.  For  Nepomuceno  Delgado, 
Antonio  Navarro,  Maximo  Urias,  Nemecio  Alarcon,  and  Francisco  Valenzuela,  Leopoldo 
G.  Samaniego,  Jesus  Maria  Sanchez,  Santiago  Navarro,  Emeterio  R.  Ortiz.  For  Liato 
Dominguez  and  Benigno  Valenzuela,  Victoriano  Ortiz  y  Rodriguez,  Rafael  Acuria,  Gua- 
dalupe  Mendoza,  Jose"  Maria  Retes,  Jesus  0.  Almada,  Antonio  Miranda,  Manuel  Fera, 
Juan  J.  Marquez,  Florencio  Cevallos,  Francisco  A.  Cevallos.  For  Candido  Garcia,  Gua- 
dalupe  Mendoza.  For  the  citizens,  Francisco  Ruiz,  Ramon  Urbalejo,  Alejandro  Barreras, 
Manuel  Valdez,  Panfilo  Lugo,  and  Basilio  Valdez,  Guadupe  Mendoza.  For  Ramon  Na- 
jarrati,  Leopoldo  G.  Samaniego,  Santos  Delgado.  For  Manuel  Rodriguez,  V.  Ortiz  y 
Rodriguez.  For  Tiburcio  Valdez,  Leopoldo  G.  Samaniego,  Carlos  Cevallos,  Estevan  Ortiz. 
For  Eulalio  Morales,  Leopoldo  G.  Samaniego,  Ramon  Jacome,  Jesus  Cevallos,  Manuel 
Salazar,  Antonio  Almada,  Francisco  Salido.  For  Agustin  Gamez,  Jose'  Almada,  Lorenzo 
Ortiz,  Juan  de  D.  Tavela,  J.  Antonio  G.  Samaniego,  Salvador  Compay,  Luis  G.  Parada. 
For  Porfirio  Bostillos,  Leopoldo  G.  Samaniego.  For  Rosendo  Mendivil,  Leopoldo  G.  Sam 
aniego. 

This  is  a  true  copy  of  the  original  which  remains  in  the  archives  of  the  association. 

V.  ORTIZ  Y   RODRIGUEZ,    Vice- President. 

JUAN  J.  MENDOZA,  Secretary. 

LEOPOLDO  G.  SAMANIEGO,  Secretary. 
ALAMOS,  July  17,  1863. 


334  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

STATE  or  SONORA, 
Office  of  the  Prefect  of  the  district  of  Alamos. 

VINCENTB   ORTIZ,    PREFECT   OF   THE   DISTRICT   OF   ALAMOS. 

I  certify  that  the  preceding  signatures  are  those  used  by  the  individuals  who  have  sub 
scribed  their  names  in  all  their  affairs  and  business  transactions,  public  as  well  as  private, 
and  therefore  admitted  as  legal  testimony  in  court  and  out  of  court  with  the  credit  which 
they  deserve. 

And  at  the  request  of  these  citizens,  above  mentioned,  I  issue  these  presents  at  Alamos, 
July  17,  1863,  and  I  authorize  and  seal  them  according  to  law. 

YINCENTE  ORTIZ. 

A  true  copy.— San  Luis  Potosi,  August  28,  1863. 

JUAN  DE  D.  ARIAS. 


OFFICE  OF  THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  CONGRESS  OF  THE  UNION. 

PERMANENT  COMMITTEE,  BOARD  OF  PRIMARY  INSTRUCTION  OF  CHIHUAHUA. 
The  board  of  instruction  of  this  capital,  deeply  affected  by  the  recent  events  that  have 
transpired  at  the  city  of  Zaragoza,  and  by  the  occupation  of  the  city  of  Mexico  by  the  French 
invaders,  has  deemed  it  proper  to  approve  the  protest  which  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit 
to  you,  in  order  that  you  may  be  pleased  to  lay  it  before  the  permanent  committee  of  the 
sovereign  Congress  of  the  Union. 

In  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  the  board,  I  have  the  honor  to  offer  you  the  testimony 
of  my  profound  respect  and  sincere  attachment. 

Independence  and  liberty! — Chihuahua,  July  29,  1863. 

J.  M.  G.  DEL  CAMPO,  President.     [SEAL.] 
FRANCISCO  ESPINOSA,  Secretary.   [SEAL  ] 
The  SECRETARIES  OF  THE  PERMANENT  COMMITTEE  OF  CONGRESS. 


The  Board  of  Primary  Instruction  of  Ghilmahua  to  the  Governor  of  the  State : 

Since  the  occupation  of  the  heroic  city  of  Zaragoza,  and  of  the  capital  of  Mexico,  by  the 
invading  army  of  Napoleon  III,  a  triumph  not  due  to  the  power  of  its  arms — resisted  always 
and  with  courage  by  the  valiant  defenders  of  our  independence — but  to  accidental  circum 
stances  of  war  or  of  necessity,  and  of  regard  for  the  great  end  of  never  compromising 
with  the  perfidious  and  hypocritical  pretensions  of  the  ambitious  tyrant  of  France,  and  of 
maintaining,  at  all  hazards,  the  sovereignty  and  liberty  of  our  country ;  and  since,  from 
the  fact  of  finding  himself  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  followed  by  a  disgusting  crowd  of  infamous 
traitors,  General  Forey  considers  his  military  operations  as  terminated,  believing  himself 
already  the  conqueror  of  the  nation  ;  considers  likewise  as  having  arrived  the  moment  for 
initiating  the  work  of  the  intervention  in  the  political  reorganization  of  the  country  ;  has 
commenced  to  dictate  laws,  and  has  instituted  a  ridiculous  government,  counterfeiting  the 
national  will,  which  can  never  be  repiesented  by  the  combination  of  traitors  resident  in 
Mexico,  who  are  the  only  persons  that  could  second  the  intentions  of  General  Forey,  by 
this  means  entirely  ignoring  the  existence  of  the  constitutional  government  established  by 
the  free  and  spontaneous  vote  of  the  nation,  which,  by  having  its  residence  at  present 
at  San  Luis  Potosi,  has  thereby  neither  lost  its  legitimacy  nor  abdicated  its  authority, 
nor  ceased  to  be  obeyed  and  respected  by  the  states ;  it  is  necessary  that  the  voice  of 
the  country  should  be  raised  on  every  side,  and  should  reach  the  ears  of  Forey,  and  even 
those  of  the  despot  of  France,  protesting  before  the  world  against  their  wicked  and  unjust 
pretensions  to  interfere  in  the  politics  of  our  republic,  or  to  subject  it  to  their  domination ; 
it  is  necessary  to  give  them  to  understand,  in  the  most  energetic  and  conclusive  manner, 
that,  if  our  arms  succumb,  our  wills  are  still  repugnant  and  resist  all  extraneous  interfer 
ence,  be  it  what  it  may,  and  whatever  be  the  pretext  or  motive  which  it  adduces  in  its 
justification  ;  it  is  necessary  that  these  gunpowder  civilizers  should  know  that,  if  sometimes 
the  brutal  force  of  arms  triumphs  for  a  period  over  reason  and  justice,  the  national  senti 
ment  of  a  free  people  is  irresistible  and  its  will  most  potent,  invincible  to  all  attacks,  and 
unconquerable  by  any  human  power.  It  is  necessary  that  all  the  states,  all  the  peoples,  all 
the  authorities  and  corporations,  and  every  Mexican  that  is  not  a  traitor,  should  solemnly 
declare  that  they  detest  the  French  intervention  with  all  their  heart,  as  well  as  the  inter 
ference  of  any  other  foreign  nation ;  that  they  will  never  recognize  nor  acknowledge  any 
other  government  than  that  which  actually  rules  the  nation,  established  in  conformity  with 
the  constitution  of  1857  ;  that  they  consider  as  a  mere  nullity  and  usurpation  whatever 
shadow  of  a  government  General  Forey  may  establish  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  or  whatever 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  335 

one  may  be  established  under  the  protection  of  the  French  arms ;  th  it  they  will  also  neither 
accept  nor  consider  as  legal  any  treaty  that  may  be  made  with  the  invader,  with  the  sacri 
fice  of  the  national  honor,  or  with  the  loss  or  alienation  of  any  part  of  the  Mexican  terri 
tory. 

These,  citizen-governor,  are  the  patriotic  sentiments  and  the  convictions  of  the  members 
of  the  board  of  primary  instruction,  and  in  accordance  with  them  they  make  the  following 
declaration  : 

1.  The  members  composing  the  board  of  primary  instruction,  individually  and  collec 
tively,  protest,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  against  the  intervention  of  France,  or  of  any 
other  foreign  nation  whatever,  and  place  at  the  disposal  of  the  government  of  the  state 
their  persons  and  their  fortunes,  in  order  that  the  government  may  employ  them  in  the 
defence  of  the  national  independence  threatened  by  Napoleon  III. 

2.  They  consider  as  a  nullity  and  a  mockery  the  government  established  in  the  city  of 
Mexico  by  General  Forey  or  under  the  influence  of  his  bayonets  ;  and  they  protest  against 
all  the  provisions  and  decrees  that  it  may  dictate  or  may  have  already  dictated. 

3.  They   will   recognize   no   other   government   than   that  established   in   conformity 
with  the  constitution  of  1857,  nor  will  they  obey  any  other  laws  or  any  other  authority 
than  those  derived  from  that  only  legitimate  code  of  the  nation. 

4.  They  protest  against  any  treaty  whatever  that,  by  any  unforeseen  contingency,  may 
come  to  be  made  with  the  invader,  to  the  detriment  of  the  honor  of  the  nation,  or  the 
alienation  of  any  part  of  its  territory. 

JOSE  MARIA.  GOMEZ  DEL  CAMPO,  President. 
JOSE  MARIA  MARI,   Vice- President. 

Jose  Maria  Porras,  Tomas  Irigoyen,  Adolfo  Viard,  Mariana  Saenz,  syndic ;  Roque  Jacinto 
Moron,  honorary  member ;  Jose  M.  Telles,  honorary  member  ;  Jose  Cordero,  Tomas  Cor- 
dero  Zuza,  Eduardo  Urueta,  Bernardo  Revilla,  Jose  M.  Jaurrieta,  Genaro  Artalejo,  Fran 
cisco  Nieto,  Pablo  Porras  ;  Jose"  Rodrigo  Garcia,  honorary  member  ;  Laureano  Castaneda, 
Andre's  Vidalva,  Joaquin  Oampa  ;  Victor  de  la  Garza,  honorary  member  ;  Joaquin  Villalva, 
honorary  member  ;  Jesus  Muiioz,  honorary  member. 

FRANCISCO  ESPINOSA,  Secretary. 
CHIHUAHUA,  July  17,  1863. 

This  is  a  true  copy  of  the  original. — Chihuahua,  July  30,  1863. 

J    M.  G.  DEL  CAMPO,  President.     [SEAL.] 
FRANCISCO  ESPINOSA,  Secretary.   [SEAL.] 

A  true  copy. — San  Luis  Potosi,  August  21,  1863.  Signed,  on  account  of  the  illness  of 
the  official  superior,  by 

R.  J.  ESPINOSA  DE  LOS  MONTEROS. 


OFFICE  OF  THE  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  AND  OF  THE  BUREAU  OF  FINANCE  AND  PUBLIC  CREDIT. 

FRONTIER  CUSTOM-HOUSE  OF  THE  PRESIDIO  DEL  NORTE. 

The  subscriber,  administrator  of  the  frontier  custom-house  of  the  Presidio  del  Norte,  in  Chi 
huahua,  in  union  with  the  other  employes  of  that  office,  declares  in  his  name  and  in  theirs 
that  they  comply  with  their  duty  as  Mexicans  in  manifesting  to  the  supreme  general  gov 
ernment  of  the  nation,  in  which  they  recognize  its  legality  as  the  only  and  true  expression 
of  the  will  of  the  people  of  the  republic,  that  they  repel,  with  the  dignity  becoming  to 
every  free  and  truly  patriotic  man,  the  privilege  which  any  nation  whatever  may  pretend 
to  arrogate  to  itself,  be  its  category  what  it  may,  to  mingle  or  interfere  in  the  free  exercise 
which  our  nation  possesses  of  the  right  to  regulate  itself  in  the  manner  that  it  thinks  most 
suitable ;  that  for  this  reason  they  see  the  present  intervention  with  indignation,  and 
protest — 

1.  Against  the  wicked  and  unjust  aggression  which  the  present  Emperor  of  the  French, 
Napoleon  III,  has  made  and  continues  to  make,  under  pretext  of  interfering  in  our  internal 
aifairs. 

2.  Against  all  and  every  one  of  the  acts  that  emanate  from  the  so-called  government  of 
the  capital,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  illegitimate,  inasmuch  as  it  has  been  established  by  the 
invader,  and  formed  among  others  of  the  traitors  who  have  most  distinguished  themselves, 
and  who  have  given  most  cause  to  be  hated  from  the  beginning  of  our  glorious  conflict 
with  the  French. 


336  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

3.  Against  the  establishment  of  any  other  system  of  government  than  the  constitutional 
republican  system  which  now  governs  us,  or  that  which  the  nation  may  choose  to  adopt 
for  itself  freely  and  spontaneously  without  any  sort  of  intervention  by  any  foreign  power 
whatever,  and  principally  without  that  of  the  present  invaders. 

They  protest,  finally,  that  they  will  not  recognize  nor  respect  any  other  orders  than  those 
issued  by  the  supreme  government  of  the  nation,  now  resident  in  the  capital  of  San  Luis 
Potosi,  and  by  the  authorities,  functionaries,  and  agents  recognized  by  the  same  supreme 
government. 

Frontier  Custom-house  of  the  Presidio  del  Norte,  in  Chihuahua,  August  3,  1863. 

JUAN  MUNOZ. 
FRANCISCO  ESPENOSA. 
JUAN  JOSE"  ESCUDERO. 
A  true  copy : 

J.  N.  GAMBA. 


The  Corporation  of  Guadalajara  to  the  Government  and  People  of  the  State : 

The  invaders  have  planted  their  foul  footsteps  on  the  ruins  of  the  heroic  city  of  Zaragoza. 
The  decisive  moment  has  come  ;  the  moment  in  which  we  should  show  to  the  world  our 
country  in  all  her  splendor,  in  all  her  majesty.  Because  she  is  no  longer  in  the  midst  of 
triumphs,  which  oftentimes  are  solely  due  to  the  caprice  of  fortune,  she  is  not,  therefore, 
in  anxiety.  It  is  not  in  prosperity,  nor  in  the  peaceful  and  undisturbed  enjoyment  of  their 
institutions  and  of  the  public  will,  that  peoples  and  governments  prove  their  power  and 
their  virtues,  and  achieve  their  greatest  conquests  of  glory  and  of  progress,  but  in  suffering 
and  in  conflict  with  formidable  enemies.  The  loss  of  the  first  city  that  resisted  the  assault  of 
the  French  hosts  is  converted  into  an  incalculable  augmentation  of  our  physical  and  moral 
strength.  The  hope  has  disappeared  with  which  our  enemies,  repulsed  in  their  first 
attempts,  returned  to  their  ships,  and  they  have  become  convinced  of  their  impotence.  The 
sole  result  has  been  that  the  barrier  banks  of  the  channel  have  been  burst,  in  which  rolled 
the  terrible  wrath  of  a  valiant  and  high-spirited  nation,  assaulted  by  an  unjust  and  treacher 
ous  aggressor.  The  last  cannon  discharged  on  those  walls,  purpled  with  the  blood  of  our 
brothers,  is  the  signal  of  imminent  danger,  is  the  signal  for  the  greatest  and  most  san 
guinary  combat  registered  in  the  history  of  the  human  race.  It  is  a  universal  and  neces 
sary  law  that  from  struggle  results  progress.  Tyrants,  always  conquered  in  the  arena  of 
discussion,  have  recourse  in  their  spite  and  rage  to  the  power  of  arms.  But  death  does  not 
enslave,  nor  do  the  dungeons  enslave  in  which  thought  is  immured,  nor  the  gag  with  which 
the  voice  of  right  and  reason  is  stifled,  nor  the  chains  that  are  placed  on  the  heroes  who 
prefer  to  die  rather  than  be  conquered.  Only  the  humiliation  and  homage  of  the  will  before 
brute  force  enslave  ;  only  treason  and  cowardice  enslave.  The  final  triumph  of  our  arms 
is  secure,  because  we  not  only  love  liberty  and  have  a  right  to  its  enjoyment,  but  also  know 
how  to  defend  it. 

This  is  the  moment  to  unveil  all  traitors  ;  and  such  are  not  only  those  who  have  enlisted 
in  the  ranks  of  the  invaders,  but  likewise  those  who  respond  with  cowardly  silence  to  the 
call  of  their  country.  The  uprising  of  a  people  to  save  their  independence  sanctifies  the 
fury  of  their  vengeance,  destroys  or  roots  up  whatever  obstacle  it  encounters  in  its  way, 
and  punishes  selfishness  and  fear  as  crimes  ;  for  selfishness  and  fear  are  marks  of  treason, 
that  therefore  place  men  outside  of  the  pale  of  the  law. 

The  corporation  urges  the  government,  by  every  means  in  its  power,  to  find  out  clearly 
the  distinction  between  true  Mexicans  and  traitors,  to  the  end  that  these  latter  should  be 
consigned  to  capital  punishment,  without  hope  of  pardon,  and  that  they  should  be  amen 
able  to  such  punishment  for  no  other  cause  proved  against  them  than  their  refusal  to  defend 
their  country,  or  their  entertaining  any  kind  of  relation  whatever,  direct  or  indirect,  with 
its  em  mies  :  because  this  corporation,  in  the  fulness  of  its  conscientious  persuasion,  believes 
that,  if  it  were  practicable  to  penetrate  the  hidden  thoughts  of  man,  even  the  crime  of 
thinking  against  the  sacred  rights  of  one's  country  ought  to  be  punished  with  death.  The 
corporation,  likewise,  urges  the  government  to  allow  no  other  human  consideration  to  be 
preferred  in  its  mind  to  whatever  in  any  way  concerns  the  defence  of  our  independence,  and 
to  impress  on  the  minds  of  those  who  now  have  the  glory  of  being  Mexicans  the  immense 
responsibility  which  that  character  of  itself  imposes  on  them,  and  the  duty  under  which 
they  are  to  suppress  in  their  hearts  all  affection  and  every  obligation  which  cools  or  com 
bats  in  them  the  sentiment  of  nationality.  This  now  demands  of  them  the  sacrifice  of  their 
lives  and  of  their  fortunes  ;  and  undoubtedly  they  will  offer  both  most  willingly.  Few, 
indeed,  will  those  be  from  whom  it  will  be  necessary  to  take  them  by  compulsion,  and  still 
fewer  those  who  will  commit  the  opprobrious  crime  of  consenting  to  live  beneath  the 
French  flag. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  337 

Let  eveiy  sword  be  unsheathed  now;  let  us  hear  no  words  but  those  of  war  and  ven 
geance  ;  in  our  lost  cities  let  the  invader  receive  only  solitude  and  the  silence  of  the  tombs, 
and  the  devastation  of  our  fields  and  the  conflagration  of  our  homes  ;  let  us  imitate  and 
excel  all  the  free  nations  of  the  earth,  as  those  who,  like  the  invincible  sons  of  Saguntum 
and  Numantia,  consigned  themselves  to  the  flames  rather  than  submit  to  their  enemies, 
or  those  who,  like  the  defenders  of  Nasactum,  slew  their  wives  and  children  and  then  killed 
themselves,  in  order  not  to  become  slaves  to  the  conqueror.  The  victory  shall  be  ours ; 
but  if  the  supreme  designs  of  Providence  deny  us  that,  let  us  not  forget  that  liberty  is 
found  not  only  in  victory,  but  also  in  death. 

FELIX  BARRON,  President. 

OCTAVIANO  CEVALLOS. 

JOSE"  MARIA  BRAMBILA. 

JULIO  G.  PENA. 

MARTIN  MUNIZ. 

ALBINO  DEL  MORAL. 

JUAN  HIJAR  Y  HARO. 

SILVERIO  ALEMAN. 

CALIXTO  OROSCO. 

MANUEL  DE  ZELAYETA,  Syndic. 

AURELIO  HERMOSO,  Syndic. 

IRENEO  PAZ,  Syndic. 

JUSTO  V.  TAGLE,  Secretary. 

AUGUSTIN  QUEVEDO,  Assistant  Secretary. 


Itjnado  0.  Echeverria,  colonel  of  infantry  in  the  regular  army  and  major  general  of  the  division  of 

Jalisco,  to  his  fellow-citizens. 

GUADALAJARA,  May  27,  1863. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  :  A  disaster  sufficiently  common  in  war  has  caused  the  heroic  city  of 
Zaragoza  to  fall  into  the  power  of  the  French,  the  vanguard  of  our  valiant  army  beting 
destroyed.  In  the  height  of  their  pride,  perhaps  the  French  cut- throats  will  think  that 
the  war  is  finished,  and  that  the  sons  of  Mexico  will  abase  their  heads  before  their  vile 
bayonets.  God  forbid,  fellow-citizens,  that  it  should  be  so.  In  these  final  moments  it 
will  be  that  the  whole  world  shall  see  what  a  free  people  are,  who  desire  to  be  so,  and  who 
know  how  to  defend  their  sacred  rights  of  independence  Yes,  men  of  Jalisco,  the 
sovereign  day  of  trial  has  come  to  decide  once  forever  the  fate  of  the  whole  American 
continent,  and  the  contest  begins,  the  greatest,  the  most  heroic,  and  the  most  sanguinary 
of  contests.  The  perishable  ramparts  of  a  fortification  may  be  overthrown  and  laid  in 
ruins  by  the  invading  artillery  ;  but  those  ramparts  shall  never  be  overthrown  that  are 
formed  by  the  breasts  of  Mexico's  brave  sons,  if,  all  united,  we  march  to  show  these 
modern  conquerors  that  there  are  millions  of  citizens  who  prefer  to  fall  bravely  in  the 
arms  of  death  rather  than  to  witness  the  triumph  of  the  odious  flag  of  the  tyrant  of 
France  in  the  country  of  the  Hidalgos,  Iturbides,  and  Zaragozas. 

Men  of  Jalisco  of  all  classes,  hasten  to  obey  the  call  of  the  chief  of  the  state  ;  let  us 
offer  him  our  lives  and  fortunes  ;  and  let  us  rush  full  of  ardent  patriotism  to  form  the  new 
republican  army  which  will  give  our  enemies  to  understand  that  in  the  country  of 
Prisciliano  Sanchez  there  are  yet  thousands  of  names  to  become  illustrious,  combating  in 
the  national  defence,  like  those  of  the  Montenegros,  Balcazares,  and  many  others,  which 
are  now  the  honor  of  this  great  state. 

To  you,  brilliant  youth  of  Jalisco,  to  you  who  are  the  hope  for  the  future  of  your  state, 
my  feeble  but  patriotic  voice  calls  to  take  up  arms  and  worthily  replace  the  sons  whom 
Mexico  has  lost  on  the  field  of  honor.  Yes,  you  will  go,  my  friends  ;  in  your  youthful 
forms,  full  of  enthusiasm,  I  see  the  hope  of  our  country  ;  from  among  you  shall  issue  the 
thousands  and  thousands  of  geniuses  who  shall  carry  off  the  palm  of  victory  from  the 
hireling  adventurers  of  France  ;  and  you  will  hereafter  be  the  pride  of  Jalisco,  for  having, 
with  your  blood  and  the  might  of  your  arms,  paid  the  price  of  her  independence  and 
liberty. 

And  yon,  wicked  citizens,  miserable  outcasts,  infamous  traitors,  woe  be  to  you,  if  in 
those  final  moments  you  treacherously  seek  to  assist  the  enemies  of  our  liberty,  because 
greater  than  your  villany  shall  be  the  national  punishment.     Back  !     Give  way  to  freemen 
and  loyal  citizens,  who  go  to  comply  with  their' duty  or  to  fall  full  of  glory. 
H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 22 


338  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

Fellow-citizens,  let  us  hasten  to  die,  if  it  be  necessary  ;  let  us  fall,  borne  down  by  brute 
force,  if  we  cannot  repel  it ;  but  now  and  ever  let  our  war-cry  be  :  "  Long  live  the  Mexican 
republic !  Long  live  independence  !  Long  live  Jalisco  !  and  death  to  the  French  and 
traitors." 

1C N AGIO  0.  ECHEVER1UA. 


The,  officers  of  the  sitprtme  tribunal  of  justice  to  their  fellow-citizens. 
• 

GUADALAJARA,  May  29,  1863. 

MEN  OF  JALISCO  :  The  recent  events  of  the  war  have  proved  disastrous  to  the  national 
arms.  It  would  be  useless  to  seek  to  diminit.h  the  extent  of  the  disgrace.  Our  loss  ha* 
been  great,  very  great,  and  however  much  the  heart  may  feel  it,  its  sorrow  cannot  equal 
the  gravity  of  the  situation.  One  of  the  most  beautiful  cities  of  our  republic  has  been 
destroyed,  many  fortunes  have  been  ruined,  much  of  our  materials  of  war  have  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and,  above  all,  the  valor,  the  sufferings,  the  self-denial,  the 
heroism  of  our  soldiers,  have  proved  unavailing.  Are  not  these  motives  for  great  affliction 
for  every  Mexican  and  even  for  every  man  in  whom  there  exists  a  sympathy  for  the  mis 
fortunes  of  a  people  that  suffers  for  the  holiest  of  causes,  which  are  its  independence  and 
the  defence  of  its  soil,  trodden  by  the  foot  of  the  stranger  ? 

The  understanding  is  unable  to  comprehend  how  the  French  nation,  which  prides  itself 
on  its  intelligence  and  high-mindedness,  can  maintain  that  they  come  to  insure  our  happi 
ness,  by  means  of  so  many  calamities,  and  that,  by  rekindling  the  fires  of  our  intestine 
broils,  they  labor  to  restore  our  peace  ;  that,  by  favoring  treason  to  the  country,  the  most 
degrading  vice  that  humanity  has  to  complain  of,  the  principles  of  morality  and  civil  order 
are  to  be  cemented,  which  are  the  sole  salvation  of  all  society  ;  how,  by  introducing  them 
selves  into  the  midst  of  the  civil  war  which  devouis  us,  and  by  raising  up  a  vanquished 
party  already  dead  through  the  very  nature  of  things,  we  have  to  attain  union  and 
concord  ;  how,  amid  the  din  of  arms,  is  to  be  sought  the  free  vote  of  the  people. 

In  the  condition  to  which  the  affairs  of  our  country  have  arrived,  when  the  question  of 
justice  is  decided  in  our  favor  by  the  civilized  world,  it  is  idle  to  ask  by  what  right  this 
intervention  is  employed,  for  which  we  do  not  ask,  which  we  resist,  which  we  repel  with 
all  the  strength  of  our  soul.  Now,  at  present,  the  Mexican  desires  to  know  why  he  is 
insulted,  why  he  is  mocked  at  by  the  invocation  of  such  pietexts  to  trample  on  his  most 
sacred  rights. 

Reverses  ought  not  to  extinguish,  nor  cool  off,  nor  diminish  our  enthusiasm  in  the 
slightest  degree.  It  is  natural  that  our  misfortunes  should  cause  us  grief  ;  but  let  us  not 
be  dismayed  in  the  defence  of  our  sacred  cause  We  are  not  obliged  to  conquer  The 
issue  of  battles  depends  on  a  thousand  circumstances  which  are  not  always  in  relation  to 
each  other,  nor  to  the  justice  of  the  matter  in  question,  nor  to  the  valor  of  the  combatants. 
But  still  it  is  our  duty  to  embrace  our  banner  and  to  pre^s  it  to  our  hearts  with  so  much 
the  more  force  as  our  dangers  are  the  greater,  and  to  die  in  its  embrace  if  death  is  the 
destiny  which  Providence  designs  for  us. 

All  Mexicans,  each  in  his  proper  sphere,  each  in  the  line  which  suits  him,  accept  the 
situation,  and  accept  it  with  all  its  consequences.  Let  the  invader  domineer  over  the 
country,  if  he  can  ;  but  let  it  be  after  having  conquered  us  in  an  obstinate  contest,  and 
when  no  longer  any  Mexican  exists  capable  of  bearing  arms. 

Now,  then,  that  the  danger  increases,  that  the  question  is  one  of  force,  that  in  order  to 
oppress  us  recourse  is  had  to  treason  and  to  all  sorts  of  means,  no  matter  how  wicked,  the 
supreme  tribunal  of  Jalisco  undertakes  to  raise  its  voice  in  order  to  protest  before  the 
whole  world  against  such  iniquities,  against  such  infamies,  against  the  scandalous  violation 
of  our  rights.  The  tribunal  repeats  that,  in  as  far  as  it  is  concerned,  it  repels  all  foreign 
intervention  and  all  such  acts  as  emanate  from  it  or  from  the  intruding  authorities  which 
it  sets  up. 

Men  of  Jalisco,  the  hour  of  sacrifice  has  come.     Let  us  nerve  ourselves  and  be  faithful 
The  people  that  wishes  to  be  free,  no  power  is  able  to  reduce  into  subjection. 

JESU8  CAM  ARENA,  President. 
JO^ti  MARIA  MACEDO. 
JUAN  ANTONIO  ROBLES. 
LEONARDO  ANGULO. 
.J     RAMON  SOLIS. 
FERMIN  G.  RIESTRA,  Fiscal  Officer. 
PABLO  IGNACIO  LORETO,  Secretary  of  Decrees. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  339 

DEPARTMENT   OF   FOREIGN    AFFAIRS    AND   GOVERNMENT. 

POST  OFFICE,  San  Luis  Potosi. 

In  the  city  of  San.  Luis  Potosi,  on  the  20th  day  of  the  month  of  May,  in  the  year  1863,  the 
employes  of  this  department,  whose  names  are  subscribed  to  this  document,  having 
assembled  together,  have  resolved  to  protest  solemnly  against  the  intervention  of  any 
power  or  potentates  whatever  that  may  seek,  either  singly  or  collectively,  to  interfere  in  the 
political  affairs  of  our  country,  and  likewise  to  employ  the  forces  and  the  means  that  are 
within  the  reach  of  each  one  of  them,  in  order  to  oppose,  disconcert,  and  destroy  the  pro 
jects  of  intervention  in  our  country  manifested  by  the  Emperor  of  the  French,  protesting 
likewise  against  the  invasion  of  the  national  territory  by  the  French  troops,  and  against 
all  acts  emanating  from  the  authorities  that  may  be  established  under  the  influence  of 
their  armed  forces  in  any  quarter  of  the  republic. 

We  equally  testify  our  most  firm  adhesion  to  the  constitution  of  1857  and  to  the  laws  of 
reform,  as  well  as  to  the  authorities  and  laws  that  emanate  from  the  former.  Conse 
quently,  we  likewise  protest  the  firmest  adhesion  and  obedience  to  the  Citizen  Benito 
Juarez,  as  the  representative  of  1« ;gality,  democracy,  and  progress. 

A  copy  of  this  document  shall  be  sent  to  the  governor  of  this  state,  and  another  to  the 
administrator  general  of  this  branch  of  the  public  service,  for  the  ends  that  may  follow. 

JACINTO  AGUILAR. 

JOSE"  D.  BELLO. 

LUIS  ASTEGUI. 

CALIXTO  SANCHEZ 

LONGINOS  RODRIGUEZ. 

GERTRUDIO  NINO. 


Second  Class. — For  the  term  of  tivo  years,  including  1863.—  One  dollar. 

In  the  city  of  Tequisquiapan,  on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  the  month  of  May,  in  the  year 
1863,  the  magistrates  of  whom  this  corporation  is  composed  having  assembled  in  this  town- 
hall  of  the  municipality,  there  was  read  the  communication  issued  by  the  supreme  govern 
ment,  and  dated  on  the  nineteenth  of  the  present  month.  The  said  magistrates,  being  thus 
made  acquainted  with  the  contents  of  the  aforesaid  communication,  unanimously  resolved 
that  the  supreme  government  has  never  failed  to  recognize  the  representatives  of  this  town 
as  true  Mexicans,  descendants  of  Hidalgo.  Allende,  Morelos,  and  various  other  heroes,  who 
knew  how  to  achieve  our  independence,  and  rescue  us  from  the  slavery  in  which  we  found 
ourselves  oppressed.  Then,  at  the  present  time,  the  Mexican  army  confronts  the  invading 
enemy,  and  it  is  an  obligation  upon  all  to  assist  it  in  the  preparations  which  it  has  to  make 
in  order  to  attend  to  the  necessities  of  a  cause  which  our  brothers  defend  in  favor  of  our 
beloved  country.  We  should  all  be  branded  with  the  name  of  traitors,  if  we  did  not  seek 
to  promote  the  cause  of  justice,  which  admits  with  pleasure  not  only  the  holocaust  of  life, 
but  even  the  most  trivial  sacrifices,  with  which  we  should  aid  the  cause  of  our  national 
independence. 

The  people  of  Potosi  have  ever  been  the  first  to  defend  the  integrity  of  the  national  ter 
ritory,  and  have  never  been  sparing  in  their  efforts  in  favor  of  the  independence  of  our 
country  ;  in  similar  circumstances,  on  the  present  occasion,  the  present  authorities  of  this 
town  and  the  neighborhood  find  themselves,  and  protest  solemnly  to  disavow  the  views 
advanced  in  any  form  by  the  invading  enemy. 

With  the  which  this  document  concludes,  which  is  signed  by  the  following  citizens  :  Re- 
fugio  Juarez,  president  of  the  corporation  ;  Austasio  Ramirez,  second  magistrate  ;  Francisco 
Badillo,  third  ;  Prudencio  Anaya,  fourth;  Alvino  Guerrero,  syndic  procurator;  Andres 
Lopez,  popular  alcalde  ;  Damaso  Manznnares,  assistant  alcalde  ;  Luis  Camacho,  municipal 
treasurer  ;  Jose  Maria  Azpeitia,  civil  judge  ;  and,  as  assistant  magistrates,  the  first  assistant 
president  of  the  corporation,  Julian  Najera;  Juan  Luna,  second  magistrate  ;  Jorge  Beltran, 
third  magistrate  ;  Secundino  Lopez,  fourth  magistrate  ;  Juan  Beltran,  syndic  procurator  ; 
Juan  Nepomuceno  Narvaez,  secretary  ;  who  all  unanimously  sealed  these  presents,  leaving 
it  for  transmission  with  the  political  chief  of  this  capital. 


CONSTITUTIONAL   CORPORATION    OF   SANTIAGO    DEL    RIO. 

In  the  town  of  Santiago  del  Rio,  a  suburb  of  the  capital  of  the  state  of  San  Luis  Potosi, 
on  the  twenty-second  day  of  the  month  of  May,  in  the  year  1863,  there  having  assembled 


340  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

in  the  town-hall  the  citizens  who  compose  the  corporation,  mayor,  and  treasurer  of  the 
municipal  funds,  under  the  presidency  of  citizen  Estevan  Leija,  the  chief  of  the  munici 
pality,  who  had  previously  issued  a  proclamation  for  a  call  for  this  purpose,  that  same  citi 
zen  rose  to  speak,  and  said,  that  as  our  dear  country  found  herself  invaded  by  the  army 
of  the  French,  and  as  the  supnme  government  of  the  nation  combated  with  dignity  this 
unjust  invasion,  directed  against  it  without  any  reason  whatever,  it  was  in  his  opinion  a 
very  suitable  time  for  all  the  people  to  raise  their  voices  against  the  foreign  invasion, 
which,  forgetting  that  the  time  lor  conquests  has  already  past,  pretends  to  lord  it  over  the 
great  country  of  Mexico,  for  that  purpose  taking  advantage  of  the  situation  in  which  Mexico 
was  seen  to  be,  from  the  intestine  wars  which  it  has  experienced  since  the  period  of  its  re 
lease  from  the  European  domination,  which  held  it  in  a  backward  state,  and  sunk  in  igno 
rance  and  slavery.  It  should  never  be  forgotten  that  the  citizens  who  are  the  inhabitants 
of  the  republic  are  descendants  of  Hidalgo,  Allende,  Morelos,  and  the  other  illustrious 
champions,  who,  overcoming  all  difficulty,  proclaimed  and  succeeded  in  making  us  free 
and  independent.  Wherefore,  all  the  citizens,  and  in  particular  the  authorities,  consider 
it  their  duty  to  protest  against  any  intervention  whatever,  which  foreigners  desire  or  pre 
tend  to  have  in  the  affairs  of  our  country.  So  it  has  been  understood  by  the  government 
of  the  state,  when  it  issued  its  decree  for  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  government  from  the 
capital,  under  date  of  the  15th  of  the  present  month,  and  when  it  issued  the  circular  to  the 
other  functionaries,  under  date  of  the  18th  of  this  same  month.  Therefore,  the  citizens 
present  here  may  freely  speak  and  discuss  the  purpose  for  which  they  have  been  convoked, 
and  resolve  in  the  manner  that  may  seem  most  suitable  to  them.  In  virtue  whereof,  the 
following  resolutions  have  been  adopted  by  mutual  and  unanimous  agreement : 

First.  The  constitutional  corporation  and  other  employes  of  this  town,  for  themselves 
and  in  the  name  of  the  people  whom  they  represent,  protest  in  the  most  solemn  manner 
against  the  unjust  aggression  made  upon  the  republic  by  the  army  of  the  French 

Second.  They  likewise  protest  against  any  intervention,  whatever  it  may  be,  that  for 
eigners  wish  or  pretend  to  exercise  in  the  affairs  of  Mexico  ;  because  this  republic,  ever  and 
forever,  whatever  sacrifices  may  have  to  be  made,  must  be  free,  independent,  and  sovereign, 
and  does  not  wish,  and  never  will  consent,  that  its  sacred  rights  should  be  usurped  by  any 
other  nation  in  the  world. 

Third.  A  certified  copy  of  the  present  resolutions  is  to  be  presented  to  the  government 
of  the  state,  by  the  means  of  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  capital,  for  its  information,  and 
the  purposes  to  which  it  may  conduce. 

With  which  declaration  these  resolutions  are  closed,  and  signed  and  sealed  by  the  presi 
dent  and  other  citizens,  who  have  been  called  to  the  meeting  and  have  concurred  in  their 
passage. 

ESTEVAN  LEIJA,  President. 

QUIRING  MONTIEL,  Mayor. 

PANTALEON  MEIZA,  Second  Magistrate. 

VICTORIANO  GARCIA,  Third  Magistrate. 

CAMILO  GONZALES,  Syndic  Procurator. 

EDUWIGIS  MONCADA,  Treasurer. 

CANDELARIO   HERNANDEZ,  Secretary. 

1  certify  this  to  be  a  true  copy  of  the  original  which  remains  in  the  archives  of  the  cor 
poration .  Done  at  the  town  of  Santiago  del  Rio,  on  the  twenty-second  da>  of  May,  in  the 
year  1863. 

ESTEVAN  LEIJA,  President . 

CANDKLARIO  HERNANDEZ,  Secretary. 


OFFICE  OF  THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  CIVIL  DEPARTMENT  OF  CATORCE 

Iii  accordance  with  the  exhortatory  letter  directed  to  this  superior  department,  urging 
me,  in  union  with  the  subordinate  officials  of  the  department,  to  manifest  my  opinion  on 
the  war  now  being  maintained  by  the  republic  against  foreign  invasion,  I  have  the  pleasure 
of  declaring  for  myself  and  in  the  name  of  the  employe's  of  this  department,  in  order  that 
it  may  be  laid  before  the  governor  and  the  public,  that  I  reprobate  with  all  my  heart  and 
execrate  the  course  of  conduct  pursued  by  Napoleon  III  towards  the  Mexican  republic  as 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  •  341 

unjust,  dishonest,  and  derogatory  to  the  laws  of  nations  :  and  I  protest  that  I  will,  as  far 
as  lies  in  my  power,  provide  for  the  supreme  government  of  the  nation  all  the  means -that 
I  can  as  a  public  officer  and  as  an  individual  to  enable  it  to  attain  the  sacred  end  for  which 
the  glorious  defenders  of  Zavagoza  have  so  heroically  co-operated.  I  desire  that  the  cut 
throats  of  the  tyrant  of  France  may  fly  in  terror  before  the  soldiers  of  the  people,  and  go 
h'ide  themselves  in  the  darkness  of  Napoleonic  servilism,  while  the  disgrace  of  their  rout 
gives  to  the  entire  world  an  irrefragable  testimony  of  the  enkindled  patriotism  and  valor 
of  my  fellow-citizens  May  the  French  eagle,  the  symbol  of  monarchical  retrogradisrn,  be 
humbled  and  abased  before  the  victorious  flag  of  Mexico,  and  may  the  enlightened  peoples 
of  the  new  and  old  continents  gaze  in  wonder  on  the  regeneration  of  a  heroic  people,  who, 
by  the  baptism  of  blood,  are  born  again  for  liberty. 

Our  country,  independence,  liberty,  and  reform  ! 

CATORCE,  May  21,  1863. 

ANTONIO  PRISCI LI  ANO  H ERM03ILLO . 

MANUEL  NARVAEZ,  Secretary. 

MARCELLNO  J.  CASTILLO,  Clirk. 

POEFIRIO  NARVAEZ,  Clerk 


In  the  city  of  Guadalcaz-ir,  on  the  twenty-first  day  of  the  month  of  May,  in  the  year 
1863,  the  authorities  arid  officers  whose  names  are  hereunto  subscribed,  having  been  called 
together  at  the  invitation  of  the  political  chief  of  the  department,  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
into  consideration  the  circumstances  into  which  the  republic  finds  itself  involved  through 
the  unjust  war  waged  upon  our  soil  by  the  tyrant  of  France,  the  grounds  were  examined 
on  which  the  invaders  have  pretended  to  support  their  unjust  aggression,  and  it  has  clearly 
appeared  that  they  differ  much  from  the  humanitarian  sentiments  by  which  a  strong  and 
powerful  people  should  strive  to  elevate  the  civilization  and  fraternity  of  their  neighbors 
when  these  latter  are  deficient  in  those  qualities.  Very  different  are  the  views  which  the 
monarch  of  the  warlike  people  of  France  entertains  towards  our  race  and  republic,  since 
carnage  and  slaughter  do  not  constitute  the  sort  of  protection  which  the  powerful  affords 
to  the  weak  in  order  to  elevate  him  to  an  equality,  and  that  they  may  both  march  together 
in  unison  to  prosperity  and  greatness.  It  is  a  criminal  conquest,  indeed,  by  which  it  is 
sought  to  blot  the  name  of  Mexico  from  the  catalogue  of  the  free  nations  of  the  earth  ;  it 
is  by  destruction  that  the  independence  is  threatened  which  our  fathers  acquired  with  their 
blood  and  with  their  lives  ;  and  it  is,  in  fine,  a  rude  blow  that  is  struck  at  our  republican 
and  democratic  institutions  ;  and  for  this  it  is  that  miserable  renegades,  branded  with  the 
mark  of  infamy  and  treason,  now  come  leagued  with  that  dishonored  flag  which,  in  all 
ages,  symbolized  the  victories  and  the  glory  of  France. 

Our  young  republic  has  been  villanously  and  cowardly  assaulted  by  that  nation,  and  in 
favor  of  her  sacred  rights  she  is  justified  in  defending  herself  with  heroism  until  she  issues 
safe  from  the  conflict  or  perishes  with  honor.  We,  her  sons,  are  acquainted  with  the 
perfidy  with  which  the  conqueror,  like  the  wolf  in  the  skin  of  the  sheep,  brings  extermi 
nation  an  I  ruin  to  our  soil,  in  order  to  debase  us  and  make  us  tributaries  and  slaves  by 
means  of  an  allied  monarch,  through  whom  he  pretends  to  govern  us.  But,  if  such  a 
throne  should  ever  succeed  in  being  established,  it  must  be  over  heaps  of  dead  bodies, 
accumulated  in  lakes  of  blood. 

Now  we  are  in  the  conflict,  the  precious  blood  of  our  brothers  flows  in  torrents  in  the 
east,  and  their  exploits  and  heroic  resistance  in  the  invincible  city  of  Zaragoza  place  Mexico 
at  such  a  height  of  greatness  that  it  is  the  admiration  of  Europe,  because  its  children  have 
known  how  to  conquer  the  strength  of  the  first  soldiers  of  the  world,  and  to  imprint  a 
stigma  of  disgrace  on  the  breasts  of  those  eagles  which  soared  in  proud  triumph  over  the 
turreted  walls  of  Sebastopol  and  on  the  field  of  Solferino.  The  nation  rises  in  a  body  to 
chastise  the  enemies  of  our  independence  and  of  our  institutions,  and  this  explains  the 
fact  that  the  mischievous  intentions  of  the  Emperor  of  the  French  are  now  laid  open  to  the 
light  of  truth. 

In  the  midst  of  this  war-cry,  breathed  from  the  noble  breasts  of  Mexicans,  we  should 
listen  to  the  solemn  protest  which  we  should  all  loudly  enter  against  this  unjust  invasion 
which  is  brought  to  attack  us  on  our  own  soil,  at  the  threshold  of  our  own  doors,  and  also 
against  this  monarchy,  which  the  traitors  pretend  to  establish  with  the  aid  of  France.  We, 
as  Mexicans,  lovers  of  our  independence,  and  decided  defenders  of  or-  liberty  and  of  our 
institutions,  protest  solemnly,  in  the  face  of  the  world,  against  the  French  invasion,  directed 
against  us  by  the  despot  Napoleon  III.  We  protest  against  the  monarchy  which  it  is  pre 
tended  to  establish  on  our  soil,  and  we  protest  that  we  will  sacrifice  all  our  fortunes  and 
shed  all  our  blood  in  favor  of  our  independence  and  of  otc  liberal  institutions. 


342  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

Ill  affirmance  of  which,  and  in  order  that  our  patriotic  sentiments  may  be  known  to  all, 
>vo  sign  and  seal  these  presents,  of  which  a  copy  shall  be  transmitted  to  the  first  magistrate 
of  the  state,  in  order  that  he  may  be  made  acquainted  with  the  resolution  of  the  people  o( 
Guadalcazar.  manifested  by  their  authorities  and  officers. 

FRANCISCO  ANTONIO  OLAEZ. 

Political  Chief  of  the  Dtpartment.  ' 

TOMAS  RUIGONEZ, 
J'int  Alcalde,  with  the  functions  of  a  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Fin-t  Instance. 

JOSfi  MARIA  BELLOECHIO,  Second  Alcalde. 

JOSE  LEON  GARCIA,  Assistant  Second  Alcalde. 

CRISTOBAL  CORDOVA,  Civil  Judge. 

JOSE  MERCED  CASTRO,  Administrator  of  Rents. 

NIEYES  E.  SALINAS,  Administrator  of  Stamps. 

BRUNO  A.  OLAVIDE,  Administrator  of  the  Post  Office. 

FELIX  NOYOLA,  President  of  the  Corporation. 

JULIO  CORONADO,  Magistrate. 

ANTONIO  CORDOVA,  Magistrate. 

PEDRO  VEJO,  Syndic  Procurator. 

JUAN  TAMAYO,  Syndic  Procurator. 

JOSE  CRUZ  TOSCANO, 

First  Deputy  of  the  Mining  Bureau. 

HIGINIO  CORONADO,  Second  Deputy. 

CAYETANO  SOTURA,  Consultor  and  Deputy. 

CARLOS  CORONADO,  Municipal  Treasurer. 

GREGORIA  GOMEZ  Y  CELIA. 

An  exact  copy  of  the  original. — Gatidalcazar,  May  21,  1863. 

F.  A.  OLAE/. 

GREGORIO  GOMEZ  Y  CELT  A. 


CONSTITUTIONAL   CORPORATION    OF   THE   MUNICIPALITY    OF   BOCAS. 

The  corporation  of  this  municipality,  over  which  I  have  the  honor  to  preside,  having 
been  assembled  in  extraordinary  session  on  this  present  day,  has  resolved  that  it  is  its  duty 
to  co-operate  in  the  peace  of  our  republic,  as  all  good  Mexicans  and  loyal  sons  of  our  adored 
and  beloved  country,  and,  for  the  greater  satisfaction  of  your  excellency,  has  drawn  up 
this  present  document,  of  which,  with  all  due  respect,  I  transmit  a  certified  copy  with  the 
present  communication  for  your  information.  In  it  we  protest  solemnly  against  any  foreign 
power  whatever  that  proposes  or  thinks  to  invade  our  republic,  which  we  will  not  consent 
that  they  should  freely  trample  on  until  we  first  fall  victims  to  their  deceitful  conquests,  as 
our  brothers  and  the  heroes  of  liberty  have  pointed  out  the  way  to  us. 

May  your  excellency  be  pleased  to  accept  the  assurance  of  our  consideration  and  distin 
guished  esteem. 

God,  liberty,  and  reform ! 

Municipality  of  Bocas,  May  22,  1863. 

PORFIRIO  MARTINEZ 

FELICTANO  JACOBO,  Secrttary. 


ILLUSTRIOUS  CORPORATION  OF   THE  CITY  OF  VENADO. 

In  the  city  of  Venado,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  the  month  of  May,  in  the  year 
1863,  the  illustrious  corporation  of  this  city,  having  assembled  in  extraordinary  session 
under  the  presidency  cf  citizen  Eduwigio  Dominguez,  and  in  view  of  a  communication 
received  from  the  office  of  the  chief  of  the  department,  and  issuing  from  the  government 
of  the  state,  the  contents  of  which  were  received  with  much  interest,  was  moved  by  its 
own  instincts  and  the  fulness  of  its  patriotic  enthusiasm  to  give  expression  to  its  feelings. 
After  having  seriously  discussed  the  critical  state  in  which  our  republic  is  situated,  on 
account  of  its  invasion  by  the  French,  and  taking  into  consideration  the  heavy  evils  which 
may  be  expected  if  the  country  does  not  continue  heroically  to  maintain  its  independence, 
therefor  employing  all  its  forces,  as  she  did  in  the  invincible  city  of  Zaragoza,  (a  glorious 
fact  and  most  worthy  of  history  ;)  then  possessed  with  a  true  love  and  humanity  towards 
ourselves  in  the  maintenance  of  our  independence  and  nationality,  which  constitute  a 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  343 

sacred  duty  for  every  Mexican,  and  will  be  a  source  of  crime  to  him  if  he  shows  himself 
indifferent  to  them;  for  which  reason,  with  unanimous  and  solemn  protest,  this  illustrious 
corporation  records  its  declaration  against  all  foreign  intervention,  as  it  also  protests  its 
desire  to  labor  in  every  possible  manner  to  carry  out  the  views  which  the  supreme  govern 
ment  of  the  state  proposes  to  itself  to  follow,  according  to  the  divers  official  communica 
tions  in  reference  to  this  laudable  object,  published  in  the  official  organ  of  the  same  gov 
ernment.  That  the  present  protest  may  be  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  supreme 
government,  it  was  ordered  that  a  copy  of  the  original  be  taken  and  transmitted  through 
the  proper  channel.  And  finally,  the  members  of  the  corporation  signed  it  before  me,  the 
secretary,  who  now  authenticate  it. 

EDIT  WIG  10  DOMINGUEZ. 

FRANCISCO  HERMOSILLO. 

ANTONIO  PUENTE. 

TRINIDAD  PONCE. 

IRENEO  MARTINEZ. 

AGUSTIN  OLIVEROS. 

JUAN  ROCHA. 

LORENZO  ROBLEDO,  Secretary. 
A  true  copy.— Venado,  May  29,  1863. ' 

EDUWIGIO  DOMINGUEZ. 
LORENZO  ROBLEDO,  Secretary. 


OFFICE  OF  THE  POLITICAL  CHIEF  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  SALINAS  DEL  PENON  BLANCO, 

SUBORDINATE  BUREAU  OF  STAMPS  AT  SALINAS. 

In  the  town  of  Salinas,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  the  month  of  May,  in  the  year  1863, 
the  subscribing  citizens,  having  assembled  in  the  hall  of  this  office,  publish  the  following 
exposition  to  the  nation  : 

Great  have  been  the  events  through  which  we  have  passed  since  December,  1857,  to  the 
present  date — events  as  glorious  as  those  of  our  independence,  and  perhaps  to  be  brilliant 
examples  in  the  history  of  the  people  of  the  globe  For  what  were  the  means  on  which 
our  fathers  counted  to  effect  the  independence  of  cur  country  ?  None  but  the  people . 
What  were  the  means  with  which  our  former  statesmen  counted  to  overthrow  the  colossal 
tyranny  that  overshadowed  us  and  cut  the  roots  that  had  grown  for  three  hundred  years  ? 
Public  opinion  ;  the  people,  for  they  are  sovereign.  But  what  is  the  misfortune  of  our 
unhappy  country,  to  shed  so  much  blood  on  fields  of  battle?  Some  few  spurious  sons  of 
Mexico,  luxuriating  in  gold  and  honor,  have  called  in  the  Frenchman  to  ruin  his  parent 
country,  who  yet  has  been  unable,  either  by  force  or  by  opinion,  to  triumph,  because  on  every 
side  they  have  seen  themselves  repulsed;  but  on  both  the  traitors  and  their  abettors  shall  fall 
the  malediction  of  the  people,  the  malediction  of  the  nations,  and,  sooner  or  later,  the 
punishment  of  the  Eternal. 

Eighteen  months  have  now  passed  since  the  foul  footsteps  of  the  invader  have  polluted 
our  soil,  and  since,  with  villanous  deceit,  he  abused  the  unsuspecting  faith  of  the  supreme 
government  of  the  nation,  by  breaking  the  preliminary  treaty  of  La  Soledad  ;  their  inten 
tion  then,  as  now,  having  been  to  recur  to  corrupt  and  damnable  treason  for  success,  as 
they  knew  well  that  it  would  have  been  very  difficult  for  them  to  pass  our  first  positions  at 
Chiquihuite,  and  therefore  they  little  regarded  their  treaty  stipulations  or  their  honor. 
Twenty  days  of  siege  did  the  invincible  position  of  Zaragoza*  withstand,  and  not  an  inch  of 
earth  has  the  perfidious  Frenchman  gained  by  force,  because  that  worthy  army  of  the  east 
is  invincible,  because  it  defends  its  country,  it  defends  its  independence,  it  defends  its 
liberty,  and  finally,  because  the  God  of  armies  protects  our  cause,  and  we  will  triumph  over 
Napoleon  III.  But  if,  through  any  caprice  of  war,  (which  will  not  be  more  than  tempo 
rary,)  the  invaders  and  traitors  should  believe  themselves  triumphant  in  their  perfidious 
treason,  we,  the  subscribers,  as  representatives  of  the  people,  in  the  presence  of  the  nation 
and  of  the  entire  world,  sign  the  following  protest  : 

1.  Not  to  recognize  any  other  government  than  that  legitimately  constituted,  and  the 
authorities  emanating  by  our  laws  from  the  constitution  of  1857. 

2.  To  recognize  the  whole  Mexican  republic  as  a  free,  sovereign,  and  independent  nation. 

3.  To  repel  and  disavow  all  intervention  by  France,  or  by  any  other  power,  having  for 
its  object  the  conquest  of  Mexico  or  the  establishment  of  a  protectorate,  which  the  Mexican 
republic  has  clearly,  legally,  and  spontaneously  expressed  its  purpose  neither  to  solicit  nor 
to  allow 

4.  To  admit  no  intervention,  direct  or  indirect,  physical  or  moral,  in  the  internal  poli 
tics  of  the  country. 

5.  That  it  approves  and  recognizes  the  right  which  Mexico  possesses  to  repel  force  by 
force,  to  resist  the  unjust  invasion  of  the  French,  because  their  government  has  ~;olated 


344  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

« 

the  law  of  nations,  and  taken  advantage  of  the  honesty  and  good  faith  of  the  Mexican 
nation. 

6.  Neither  in  consequence  of  the  occupation  of  the  capital,  nor  of  any  of  the  states,  no? 
of  the  whole  repuhlic,  no  matter  for  how  long  a  period,  will  we  consent  to  any  treaty 
humiliating  or  dishonorable  for  Mexico. 

7.  Mexico  shall  always  preserve  her  right  of  insurrection  against  Napoleon  III  or  any 
other  usurper  whatever. 

8.  We  declare  every  Mexican  a  traitor  against  the  nation  who  directly  or  indirectly  aids 
the  invader. 

9.  At  the  same  time  we  declare  every  Mexican  a  traitor  who  promotes  or  participates  in 
associations  or  movements  directed  against  the  constitution  of  1857,  the  laws  of  reform,  and 
the  particular  constitutions  of  the  different  states,  emanating  from  them,  or  against  the 
authorities  legally  constituted  under  those  laws. 

To  give  them  due  effect,  these  resolutions  are  reduced  to  writing,  ratified  by  the  persons 
who  participated  in  their  passage,  and  signed  by  them  with  me. 

GERTRUDIO  FERNANDEZ,  Chief  of  this  Department. 
IRENEO  DELGADO,  First  Magistrate. 
JUAN  C.  ISAIS,  Second  Magistrate. 
GAVINO  HERNANDEZ,  Third  Magistrate. 


In  the  town  of  San  Juan  de  Guadelupe,  on  the  twenty-fourth  day  of  May,  in  the  year 
1863,  in  virtue  of  the  exhortatory  letter  issued  by  the  supreme  government  of  the  state, 
and  transmitted  through  the  hands  of  the  political  chief  of  the  department,  the  commis 
sioner,  whose  name  is  subscribed  to  this  document,  invited  the  authorities  and  citizens  of 
this  town  to  meet  in  the  town  hall,  where,  after  the  reading  of  the  above-mentioned  com 
munication,  being  impressed  with  its  contents,  they  unanimously  resolved,  that,  being 
proud  of  their  position  as  Mexicans  and  their  conviction  of  the  rights  of  the  nation,  and  of 
the  glory  of  Mexico,  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  free,  sovereign,  and  independent  people,  by 
the  heroic  sacrifices  of  Hidalgo  and  Morelos,  and  many  others,  who  bequeathed  an  inesti 
mable  benefit  to  their  posterity,  which  it  is  the  sacred  duty  of  these  to  preserve  ;  but  in 
the  present  circumstances,  the  ambition  of  Napoleon  III,  disguised  and  urged  on  by  the 
pitiful  pretexts  of  some  few  traitors,  who,  in  the  attitude  of  most  degrading  supplication, 
like  miserable  reptiles,  have  gone  to  ask  protection  for  their  people,  who  need  not  such 
protection,  but  only  those  who  have  always  desired  and  sometimes  succeeded  in  effecting 
their  desire  to  retard  it  in  the  way  of  the  human  perfection  to  which  the  hand  of  God 
directs  it,  in  order  that  the  few  might  live  to  the  prejudice  of  the  many;  and  when  the  Mexi 
can  people,  victoriously  traversing  the  path  of  reform,  annihilates  them  as  a  mere  handful 
of  contemptible  people,  they  hope  from  Napoleon  III  that,  in  exchange  for  the  independ 
ence  of  their  country,  he  will  turn  over  to  them  its  destinies  and  other  things  which  they 
ambition  ;  that  such  considerations  demand  the  expression  of  the  frank  and  loyal  senti 
ments  of  the  inhabitants  of  all  the  communities  of  the  republic,  in  order  that  the  entire 
world  may  know  the  noble  and  natural  enthusiasm  of  their  patriotism  ;  that  therefore, 
those  present,  representing  the  authorities  and  citizens  of  this  town,  in  the  name  of  this 
people,  express  their  sentiments  as  follows  : 

1.  That  they  protest  in  the  most  solemn  manner  before  God,  the  nation,  and  the  civil 
ized  peoples  of  the  world,  against  the  war  so  unjustly,  so  utterly  without  shadow  of  right, 
and  to  the  scandal  of  the  world,  waged  upon  our  soil  by  the  Emperor  of  the  French, 
Napoleon  III,  who  hypocritically  offers  us  a  protection  which  we  have  not  asked  of  him, 
and  which  we  do  not  need  of  him,  his  principal  end  being  our  conquest,  and  that  in  per 
fidious  disregard  of  our  sacred  right  to  independence. 

2.  That  it  is  a  holy  duty  for  Mexicans  to  sustain,  with  their  persons  and  property,  the 
contest  now  waged  for  the  preservation  of  our  beloved  country,  and  we  protest  our  readi 
ness  to  act  in  this  crisis  as  good  Mexicans. 

3.  That  Almonte  and  all  the  traitors  who  have  followed  in  the  wake  of  the  French  in 
tervention  lie  most  villainously  is  the  decided  persuasion  of  all  Mexicans. 

With  which  propositions  we  conclude  these  presents,  which  are  ordered  to  be  transmitted 
through  the  hands  of  the  political  chief  of  the  department  to  be  laid  before  the  supreme 
government  of  the  state  ;  wherefore  we  sign  and  seal  them. 

MAGDALENO  HERNANDEZ. 

SEBAS'IIAN  BLANCO. 

LEON  GARCIA. 

LUCAS  ARAUJO 

VIVIANO  PEREZ, 

EDUARDO  ALTAMIRA. 

FAUSTINO  IZQUIERDA. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  345 

CONSTITUTIONAL  CORPORATION  OF  THE  CITY  OF   CATORCE. 

In  the  city  of  Purisima  Conception  de  Catorce,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  the  month 
of  May,  in  the  year  1863,  the  corporation  having  assembled,  on  motion  of  the  political 
chief  of  the  department,  the  session  was  opened  with  the  reading  of  a  circular  from  the  su 
preme  government  of  the  state,  bearing  date  on  the  fifteenth  of  the  present  month,  by 
which  the  corporations,  authorities,  and  public  functionaries  of  the  same  are  called  upon 
to  manifest  the  sentiments  which  they  entertain  in  respect  to  the  war  which  is  now  main 
tained  by  the  republic  against  the  troops  of  the  Emperor  of  the  French.  After  proper  de-. 
liberation  on  the  part  of  the  greater  number  of  the  individuals  present,  they  unanimously 
resolved  in  the  name  of  the  corporation  : 

That  they  protest  in  the  most  solemn  manner  against  the  unjustifiable  invasion  now  suf 
fered  by  the  republic,  because  it  offends  against  all  the  rights  and  principles  sanctioned 
and  recognized  in  civilized  countries,  it  attacks  the  independence  and  sovereignty  of  the 
Mexican  republic,  without  motive,  without  pretext,  and  without  the  slightest  appearance 
of  justice,  but  merely  through  pure  ostentation  of  power,  since  neither  the  French  nation 
nor  its  Emperor  has  any  grievances  to  demand  satisfaction  for,  or  any  debts  to  be  recovered 
by  means  of  war  ; 

That  they  likewise  protest  that  they  repudiate,  by  all  the  means  in  their  power,  th& 
iniquitous  and  unwarrantable  invasion,  and  therein  express  the  consciousness  entertained  by 
the  people  whom  they  represent  of  the  justice  of  the  cause  of  their  country,  who  will  know- 
how  to  sacrifice  themselves  in  its  defence. 

And  in  order  that  this  protest  may  lose  nothing  of  its  force  and  effect,  it  is  signed  by  the- 
citizens  present  on  the  day  and  date  specified. 

JUAN  N.  MATA,  President. 

FELIPE  B.  CABRAL,  First  Magistrate. 

JOSE"  MARIA  GUADIANA,  Second  Magistrate. 

BARN  ABE"   ROCHA,  Substitute  Third  Magistrate. 

LUCIANO  TABARES,  Fourth  Magistrate. 

TIMOTEO  IBARRO,  Fifth  Magistrate. 

ONOFRE  NINO,  First  Syndic. 

JOSE"  ISABEL  BAEZ,  Second  Syndic. 

I  certify  that  this  is  a  faithful  and  legal  copy  taken  from  the  original  and  compared  Avith 
the  same,  to  which  I  refer. 

NESTOR  MARTINEZ,  Secretary. 
CATOECE.  May  25,  1863. 


OFFICE  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  CORPORATION  OF  THE  TOWN  OF  RAYON. 

In  the  town  of  Eayon,  on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  the  month  of  May,  in  the  year  1863, 
the  corporation  having  been  assembled  in  extraordinary  session,  for  which  it  was  convoked 
on  this  day  at  three  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  president  read  the  communication  of  the- 
political  chief  of  Rioverde,  under  date  of  the  twentieth  instant,  and  the  corporation  having 
become  acquainted  with  its  contents,  unanimously  resolved  : 

That  abounding  in  patriotic  sentiments,  as  they  have  on  other  occasions  manifested,  they 
solemnly  protest  anew  against  all  foreign  intervention,  and  they  promise  by  all  the  means 
in  their  power  to  sustain  the  national  independence  at  all  hazards  under  the  democratic 
institutions  which  now  govern  us,  being  fully  convinced  that  the  person  possessing  the  ex 
ecutive  power  of  the  nation  has  displayed  great  ability,  firmness,  and  good  tact  in  the 
national  defence,  with  a  constancy  and  serenity  proper  to  his  character,  which  worthily 
entitles  him  to  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  all  who,  like  the  members  of  this  corporation, 
have  the  honor  to  be  Mexicans. 

That  a  certified  copy  of  this  vote  of  confidence  be  transmitted  to  the  office  of  the  chief  of 
the  department,  wherewith  this  session  is  brought  to  a  close,  and  the  present  resolutions 
are  drawn  up  and  are  signed  by  the  members  of  the  corporation,  together  with  the  secre 
tary  who  authenticates  them. 

NICANOR  SALAZAR,  First  Magistrate,  Assistant. 

ANSELMO  CASTILLO,  Third  Magistrate. 

PEDRO  OLVERA,  Fourth  Magistrate. 

PEDRO  MARTINEZ,  Syndic  Procurator. 

GREGORIO  SANCHEZ,  Magistrate,  Secretary. 

A  certified  copy.— Rayon,  May  26,  1863. 

NICANOR  SALAZAR. 
GREGORIO  SANCHEZ,  Secretary. 


346  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

In  the  town  of  San  Sebastian  de  San  Luis  Potosi,  on  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  the  month 
of  May,  in  the  year  1863,  the  citizens  composing  the  authorities  of  the  same  town,  the 
officials,  assistants,  and  other  inhabitants  present,  having  assembled  in  the  town  hall  of 
the  corporation,  the  citizen  president  of  the  corporation  proceeded  to  read  the  circular 
issued  by  the  supreme  government  of  the  state,  under  date  of  the  fifteenth  instant,  in  re 
gard  to  the  drawing  up  of  a  protest  against  the  attacks  of  other  powers,  whereby  the 
national  sovereignty  of  the  Mexican  republic  is  endangered.  Accordingly,  the  citizens 
present  agreed  upon  the  following  articles  : 

First.  That  they  solemnly  protest  against  any  attack  whatever  by  a  foreign  power,  where 
by  the  national  sovereignty  is  endangered  ;  and  that  they  will  recognize  no  other  sovereignty 
than  that  of  Mexico,  which  they  will  sustain  at  all  hazards. 

Second.  That  they  will  acknowledge  no  other  government,  be  it  what  it  may,  than  that 
which  actually  rules  over  us  now,  and  has  been  established  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the 
people  ;  and  this  they  will  support  in  like  manner. 

Third.  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  taken  and  transmitted  to  the  secretary  of  the 
supreme  government  of  the  state,  in  order  that  the  said  secretary  may  lay  the  same  before 
the  governor. 

Wherefore  the  resolutions  are  signed  and  sealed  by  the  following  citizens,  present  with 
me,  the  president,  being  unanimously  agreed  in  all  its  provisions.  I  authenticate  it. 

FELICIANO  MARTINEZ,  President. 

BONIFACIO  BRAVO,  Assistant. 

QUIRINO  PEREZ,  Second  Magistrate. 

MARTIN  PASTRANO,  Assistant. 

SIMON  MARTINEZ,  Third  Magistrate. 

FLORENCIO  BUENO,  Assistant-. 

ISABEL  BLANCO,  Syndic  Procurator. 

BERNARDINO  GARCIA,  Assistant. 

BERNABfi  VAZQUEZ,  Alcalde. 

MAMERTO  ELEDESMA,  Assistant. 

JULIO  PEREZ, 

LINO  TORRES, 

MERCED  GONZALEZ, 

VICENTE  CASTILLO, 

CECILIO  GONZALEZ, 

ENRIQUE  MUGICA  Y  SOTO  MAYOR, 

MATIAS  LOPEZ, 

CARMEN  IBARRA, 

Citizens. 

This  is  a  copy  of  the  original  which  remains  in  the  archives  of  the  office  of  the  secretary 
of  the  corporation. 

QUIRINO  PEREZ, 

Acting  Secretary. 


THE  VERY  ILLUSTRIOUS  CORPORATION  OF  TLAXCALA. 

In  the  town  of  Tlaxcala,  on  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  the  month  of  May,  in  the  year  18Go, 
the  honorable  members  of  the  corporation  and  their  assistants  having  assembled  in  the  town- 
hall  of  the  said  town,  under  the  presidency  of  the  first  magistrate  of  the  illustrious  copor- 
ration,  Norverto  Suarez,  in  order  to  give  effect  to  the  supreme  enactment  of  the  govern 
ment  of  the  state,  transmitted  through  the  chief  of  the  capital,  the  aforesaid  enactment 
was  taken  into  consideration,  and  the  circular  having  been  read  in  a  loud  voice  by  citizen 
Pablo  Vasquez,  the  aforesaid  president  addressed  the  meeting  in  reference  to  the  reso 
lution  to  be  adopted  in  an  affair  of  such  vital  importance  in  defence  of  our  independence 
which  is  sought  to  be  taken  away  from  us  by  the  foreign  enemy  who  has  violated  our  ter 
ritory  and  sacrificed  with  ruffian  hand  the  existence  of  our  brethren,  who  have  preferred  to 
die  upon  the  battle-field  rather  than  to  bear  the  yoke  which  is  sought  to  be  imposed  upon 
us.  Whereupon,  anxious  for  the  preservation  of  our  national  sovereignty,  they  unanimously 
resolved,  with  one  voice,  to  enter  their  solemn  protest,  now  and  forever,  and  in  every  way, 
against  the  slaves  of  the  despot  Napoleon  III,  and  his  pretensions  in  the  wicked  invasion, 
in  reference  to  which  these  present  resolutions,  the  original  draught  of  which  remains  in  the 
archives  of  this  office,  but  of  which  a  copy  shall  be  transmitted  to  the  chief  of  the  depart- 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  347 

ment  to  be  laid  by  him  before  the  supreme  government  Wherefore,  the  members  of  the 
corporation  have  hereunto  attached  their  signatures,  and,  with  me,  authenticate  the  docu 
ment. 

NORVERTO  SUAREZ,  President. 

MARIANO  MORALES,  Alcalde 

LUCIANO  ARIAS,  Assistant 

JUAN  CARRIZALEZ,  Second  Magistrate. 

MIGUEL  PARDO,  Third  Magistrate. 

CRUZ  LOPEZ,  Syndic  Procurator. 

PABLO  VASQUEZ,  Assistant  President. 

JUAN  GARCIA,  Assistant  Second  Magistrate. 

FRANCISCO  ORTEGA,  Assistant  Third  Magistrate. 

JUAN  PABLO  LOPEZ,  Assistant  Procurator. 

BENITO  LOPEZ,  Treasurer. 

ANTONIO  DE  P.  SALAZAE. 

JUAN  LOPEZ 

DIONIC10  VASQUEZ. 

JULIEN  JARA. 

JESUS  CONTRERAS. 

POLICARPO  GONZALEZ. 

JOSE  MARIA  MARTINEZ 

SIMON  GARCIA. 

VIV1ANO  DE  LEON. 

AGAPITO  TOVAR. 

JUAN  ALFARO. 

LEON  RAMIREZ. 

TEOFILO  RAMOS. 

JOSE  MARIA  MEDINA. 

PABLO  ALVAREZ. 

FELIPE  RODRIGUEZ. 

MARIANO  CORPOS. 

GORGONIO  LOPEZ. 

JUAN  SOTO. 

FELIX  JARAMILLO. 

LEON  IDES  MARTINEZ. 

SERAPIO  MACIAS. 

LEAN D HO  NUNEZ. 

This  is  a  true  copy  of  the  original  which  remains  in  the  archives  of  this  corporation. 

NORVEP.rO  SUAREZ,  President. 


POLITICAL  AND  MILITARY  DEPARTMENT  OF  SAN  LUIS  POTOS1 — MOCTEZUMA  DEPARTMENT 
LUIS  GASCON,  POLITICAL  CHIEF  OF  TUB  MOCTEZUMA  DEPARTMENT. 

Considering  that  the  war  declared  against  Mexico  by  the  Emperor  of  the  French  is  in 
every  way  unjust,  impolitic,  and  undeserved  ; 

That  by  it  he  attacks  in  a  scandalous  manner  the  sovereignty  and  independence  of  a 
nation,  heretofore  recognized  by  all  the  European  powers,  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  its  rights, 
ot  its  prerogatives,  and  of  its  privileges  ; 

That  by  this  extraordinary  invasion  a  mo»t  flagrant  outrage  is  committed  against  the 
law  of  nations  and  against  international  law,  which  all  civilized  nations  respect ; 

That  it  is  an  insult  to  the  dignity  of  the  Mexican  nation  to  pretend  to  convert  it  into  a 
colony  tributary  to  the  throne  of  France  ; 

That,  with  the  most  unheard-of  injustice,  the  Emperor  of  the  French  seeks  to  establish 
an  odious  and  repugnant  intervention  in  the  destinies  of  the  Mexican  republic,  which  has 
hitherto  governed  itself  and  will  continue  to  govern  itself,  notwithstanding  the  wicked 
pretension  of  that  tyrant  to  enslave  it ; 

And  that,  finally,  the  expression  of  the  Mexican  people,  freely  and  spontaneously  given 
in  the  heroic  resistance  which  it  opposes  to  the  enemy  of  its  sovereignty  and  independence, 
as  manifested  in  the  defence  of  the  unconquered  city  of  Puebla  de  Zaragoza,  is  that  the 
country  must  rule  itself  and  be  governed  according  to  the  laws  and  by  the  authorities 
emanating  from  the  constitution  : 

I  have  deemed  it  my  duty,  as  a  good  Mexican  and  as  an  officer,  to  protest,  as  I  hereby 
do  protest,  for  myself  and  in  the  name  of  the  department  with  which  I  am  intrusted, 


348  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

against  the  unjust  war  entered  upon  by  the  Emperor  of  the  French  against  Mexico,  my 
country  ;  and  I  protest  against  all  foreign  intervention  by  which  it  is  sought  to  outrage 
and  wound  our  national  sovereignty. 

And  in  order  that  the  sentiments  by  which  I  am  animated  may  have  a  public  mani 
festation,  I  entreat  the  supreme  government  of  the  state  to  be  pleased  to  grant  that  this 
protest  be  inserted  in  the  official  periodical. 

LUIS  GASCON. 

MOCIKZUMA,  May  21,  1863. 


CONSTITUTIONAL  CORPORATION  OF  THE  MUNICIPALITY  OF  BOCAS. 

In  the  municipality  of  Bocas,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  the  month  of  May,  in  the  year 
1863,  the  honorable  corporation,  composed  of  the  citizens  Porfirio  Martinez,  first  magis 
trate  ;  Estevan  Nifio,  second  magistrate  ;  Julio  Baez,  third  magistrate  ;  Victoriano  Chavira, 
syndic  procurator,  and  Feliciano  Jacobo,  secretary,  having  assembled  under  the  presidency 
of  the  first-named  citizen,  and  there  being-  present  likewise  the  citizens  Isabel  Guadalupe 
Garcia,  the  only  justice  of  the  peace;  Pedro  Cisneros,  receiver  of  rents  and  collector  of 
direct  taxes,  and  Crescenciano  Martinez,  municipal  treasurer,  the,  honorable  president  said 
that  the  purpose  of  calling  the  honorable  body  to  an  extraordinary  session  was  in  order  to 
have  a  communication  read  which  he  had  received  from  the  secretary  of  the  supreme 
government,  under  date  of  the  twentieth  of  the  present  month  ;  and  thereupon,  the  com 
munication  having  been  read  by  the  secretary,  the  honorable  corporation  considered  its 
contents,  as  did  also  the  other  citizens  present,  and  being  asked  their  respective  opinions 
in  regard  to  the  communication  just  read,  all  unanimously,  both  the  members  of  the  cor 
poration  and  the  officials  mentioned,  said  that,  abounding  in  the  most  ardent  patriotism, 
both  as  public  functionaries  and  as  sons  of  our  beloved  country,  Mexico,  they  express  their 
free  opinions  and  aspirations  in  the  following  articles : 

1.  We  solemnly  protest  against  all  foreign  intervention  whatever  that  seeks  to  over 
throw  the  actual  institutions  by  which  we  are  governed. 

2.  We  likewise  protest  that  we  will  support  with  our  persons  and  our  fortunes  our  inde 
pendence  and  the  integrity  of  our  republic. 

3.  A  certified  copy  of  these  proceedings  will  be  transmitted  to  the  supreme  government 
by  the  ordinary  channels. 

Whereupon  the  session  was  closed  by  the  reduction  to  writing  of  these  resolutions  for 
the  preservation  of  the  same  ;  and  they  were  signed  before  me,  the  secretary,  who  authen 
ticate  them,  by  the  citizens  Porfirio  Martinez,  first  magistrate  and  president ;  Estevan  Nino, 
second  magistrate ;  Julio  Baez,  third  magistrate  ;  Victoriano  Chavira,  syndic  procurator  ; 
Feliciano  Jacobo,  secretary  ;  and  the  public  officials,  Isabel  Guadalupe  Garcia,  justice  of  the 
peace,  Pedro  Cisneros,  receiver  of  taxc-s,  and  Crescenciano  Martinez,  municipal  treasurer. 

I  certify  this  to  be  a  true  copy. 

PORFIRIO  MARTINEZ. 

FELICIANO  JACOBO,  Secretary. 

MUNICIPALITY  OF  BOCA,  May  22,  1863. 


We,  the  subscribing  citizens,  having  met  in  the  hall  of  the  honorable  corporation  of  this 
town,  and  being  made  acquainted  by  the  municipal  chief  with  the  exhortatory  circular,  of 
the  date  of  the  15th  of  the  current  month,  issued  by  the  governor  of  the  state,  being  filled 
with  the  liveliest  enthusiasm  as  sons  of  Mexico,  and  possessed  with  the  patriotic  love  which 
inspires  our  hearts  and  by  the  faith  which  we  have  in  Providence  that  we  will  triumph  in 
this  unjust  war  made  upon  us  by  France,  aided  by  wicked  men  and  traitors,  whose  sole 
employment  is  to  spill  the  blood  of  just  men  engaged  in  the  defence  of  their  nationality, 
and  to  see  innocent  families  sacrificed,  of  whom  so  many  have  recently  perished — with 
unanimous  accord,  and  proud  to  record  the  glory  which  we  enjoy  in  calling  ourselves 
Mexicans,  we  enter  a  solemn  and  firm  protest  that  we  will  sustain  the  supreme  government 
with  all  the  means  that  may  be  in  our  power,  even  to  the  shedding  of  the  last  drop  of 
our  blood  on  the  field  of  honor  to  save  our  independence  and  to  assure  the  liberty  of  our 
tender  families.  It  shall,  therefore,  be  our  glory  to  die  and  never  to  humble  ourselves 
beneath  the  proud  foot  of  the  Frenchman  and  of  his  accursed  allies,  those  monsters  of 
humanity. 

This  protestation,  which  we  have  the  honor  and  the  satisfaction  of  making,  we  have 
agreed  to  lay  before  the  citizen  chief  of  this  municipality,  in  order  that  it  may,  by  copy 


MEXICAN    AFFAIKS.  349 

or  original,  or  in  whatever  way  may  seem  convenient,  be  transmitted  through  the  usual 
channels  to  the  citizen  governor,  to  whom  we  offer  the  assurance  of  our  sincere  patriotism, 
a,nd  likewise  our  respectful  esteem  and  consideration. 

Liberty  and  independence,  or  death! — Iturbide,  May  26,  1863. 

VICENTE  CELESTINO  MARTINEZ. 

ATANACIO  MARTINEZ. 

ANTONIO  D.  OROZCO. 

JUAN  PARTI  DA. 

PORFIRIO  TRISTAIN. 

BENITO  TRISTAIN. 

LIDRONIO  A.  AGUIRRE. 

AGAPITO  DE  LA  ROSA. 

FRANCISCO  M.  RAMOS. 

ANDRES  MARTINEZ. 

I.  ISIDRO  MARTINfcZ. 

SANTIAGO  NIETO. 

SECUNDINO  CARRIZAL. 

FRANCISCO  TORRE  BLANCA. 
.  FRANCISCO  HURTADO. 


In  the  town  of  Cedral,  on  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  May,  in  the  year  1863,  the  right 
honorable  corporation  having  assembled  in  the  town-hall,  and  having  taken  into  consider 
ation  the  circular  issued  by  the  governor  of  the  state,  under  date  of  the  18th  of  the  current 
month,  protests  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  before  the  country  and  the  other  civilized 
nations  of  the  globe,  against  the  unjust  aggression  made  upon  our  soil  by  the  Emperor  of 
the  French,  in  violation  of  national  rights  and  of  the  law  of  nations,  purposing  to  destroy 
the  liberal  government  which  now  holds  Mexico  constituted  as  a  free  and  sovereign  state 
and  by  the  popular  will.  It  likewise  protests  its  desire  to  avenge  the  blood  of  our  brethren 
unjustly  shed  in  the  defence  of  the  heroic  city  of  Zaragoza,  and  likewise  offers  to  contribute 
by  all  the  means  in  its  power  to  assist  the  supreme  magistrate  of  the  republic  to  maintain 
the  honor  and  dignity  of  the  republic  outraged  by  this  invasion,  until  due  reparation  is 
obtained. 

APOLONIO  CAMARILLO. 

APOLONIO  FRESNILLO,  Second  Magistrate. 

PROSPERO  CARDENAS,  Third  Magistrate. 

PEDRO  LOPEZ  MORALEZ,  Fourth  Magistrate. 

RAMON  VALERO,  Secretary. 

DOROTEO  MERLO,  Secretary. 


SECOND  COURT  OF  THE  TOWN  OF  CEDRAL. 

CITY  OF  CEDRAL,  May  31,  1863. 

We,  the  subscribers,  first  and  second  justices  of  the  peace  of  this  town,  judge  of  the  civil 
•court,  clerk  of  the  courts,  and  alcalde  of  the  prison,  desiring  not  to  be  the  last  to  testify  our 
opinion  before  the  nation,  the  civilized  world,  and  the  whole  globe,  do  so  in  the  following 
form : 

1.  We  protest  solemnly  against  the  unjust  invasion  of  our  territory  by  Napoleon  III, 
Emperor  of  the  French,  without  reasonable  cause,  without  declaration  of  war,  and  in  the 
use  of  his  power  merely  in  favor  of  some  traitorous  Mexicans  who  have  inspired  their 
sinister  views  into  him. 

2.  We  solemnly  protest  against  all  intervention,  pretended  to  be  assumed  by  the  French 
chiefs  now  resident  in  the  heroic  city  of  Zaragoza,  in  the  actual  government  of  Mexico 
legitimately  constituted,  as  also  against  all  foreign  intervention  whatever,  be  its  designa 
tion  what  it  may. 

3.  We  protest  loudly  and  solemnly  that  we  will  maintain  our  actual  form  of  govern 
ment,  popular,  federal,  representative,  the  liberal  constitution  of  1857,  sworn  to,  sanctioned, 
and  revised  by  the  free,  explicit,  and  voluntary  vote  of  the  whole  nation,  with  very  rare 
exceptions  of  persons  of  retrograde  views. 

4.  We  protest  in  the  most  solemn  manner  that  we  will  maintain  the  honor  and  dignity 
of  the  citizen  president,  Benito  Juarez,  as  the  only  legitimate  representative  of  the  nation. 

JOSE  NICOLAS  MANZANO,  First  Alcalde. 
TEODORO  PUENTE,  Second  Akalde. 
GUADALUPE  F.  PALOS,  Civil  Judge. 
PABLO  ROC  HA,  Akalde. 
MODESTO  G.  HOGUELA,  Secretary. 


350  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

In  the  town  of  Matehuela,  on  the  thirtieth  day  of  May,  in  the  year  1863,  the  president 
and  members  of  the  corporation,  citizens  Joaquiu  Castillo,  Isidore  Estrada,  Jesus  Pimentel ; 
the  syndics,  Francisco  Pedraza  and  Juan  Huerta ;  the  first  and  second  alcaldes,  citizens 
Francisco  Soberon  and  Mariano  Escoto  ;  also,  the  administrator  of  the  customs,  Manuel 
Martinez  :  the  municipal  treasurer,  citizen  Jesus  Reyes;  the  civil  judge  and  administrator 
of  the  post  office,  citizen  Jesus  Vargas  ;  the  administrator  of  stamps,  citizen  Cayetano  A. 
Gaitau  ;  the  administrator  of  the  public  granary,  citizen  Miguel  Medrano  ;  the  master  of 
posts,  citizen  Juan  Gaitau ;  the  president  of  the  board  of  primary  instruction,  citizen  Anas- 
tasio  Moreno  ;  and  the  secretary  of  the  same,  citizen  Julio  Armijo,  having  met  in  the  town- 
hall,  being  invited  to  an  extraordinary  meeting  therein  by  the  citizen  president  above 
mentioned,  the  secretary  of  the  corporation  read  the  communication  addressed  to  them, 
under  date  of  the  twenty-seventh  of  the  present  month,  by  the  political  chief  of  the  city 
of  Catorce,  urging  them  to  protest  against  the  French  invasion,  which  has  so  unjustly  at 
tacked  the  rights  of  the  nation.  The  opinion  of  all  the  individuals  present  being  consulted 
by  the  citizen  president,  full  of  the  enthusiasm  becoming  every  Mexican  breast,  they  agreed, 
with  common  accord,  to  protest,  as  they  do,  before  the  nation  and  the  entire  world,  against 
the  armed  intervention  which  the  Emperor  of  the  French  has  directed  against  our  beautiful 
country.  They  protest  with  equal  energy  against  all  foreign  intervention  whatever,  that 
has  for  its  object  the  establishment  of  any  other  government  than  the  present  one,  adopted 
by  the  majority  of  the  nation,  and  intrusted  for  its  administration  to  the  worthy  as  well 
as  courageous  Benito  Juarez.  Finally,  they  protest  that  they  will  maintain,  in  every  pos 
sible  manner,  with  their  lives  and  their  fortunes,  the  national  integrity  and  the  public 
liberties,  because  they  would  prefer  to  suffer  any  misery,  even  to  the  abandonment  of  their 
homes,  rather  than  submit  to  the  exacting  caprices  of  mercenary  and  unworthy  foreigners. 
These  resolutions  were  signed  by  them  in  presence  of  me,  the  secretary.  I  authenticate- 
them. 

JOAQUIN  CASTILLO. 

ISIDORO  ESTRADA. 

JESUS  PIMENTEL. 

FRANCISCO  PEDRAZA. 

JUAN  HUERTE. 

FRANCISCO  SOBERON. 

MARIANO  ESCOTO. 

MANUEL  MARTINEZ. 

JESUS  REYES. 

JESUS  VARGAS. 

CAYETANO  A.  GAITAU. 

MIGUEL  MEDRANO. 

JUAN  GAITAU. 

ANASTASIO  MORE  SO. 

JULIO  ARMIJO. 

I  certify  this  to  be  a  true  copy.     Office  of  the  secretary  of  the  corporation  of  Matehuela, 
May  31,  1863. 

JESUS  DELGADO, 

SfCtetary  pro  tern. 


The  people  of  the  capital  of  Tamaulipas  united  in  publ  c  meeting,  the  political  chief  of 
the  central  district  being  president,  make  the  following  declaration  of  their  ideas  and  po 
litical  sentiments,  in  the  most  spontaneous,  frank,  and  solemn  manner  possible  : 

It  will  adhere  to  liberty  and  reform,  for  that  divine  system  makes  all  men  equal,  and 
grants  equal  rights  and  guarantees  to  all. 

It  is  firmly  convinced  that  peace,  order,  morality,  and  justice  can  only  exist  under  demo 
cratic  principles,  and  the  aggrandizement  and  happiness  of  Mexico  can  be  attained. 

It  is  convinced  in  tli3  same  manner  with  regard  to  the  causes  that  have  retarded  its  pro 
gress,  that  they  are  no  others  than  the  continued  revolutions  that  have  taken  place  from 
the  time  of  independence  to  the  present  day,  all  made  by  the  clergy  and  the  army,  to  de 
fend  their  ridiculous  privileges,  and  establish  tyranny,  by  which  the  nation  has  suffered 
immense  sacrifices,  and,  what  is  still  more  painful,  lost  thousands  of  innocent  victims. 

It  is  persuaded,  by  what  has  occurred  in  the  past  as  well  as  what  is  occurring  in  the 
present,  that  the  reactionary  party,  as  infamous  as  it  is  cowardly,  has  crawled  to  the  feet 
of  Napoleon  III,  the  tyrant,  to  offer  him  the  dominion  of  Mexico,  in  exchange  that  the 
clergy  should  continue  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  usmped  mortmain  property,  and 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 


351 


that  they,  in  connexion  with  the  army,  should  reconquer  the  sovereignty  and  privilege* 
they  formerly  possessed,  to  the  dishonor  of  the  nation. 

The  intervention  solicited  by  the  unnatural  sons  of  Mexico,  and  conceded  by  Napoleon, 
is  a  scandalous  violation  of  the  treaty  of  London,  in  which  the  principle  of  respecting  the 
autonomy  and  independence  of  the  republic  was  most  solemnly  stated. 

The  false  offers  of  Forey,  nor  the  vain  words  of  the  traitors  that  follow  him,  can  deceive 
the  people.  The  forces  of  France  have  been  sent  to  Mexico  only  to  establish  a  monarchical 
government,  to  rob  and  tyrannize  the  people  in  the  most  cruel  and  barbarous  manner 
known. 

The  intervention  is  to  Napoleon  the  pride,  vanity,  and  ostentation  of  the  power  he  has 
usurped  ;  to  those  Mexicans  that  consent  to  it,  ignominy,  shame,  and  degradation.  It  will 
not  be  the  people  of  Ciudad  Victoria  who  will  throw  such  an  infamous  stain  upon  their  con 
duct  ;  it  hates  despots,  and  will  curse  them  eternally. 

Thus  it  protests,  before  the  God  of  nations,  against  all  foreign  intervention  in  the  affairs 
of  Mexico,  and  particularly  against  the  infamous  and  unjust  invasion  of  the  French  army. 

It  proposes,  also,  from  its  innermost  heart,  to  place  itself  at  the  disposal  of  the  consti 
tutional  authorities,  to  defend  constantly  the  independence  of  the  country,  menaced  by 
Frenchmen  and  traitors,  and  to  sustain  the  democratic  institutions  which  now  govern  us. 

Such  is  the  political  faith  and  feeling  of  the  people.  It  is  rooted  to  the  heart,  and  will 
never  yield  in  any  respect  to  tyrants.  It  fears  not  death  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  will  give  it 
courage  to  fall  upon  a  glorious  tomb,  to  leave  to  their  children  a  page  in  history,  and  to 
raise  an  everlasting  malediction  to  all  tyrants. 

City  of  Victoria  de  Tamaulipas,  July  7,  1863. 


Antonio  Perales. 

Francisco  Blanco. 

Cipriano  Guerrero. 

Francisco  Velasco. 

Indalscio  Martinez. 

Antonio  F.  Guillen. 

Dario  Balandrano. 

Francisco  G.  Rodriguez. 

Juan  A.  Velasquez. 

F.  de  la  G.  Jimenes. 

Antonio  Adame. 

Rafael  Aluna. 

Juan  Gonzales. 

Camilo  Castro. 

Julio  Rodriguez. 

Jose  Ma.  Martinez. 

Ramon  Rodriguez  Fernandez. 

Antonio  Rodriguez. 

Jose  Cortina. 

Leandro  Ramirez,  (padre  ) 

Juan  N.  G.  Jimenes. 

Agustin  Guillen. 

Fernando  Cabanae. 

Fernando  de  Vargas. 

Refugio  Rodriguez 

Jose  Coronado. 

Francisco  Jimenes  Valdez. 

Lucio  Castaneda. 

Noverto  Feran. 

Cayetauo  Aguilera. 

Priciliano  F.  de  Cardonas. 

Agaton  Vargas. 

Felipe  Feran. 

Antonio  Gutierrez. 

Lopez  G.  Reyes. 

Erancisco  Padilla. 

Fortiz  de  la  Garzi. 

Jose  Maria  Olvera. 

Fito  N.  de  Careres. 

Rafael  Guillen. 

Francisco  -Carranco. 

Rej*es  Aguirre. 

Gnadalupe  Perales. 


E.  Balandramo. 
Rafael  del  Castillo. 
Albino  Gomez. 
Fermin  Jimenes. 
Juan  Teran. 
Gregorio  Torres. 
Cosme  Villasenor. 
Manuel  Camargo. 
Lorenzo  Cortina,  (hijo  ) 
Tarquino  Jimenes. 
Antonio  Flores, 
Por  Francisco  Gueredo. 
Juan  Teran. 
Antonio  Parreno. 
Florencio  Zamudio. 
Ramon  Rodriguez  Reyes. 
Juan  Guerrero. 
Jose  Maria  Fuentes. 
Rafael  Cortez. 
Bernardo  Gonzalez. 
Jose  Hipolito  Sierra. 
Marcelo  Vera. 
Andreo  Ortega. 
Francisco  Abrigo. 
Benito  Garcia. 
Ysidro  Gamez. 
Tranquilino  Arenas. 
Francisco  Davila. 
Trinidad  de  Leon. 
Florentine  Chavez. 
Nicolas  Huerta. 
Agustin  Gonzalez. 
Rafael  Linarez. 
Francisco  Perales. 
Jose  Luis  Perez. 
Leandro  Valdez. 
Pasenal  Valvoa. 
Juan  Martinez. 
Antonio  Fuentes. 
Vidal  Hernandez .„ 
Desiderio  Padron. 
Desiderio  Lopez. 
Urverno  Garcia. 


352 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS 


Emilio  Castro. 

Francisco  Guintanilla. 

Jose  Martinez 

Conobio  Sanchez. 

Trinidad  Ramirez. 

Felipe  Escandon. 

Juan  Gomez. 

Antonio  Romero. 

Jose  Rodriguez. 

Brigido  Hernandez. 

Justos  Adrian. 

Julian  Castillo. 

Ventura  Vasquez. 

Zeferino  Rojas. 

Francisco  Gal  van. 

Manuel  Castillo. 

Francisco  Caras,  (liijo.) 

Felipe  Rincon. 

Amador  Porras. 

Mateo  Espinosa. 

Sstevan  Garcia. 

Cresencio  Ortiz. 

Nieves  Martinez. 

Fiturcio  Saldana. 

Frebonio  Alanis. 

Pilas  So  to. 

Ricardo  Cortez 

Cayetano  Guillen. 

vSisto  Mata. 

Lorenzo  Malos. 

Jorge  Campos. 

Jose  Sepulveda. 

Silverio  Ramirez. 

Juan  Cantor. 

Joaquin  Caballero. 

Rafael  Arredonde.  . 

Ponciano  Chavez. 

Felipe  Torrez. 

Hilario  Alrnaguey. 

Manuel  Moron 
Francisco  Lopez. 

Francisco  Vasquez. 
Juan  F.  de  Albe. 

Ildefonso  Velasquez. 

Antonio  Guevara. 

Ramon  Guevara. 

Giro  Gonzales,  (hijo.) 

Dimas  Capetillo. 

Francisco  H.  Flores. 

Bias  Bustamante. 

Mauro  Fernandez  Garzi. 

Francisco  Castaneda  y  Saldana. 

Rafael  Romero. 

Andrez  Farfan. 

Jose"  Maria  Cordova. 

Luciano  Ibarra. 

Pedro  Lopez. 

Rosalio  Zepeda. 

Gregorio  Garcia. 

Vidal  Fuentes. 

Modesto  Esparsa. 

Felipe  Barvosa. 

Guadalupe  de  la  Fuente. 

Antonio  Belarde. 

Seberiano  Hernandez. 

Antonio  Velasquez. 


Antonio  Gonzalez. 

Albino  Garcia. 

Damaro  Solano. 

Ricado  Bustos. 

Rafael  Hernandez. 

Felipe  Martinez. 

Martin  Borrego. 

Bonifacio  Vasquez. 

Pedro  Mata. 

Francisco  Barragan. 

Juan  Orta. 

Tomas  Moreno. 

Guivino  Reyesa. 

Encarnacion  Rodriguez. 

Antonio  Luna. 

Luviano  Hernandez. 

Anacleto  Mendosa. 

Ignacio  Gonzalez. 

Macedonio  Obregon . 

Braulio  Paz. 

Francisco  Esparsa. 

Carmen  Sanchez. 

Martin  Isaguirre, 

Julian  Lopez. 

Eusebio  Villareal. 

Simon  Lopez. 

Pantaleon  Guintero. 

Gregorio  Alvarado. 

Macedonio  Garcia. 

Justo  Ramirez. 

Julian  Irevino. 

Juan  Francisco  de  Duiein. 

Julian  Torrez. 

Juan  de  la  Cruz. 

Antonio  Portales 

Inocencio  Zamora. 

Forivio  Chavez. 

Fiburcio  Lopez. 

Juan  J.  Porras. 

Eduvige  Puga. 

Isidoro  Mier. 

Francisco  Martinez. 

Encarnacion  Rangel. 

Agapito  Charles. 

Hipolito  de  Velasco. 

Ceuobio  Jimenes. 

Leocadio  Sanchez. 

Jesus  A  de  la  Garza. 

Santiago  Gamez, 
Por  Mariano  Gaspar. 

Ramon  Rojas. 

Beniabe  Garz  i. 

Ramon  Rojas. 

Francisco  de  las  Cai\is. 

Cristobal  Pisafia. 

Maclorio  M.  Sierra. 

Francisco  Saldana. 

Antonio  Furricanday. 

Miguel  Guzman. 

Julian  Mejia. 

Ascencion  Pit-ana. 

Manuel  Gonzalt-s. 

Ramon  Garcia, 
Por  Joe6  Maria  Cardenas. 

Ascencion  Pisafia. 

Luciano  Gonzales. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  353 


Francisco  Balandrano.  Asceneion  Gil. 

Manuel  Moreno  Francisco  Ramos. 

Filar  Garcia.  Feliciano  Luna. 

Jose  M.  Llmon.  Natividad  Cervantes. 

Teofilo  Losaya.  Margarito  Silguero. 

Jesus  Gonzalez.  Gregorio  Guevara. 

Leocardio  Hernandez  Brieno  Rodriguez 

Lorenzo  Pizuelo.  Bentura  Eeyes. 

Maccinnano  Peres.  Enrique  Castillo.  • 

Carlos  Barres.  Cayetano  Rodriguez. 

Juan  Reyes.  Joee  Anjel  Sanchez. 
Julian  Rivera.  * 


In  this  heroic  city  of  Matamoras,  its  illustrious  council  having  met  in  extraordinary  ses 
sion  on  the  2d  of  June,  1863,  Juan  Fernandez  presiding,  being  political  chief  of  the  northern 
district,  and  taking  into  consideration  the  state  in  which  the  republic  has  been  plunged  by 
the  last  events  resulting  in  the  occupation  of  Puebla  de  Zaragosa,  so  nobly  defended  by  the 
army  of  the  east,  under  command  of  General  Jesus  Gonzalez  Ortega,  that  as  these  critical 
moments  are  precisely  the  time  when  true  patriotism  as  well  as  the  determination  to  de 
fend,  at  all  costs,  the  integrity  of  our  national  soil,  should  be  shown  forth,  it  being  tram 
pled  upon  by  the  forces  of  the  French  tyrant ;  that  this  body,  representing  the  city  of 
Matamoras,  although  it  has  not  protested  against  E'rench  intervention,  has  clearly  proved  her 
feelings  by  the  blood  of  her  children  shed  by  the  invaders ;  that  now  that  by  all  appear 
ances  our  national  cause  has  received  a  terrible  blow,  is  when  we  should  show  our  strength 
and  power,  teaching  the  audacious  soldiers  of  the  Emperor  how  the  sons  of  the  Mexican 
republic  can  die  for  their  liberty.  Considering  that  the  actual  form  of  government  is  the 
most  adequate  to  the  advances  of  the  age,  and  the  one  chosen  by  the  Mexican  people,  who, 
like  the  rest  of  mankind,  have  the  right  to  select  their  mode  of  organization  ;  that  Benito 
Juarez,  now  president  of  the  republic,  has  been  made  so  by  the  fi  ee  and  unanimous  will  of 
his  fellow-countrymen,  knowing  how  to  repay  the  confidence  of  his  constituents  by  main 
taining  the  constitution  and  developing  the  regenerating  seeds  of  reform  ;  considering  all 
this,  and  by  unanimity  of  votes,  the  following  was  resolved  :  The  illustrious  council  of 
the  city  of  Matamoras  protests,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  against  all  intervention  or 
foreign  dominion  in  the  territory  of  the  republic,  and  especially  so  against  that  of  the 
French.  It  is  determined  to  defend  and  sustain  the  independence  and  integrity  of  the 
soil,  and  to  support,  also,  the  democratic  institutions  that  now  govern  the  republic,  and  by 
which  Bcinito  Juarez,  well-deserving  of  the  country,  so  worthily  occupies  the  presidency. 
It  was  also  resolved  to  send  a  copy  of  this  act  to  the  executive  of  the  nation,  conveying 
it  through  the  respectable  channel  of  the  government  of  state,  and  have  it  published,  that 
the  people  may  fee,  by  this  act,  the  sentiments  which  this  corporation  has  always  held, 
confirmed.  The  political  chief  and  the  individuals  of  the  municipal  council  having  signed 
before  me,  the  secretary,  the  meeting  adjourned. 

JUAN  FERNANDEZ. 

RAFAEL  QUINTEBO,  First  Alcalde. 

SERVANDO  CAVAZOS,  Second  Alcalde. 

Lui3  GUERRP:RA,  Third  Alcaide. 

JUAN  MASEIRO,  First  Alderman. 
CARLOS  DAN  ACHE,  JR.,  Fifth  Aldtrman. 
SEBASTIAN  RODRIGUEZ,  Sixth  Alderman. 
JOSE  MARIA  RAMIREZ,  First  Syndic. 
JOSE  MARIA  CANTU,  Second  Syndic. 
FELIPE  ZALAZAR,  Secretary. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.  ] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  February  29,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  I  have  the  honor  to  enclose,  with  this  note,  several  docu 
ments  translated  into  English,  which  have  come  from  Mexico,  and  a  synopsis  of 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 23 


354  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

which  appears  at  the  beginning.  These  documents  reveal  the  absolute  rupture 
between  the  Mexican  clergy,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  invaders,  on  the  other, 
together  with  their  manikins,  who  form  the  so-called  regency  of  the  empire.  It 
is  known  that  the  moral  support  on  which  the  French  invasion  of  Mexico  relied 
was  the  high  clergy  of  the  country,  who  expected  to  recover  through  its  medi 
um  the  possession  of  their  estates  declared  national  and  distributed  among  a 
large  number  of  persons  during  the  administration  of  the  constitutional  govern 
ment  of  that  republic*  which  acted  thus  for  reasons  of  obvious  public  conve 
nience,  to  which  it  is  now  unnecessary  to  refer.  Well,  then,  the  clergy  having 
lost  their  expectations  of  being  restored  to  the  possession  of  those  estates  under 
French  influence,  now  withdraws  the  support  which  they  had  lent  to  the  inter 
vention,  whiclj  is  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  maintaining  itself  by  the  force  of 
bayonets  alone,  and  by  material  assistance  from  individuals,  who,  too  much  com- 
promitted  in  the  farce  of  government  to  be  able  to  separate  themselves  from  it, 
•  have  blindly  to  obey  the  capricious  will  of  their  rulers.  These  considerations, 
which  I  take  the  liberty  of  merely  pointing  out,  induce  me  to  call  your  attention 
to  the  documents  which  I  enclose,  and  the  importance  of  which  I  doubt  not  will 
be  duly  appreciated  by  the  government  of  the  United  States. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  of  renewing  to  you,  sir,  assurances  of  my 
very  distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  $v.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   DOCUMENTS 

1.  Protest  of  the  archbishop  of  Mexico,  as  one  of  the  regents,  against  cert  tia  orders  issued 
in  the  name  of  the  regency  by  Generals  Almonte  and  Salas,  under  command  of  the  French 
general-in  chief,  which  orders  involve  a  recognition  of  the  sequestration  of  the  church  prop 
erty,  decreed  in  1859  by  the  Juarez  government,  November  10,  18G3. 

2.  Eemoval  of  the  archbishop  from  his  office  as  regent  of  the  empire,  November  17, 
1863. 

3.  Protest  of  the  archbishop  against  his  removal  from  office  as  resent  of  the  empire,  No 
vember  17,  1863. 

4.  Official  note  from  General  Bazaine  to  the  archbishop,  acknowledging  that  the  dismissal 
of  the  archbishop  from  the  regency  was  madejby  his  orders,  November  20,  1863. 

5.  Reply  of  the  archbishop  to  General  Bazidne  ;  he  declares  his  removal  from  the  regency 
null  and  void,  November  28,  1863. 

6.  United  protest  of  the  archbishop  of  Mexico,  the  archbishop  of  Michoacan,  the  arch 
bishop  of  Guadalajara,  the  bishop  of  San  Luis  Potosi,  and  the  bishop  of  Oajaca,  against  the 
circulars  and  orders  issued  with  reference  to  the  church  property  by  command  of  the  French 
general,  and  declaring  against  all  who  shall  execute  them,  or  co-operate  in  executing  them, 
the  excommunication  decreed  by  the  holy  council  of  Trent ;  in  this  protest  they  declare 
their  situation  to  be  worse  than  it  was  under  the  Juarez  government ;  December  26,  1863. 

7.  Adhesion  of  the  bishops  of  Leon,  Caladro.  and  Eutancingo,  to  the  foregoing  protest, 
December  31,  1863. 

8.  Protest  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  nation,  appointed  by  the  regency,  against  the  cir 
culars  and  orders  issued  in  relation  to  said  church  property. 

9.  Decree  of  the  regents,  Almonte  and  Salas,  removing  all  of  the  judges  and  other  officers 
of  the  supreme  court,  on  the  ground  of  their  refusal  to  enforce  any  of  the  laws  or  orders 
regarding  the  nationalization  of  the  church  property,  January  2,  1864. 

10.  Manifesto  of  Almonte  and  Salas,  explaining  this  act,  and  declaring  that  they  found 
it  necessary  to  conform  their  action  to  "  French  policy,"  January  2,  1864. 

11.  Sharp  lettsr  from  General  Niegre  to  the  archbishop  of  Mexico,  complaining  of  the 
incendiary  character  of  the  publications  which  are  being  clandestinely  circulated  by  the 
clergy  in  the  capital,  January  16,  1864. 

12.  Reply  of  the  archbishop,  declaring,  categorically,  that  never  was  the  church  so  bit 
terly  persecuted,  and  that  he,  as  chief  prelate,  rinds  himself  in  a  worse  position  than  under 
the  Juarez  government. 

13.  Further  note  from  the  archbishop  to  General  Niegre,  stating  what  he  will  address  to 
his  diocesaners  when  the  restrictions  imposed  by  the  French  on  the  press  is  removed. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  355 


Pretext  of  the  Archbishop  of  M~.zir.o. 

YOUR  EXCELLENCY  :  Under  this  date  I  have  communicated  to  their  excellencies  Regents 
•Generals  D.  Juan  N.  Almonte  and  D.  Mariano  Salas  that  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy  : 

YOUR  EXCELLENCIES  :  Being  unable,  in  any  case,  to  make  a  sacrifice  of  my  conscience  and 
my  dignity,  I  find  myself  obliged  to  address  to  your  excellencies,  for  your  due  knowledge, 
and  publication  in  the  official  paper,  the  following  declarations : 

First.  That  there  having  been  received  by  the  regency,  at  the  conclusion  of  its  session, 
on  Saturday,  the  7th  instant,  a  despatch  from  his  excellency  General  Bazaine,  in  which 
he  insisted  that  the  regency  should  make  a  declaration  sufficient  to  expedite  in  the  courts 
and  before  the  judges  the  course  of  the  affairs  to  which  the  communication  or  notice  pub 
lished  in  the  official  paper  of  the  24th  of  October  last  refers,  and  which  requirement  is  made 
in  a  manner  which  should  strongly  claim  the  attention  of  the  regency,  I  immediately  made 
known  that  the  affair  was,  from  its  natuie,  one  of  the  greatest  gravity  and  of  most  import 
ant  consequences,  and  that  it  should  be  treated  very  cautiously  and  not  hastily,  in  which 
opinion  we  were  of  accord,  the  subject  lying  over  to  be  treated  of  subsequently. 

Second.  That  desiring  to  exhaust  in  this  affair  every  resource  which  prudence  should  dic 
tate,  in  order  that  it  might  be  fitly  determined,  and,  if  it  were  possible,  with  the  common 
accord  of  the  regency  and  of  his  excellency  General  Bazaine,  I  had  a  conference  with  his 
excellency  in  conformity  with  previous  notice,  given  the  evening  before  to  his  excellency 
Sefior  Almonte,  on  Sunday,  in  the  afternoon,  making  known  to  him  all  the  reasons  which, 
in  my  conception,  operated  in  favor  of  laying  aside  the  affair  of  the  bills  receivable  and 
renting  of  church  property,  in  order  that  its  resolution  should  be  postponed  until  the  arri 
val  of  the  Emperor,  which  conference  took  place  in  the  presence  of  his  excellency  Seiior 
Almonte,  who  sustained  several  of  my  observations. 

Third.  That  as  his  excellency  Seiior  Bazaine  did  not  yield  to  my  argument:?,  I  offered,  in 
the  presence  of  the  same  Sefior  Almonte,  to  ^end  them  to  him  yesterday  in  writing,  in  order 
that  he  might  more  carefully  consider  them. 

Fourth.  That  in  compliance  with  this  offer  I  prepared  yesterday,  with  all  precision  and 
clearness,  the  reasons  which  operated  against  giving  course  to  the  said  suits  until  a  supreme 
resolution,  dictated  by  the  sovereign,  should  free  from  the  chance  of  nullity  and  of  ulterior 
responsibility  the  temporary  determination  which  might  now  be  given  to  these  affairs. 

Fifth  That  the  first  of  ruy  observations  demonstrated  that  only  the  first  notice  had  been 
issued  with  the  knowledge  of  the  regency,  although  with  my  vote  against  it,  but  that  the 
second  appeared  afterwards  without  any  legal  origin  ;  and  that  in  this  first  notice  there  ap 
peared  no  recognition  of  any  right  in  the  unlawful  holders  of  these  pagans  [notes  given  for 
church  property. — Trans.]  to  avail  themselves  in  their  effort  to  make  them  good  of  the 
public  tribunals,  but  only  the  declaration  that  the  regency  would  hold  as  calumnious  what 
ever  efforts  should  tend  to  preoccupy  the  public  judgment,  causing  it  to  be  believed  that 
the  regency  had  the  intention  of  putting  itself  forward  in  an  affair  whose  resolution  should 
be  left  to  the  sovereign  ;  and  this  I  stated  with  my  natural  frankness,  because,  in  fact,  the 
notice  exhibited  a  meaning  contrary  to  that  which  it  had  been  desired  to  give  it. 

Sixth.  That  I  then  proceeded  to  demonstrate  that  there  could  not  be  given  to  said  notice 
any  other  legal  interpretation  than  that  which  it  really  bore,  without  deciding,  in  fact,  the 
question  which  is  sought  to  be  postponed,  and  deciding  it  by  ratifying  and  legalizing  all 
that  had  been  done  in  the  time  of  Don  Benito  Juarez ;  and  that  such  a  decision  could  not 
bj  made  because  it  would  be  anti-Catholic,  immoral,  scandalous,  anti-economical,  and  im 
politic  with  reference  to  the  Pope,  to  whom  it  would  be  a  most  severe  blow  ;  to  his  Majesty 
the  Emperor  of  the  French,  whom  it  would  cause  to  represent  a  role  diametrically  opposed 
to  his  generous  intentions,  conciliatory  disposition,  and  frank  and  loyal  conduct ;  and  to 
his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Mexico,  whom  it  would  deprive  of  all  of  his  resources,  multi 
plying  the  obstacles  before  him  and  reducing  him — such  were  my  words — "to  the  deplor 
able  and  painfully  fruitless  task  of  gnawing  the  bleached  bones  of  a  corpse/'  with  respect 
to  the  nation  itself,  because  such  measures  would  cause  an  immense  majority  to  draw  back, 
while  they  would  not  attract  the  opposition  for  whom  condescensions  are  stimulants  and 
concessions  arms. 

Seventh.  That  this  communication  was  already  sealed,  in  order  to  send  it  to  his  excel 
lency  Sefior  Bazaine,  when,  with  a  surprise  and  pain  which  I  cannot  express, ••  I  was  informed 
of  a  document  of  the  following  tenor  : 

MEXICO,  November  9,  1863. 

To  THE  POLITICAL  PREFECT  :  It  having  arrived  to  the  knowledge  of  the  regency  that,  not 
withstanding  the  notices  inserted  in  No.  14  of  the  official  paper,  of  which  the  annexed  is  a 
copy,  certain  judges  have  abstained  from  taking  cognizance  of  causes  which  relate  to  the 


35b*  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

pygares,  (notes,)  and  the  leasing  or  rents  of  properties  which  have  belonged  to  the  clergy, 
the  said  regency  orders  me  to  say  to  your  excellency  that,  in  conformity  with  the  notice 
referred  to,  the  judges  and  tribunals  should  and  must  take  cognizance  of  all  causes  to 
which  they  relate.  By  their  order  I  communicate  the  same  to  you  for  its  publication  and 
due  compliance. 

F.  RAYGOSA, 
Under-  Secrdary  of  State  and  of  the  Department  of  Justice 

From  all  that  has  been  said  it  appears — 

First.  That  there  has  been  dictated,  in  the  name  of  the  regency,  an  order  which  the 
regency  has  not  decided  upon,  for  I  am  a  member  of  the  regency,  and  I  have  not  been 
present  nor  have  I  been  cited  to  the  deliberation  upon  such  order. 

Second.  That  this  order,  as  I  was  afterwards  informed  by  the  under-secretary  of  justice 
when  it  was  already  in  circulation,  was  directed  to  be  issued  on  Sunday,  and  before  I  had 
the  conference  with  his  excellency  Serior  Bazaine,  in  the  presence  of  Senor  Almonte,  as  of 
an  affair  still  pending,  there  being  maintained  by  their  excellencies  the  regents,  my  col 
leagues,  towards  me,  with  regard  to  it,  a  most  studious  reserve,  which  I  cannot  explain,  and 
with  the  aggravating  circumstance  that  the  order  was  issued  through  the  under-secretary 
of  the  department  of  justice,  which  is  under  my  charge,  without  my  having,  as  is  seen 
with  reference  to  it,  either  any  knowledge  whatever  or  even  a  simple  notice  on  the  part  of 
this  employe. 

In  virtue  whereof,  in  compliance  with  the  duty  imposed  upon  me  as  regent  of  the  empire, 
by  the  oath  which  I  have  taken  to  seek  in  all  the  common  good,  in  order  to  decline  all 
responsibility  on  my  part,  whether  with  respect  to  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Mexico,  to 
whom  I  owe  all  fidelity,  whether  with  respect  to  the  nation  which  has  honored  me  with  its 
confidence,  or,  finally,  with  respect  to  the  legitimate  interests  which  may  give  way  under 
the  practical  consequences  of  an  order  which  I  consider  null,  I  address  myself  to  your  ex 
cellencies  by  the  present  note,  making  these  declarations,  and  making  known  that  as  I  do 
not  consider  said  order  published  yesterday  by  the  under-secretary  of  justice,  Senor  Don 
Felipe  Raygosa,  as  emanating  from  the  regency.  I  protest  in  all  form  that  said  order  is  en 
tirely  null,  and  against  any  effects  which  may  flow  therefrom. 

God  guard  your  excellencies  many  years. 

PELAGIO  ANTONIO, 
Archbishop  of  Mexico,  Regent  of  the  Empire. 

ARCHIEPISCOPAL  PALACE,  MEXICO,  November  10,  1863. 

And  I  transcribe  the  same  to  your  excellency  for  your  due  knowledge. 
God  guard  your  excellency  many  years. 

PELAGIO  ANTONIO, 
Archbishop  of  Mexico,  Regent  of  the  Empire. 
ARCHIEPISCOPAL  PALACE,  MEXICO,  November  10,  1863. 
His  Excellency  the  PRESIDENT  or  THE  SUPREME  TRIBUNAL  OF  THE  NATION. 


No.  2.    - 

IMPERIAL  PALACE,  MEXICO, 

November  17,  1863. 

Under  this  date  the  following  communication  has  been  addressed  by  this  department  to 
his  grace  the  archbishop  of  Mexico  by  order  of  the  regency  : 

"YouR  GRACE:  Your  grace  being  in  open  opposition  to  the  regency,  as  your  grace 
declares  in  your  note  of  the  14th  instant  that  you  will  no  longer  be  present  at  their 
meetings  whilst  the  order  of  the  8th  instant  is  not  revoked,  as  well  as  the  decree  of  the 
same  date,  the  regency  (since  the  majority  of  it  is  its  true"  representative,  considering  the 
conduct  of  your  grace  as  well  as  that  of  those  two  gentlemen  appointed  substitutes  who 
have  also  refused  to  attend)  declares  that  your  grace  no  longer  forms  a  part  of  it.  By 
order  of  the  same,  I  have  the  honor  to  communicate  it  to  your  grace  for  your  information, 
and  that  his  excellency  General  Bazaine,  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Franco-Mexican 
army,  concurs  entirely  with  said  resolution." 
I  renew  to  your  grace  the  assurances,  etc. 

By  order  of  the  regency  I  inform  your  honor  that  the  previously  inserted  communica 
tion  includes  your  honor  also,  in  view  of  your  communication  of  yesterday. 
Your  excellency  will  accept  the  expression  of  my  consideration  and  esteem. 

J.   M.  ARROYO, 

Honorary  Sec.  of  State  in  charge  of  the  Dep't  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
His  Excellency  J.  YGXACIO  PAVOX, 

Prcsi'knl  of  the  Supreme  Tribunal  of  Justice  of  the  Empire. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  357 

No.  3. 
Protect  of  the  Archbishop  of  Mexico  against  his  dismissal  from  the  Regency. 

MEXICO,  November  17,  1863. 

•    Under  this  date  I  have-  said  to  their  excellencies,  Generals  D.  Juan  N.  Almonte  and  D. 
Marrano  Salas,  regents  of  the  empire,  the  following  : 

YOUR  EXCELLENCIES:  I  have  just  received  a  note  from  the  secretary  of  state  and 
•ecclesiastical  affairs,  in  which  he  says  to  me  that,  finding  I  am  in  open  opposition  to  the 
regency,  since  I  have  declared  in  my  note  of  the  14th  instant  that  I  would  not  again  meet 
at  its  sessions  until  the  order  of  the  8th  instant  and  the  decree  of  the  same  date  had  been 
repealed,  the  regency  declare  that  I  have  ceased  to  form  a  part  of  it,  and  the  same  is  com 
municated  to  me,  with  the  information  that  his  excellency  Seilor  Bazaine  concurs  in  the 
said  resolution. 

In  answer  I  have  to  say  to  your  excellencies  : 

First.  That  I  cannot  be  in  opposition  to  the  regency,  because  I  form  a  part  of  it. 

Second.  That  I  have  not  said  I  would  not  again  meet  at  its  sessions  until  the  order  and 
decree  of  the  8th  instant  had  been  revoked  ;  but  that  as  soon  as  your  excellencies  your- 
eelves  revoke  what  you  have  done  without  my  concurrence,  I  would  with  pleasure  meet  at 
the  sessions  of  the  regency  ;  two  things  very  different,  as  may  be  seen  at  a  glance. 

Third.  That  I  do  not  consider  either  your  excellencies  or  General  Bazaine  have  any  right 
whatever  to  remove  me  from  the  office  of  regent  of  the  empire,  because  General  Bazaine, 
even  under  the  intervention,  has  no  power  to  do  this,  still  less  after  the  explicit,  frank, 
loyal,  and  highly  politic  declaration  of  General  Forey  at  the  installation  of  the  Mexican 
government  ;  cor  can  two  individuals  of  the  regency  constitute  and  declare  themselves 
the  regency,  without  violating  their  title  to  legitimacy,  and  introducing  by  this  act  in  the 
constitution  of  the.  government  an  essential  change  of  a  nature  which  can  only  be  done  by 
the  Assembly  of  Notables. 

Consequently,  I  ask  your  excellencies,  in  the  most  formal  manner,  in  use  of  the  right 
conceded  to  me  by  article  17  of  the  decree  of  the  16th  July  last,  that  for  the  determina 
tion  of  this  question  the  Assembly  of  Notables  be  called  together,  this  being  the  indispen 
sable  and  legitimate  resort,  the  question  being  of  the  essence  of  the  government  ;  because 
the  assembly  is  the  accepted  and  acknowledged  organ  of  the  national  will ;  because  it  is 
the  recognized  source,  even  by  the  intervention  itself,  of  the  form  of  government,  of 
legality  in  the  country,  of  the  power  of  the  Emperor  elect  and  of  the  regency  itself ; 
because  being  obliged,  according  to  the  law,  to  refer  to  the  assembly  in  case  of  grave 
questions,  if  it  is  not  therefore  convoked  for  this,  for  what  other*  can  it  be  called,  or  how 
can  your  excellencies  explain  your  refusal  to  consider  yourselves  as  the  national  govern 
ment,  or  avoid  your  immense  responsibility  before  God,  the  nation,  and  France  ? 

I  conclude,  therefore,  protesting  against  my  removal,  on  the  ground  of  nullity,  and 
holding  in  reserve  all  the  other  rights  which  belong  to  me  as  regent  and  as  Mexican. 

All  of  which  I  say  to  your  excellencies  for  your  due  knowledge  and  that  of  General 
Bazaine,  if  your  excellencies  think   proper  to  communicate  the  same  to  him,  the  said 
removal  having  been  made  in  accord  with  his  excellency. 
God  guard  your  excellencies  many  years. 

PEL  AGIO  ANTONIO, 
Archbishop  of  Mexico  and  Regent  of  the  Empire. 


No.  4. 
Official  note  from  General  Bazaine  to  the  Archbishop  of  Mexico. 

EXPEDITIONARY  CdRrs  OF  MEXICO,  HEADQ'RS  OF  THE  GENERAL-IN-CHIEF, 

Mexico,  November  20,  1863. 

YOUR  GRACE  :  I  have  received  the  protest  which  his  excellency  General  Almonte  has 
caused  to  reach  me,  with  reference  to  the  measures  which  have  been  adopted  by  the 
regency  to  remove  your  grace  from  the  provisional  government.  I  must  make  known  to  your 
grace  that  this  measure  was  rendered  necessary  by  the  attitude  of  your  grace,  and  it  was 
taken  with  my  accord,  persuaded,  as  1  am,  that  this  was  the  only  me  ins  of  avoiding  the 
interruption  of  the  march  of  events. 

May  I  be  permitted  to  express  the  desire  that  your  grace,  well  inspired,  will  accept  the 
position  as  it  is  to-day,  and  will  reject  the  advice  and  the  suggestions  of  imprudent  friends, 
•against  whom,  notwithstanding,  I  am  well  decided  to  take  the  most  rigorous  measures 


358  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

that  I  am  authorized  to  employ  under  the  powers  with  which  I  am  invested.  I  rely  on 
the  abnegation  of  your  grace,  and  on  your  devotion  to  the  country,  that,  at  the  moment 
I  am  about  setting  out  for  the  interior  on  the  work  of  the  pacification  and  regeneration  of 
Mexico,  your  opposition  will  not  delay  the  march  of  the  government. 

Your  grace  will  please  to  receive  the  expression  of  my  hish  and  respectful  consideration. 

BAZAINE, 

Gtntrul,  Contm'jindiny-in-Chi?f. 
Hi  5  Gr.ice  the  ARGiiBrsio?  OF  MEXICO 


No.  5. 
Reply  of  .the  Archbishop  to  General  Bazaine. 

MEXICO,  November  28,  1863. 

YotjR  EXCELLENCY  :  I  have  not  before  answered  the  letter  of  your  excellency,  dated  the 
20th  instant,  which  I  received  on  the  aftemoon  of  the  24th,  because  I  have  been  obliged 
to  avail  myself  of  the  time  for  the  despatch  of  the  packet.  I  do  so  now  by  stating  what 
it  appears  to  me  proper  to  say  to  you  with  reference  to  each  one  of  the  points  which  in 
your  letter  relate  to  me. 

I  understand  that  his  excellency  Seilor  Almonte  transmitted  to  your  excellency  my 
protest  of  nullity  against  the  dismissal  which  his  excellency  and  his  excellency  Senor 
Salas,  and  not  the  regency,  made  of  me  in  order  to  remove  me  from  the  provisional 
government.  I  also  understand,  from  the  confirmation  which  your  excellency  gives  me, 
that  this  act  of  dismissal  was  made  with  your  approval,  as  I  had  already  been  given  to 
understand  by  those  gentlemen,  and  in  answer  to  this  point  I  fay  here  to  your  excellency, 
as  I  have  said  to  those  gentlemen,  and  that  is,  that  I  do  not  consider  either  of  those 
gentlemen  or  your  excellency  as  invested  with  any  authority  whatever  to  remove  me,  and 
consequently  I  insist  upon  my  protest  of  nullity.  Your  excellency  says  that  this  measure 
was  required  by  my  attitude,  and  that  you  were  persuaded  that  my  removal  was  the  only 
means  of  avoiding  the  interruption  of  the  march  of  events.  Your  excellency  will  permit 
me  to  reply  to  you  that  my  opinion  is  exactly  the  contrary — 

First.  Because  there  is  not  to  be  found  in  jurisprudence  any  law  by  which  the  attitude 
of  a  public  functionary,  who  legally  tills  his  office,  who  defends  the  principles  of  justice. 
who  proceeds  in  everything  in  conformity  with  the  law,  and  who  appeals  to  the  substantial 
forms  of  legality  for  the  validity  of  his  acts,  can  be  made  the  ground  for  such  a  step  as  his 
removal  from  office  by  other  funtionaries  who  are  his  equals  in  position  and  authority,  and 
who  are  incompetent  not  only  to  femove  him,  but  even  to  call  him  to  account  or  to  judge 
him. 

Second.  Because  this  removal,  far  from  facilitating,  is  just  what  is  calculated  to  delay 
the  march  of  events  ;  because,  say  what  you  will,  it  implies  the  substitution  of  de  facto  for 
de  jure  in  the  question  of  legitimacy,  and  the  destruction  of  the  government  constituted 
on  the  25th  of  June  last  by  the  vote  of  the  representatives  of  the  nation,  and  accepted  by 
the  general-in- chief  of  the  expeditionary  army,  who  expressly  declared  that  he  placed  in 
the  handp,  not  of  two,  but  of  the  three  provisional  chiefs  of  the  nation,  the  powers  which 
circumstances  had  intrusted  to  him  for  the  benefit  of  the  nation  itself ;  and  your 
excellency  will  see  that  if  these  powers  are  placed  in  their  hands  they  do  not  remain  in 
yours,  and,  consequently,  that  this  government  was  terminated  from  the  day  of  my 
removal,  and  that  -vyhat  exists  to-day  may  be  whatever  you  wish,  but  it  will  not  be  the 
government  then  announced  by  General  Forey  to  the  Mexican  people,  to  France,  and  to  the 
world. 

Third.  That  not  only  can  it  not  be  said  that  my  removal  was  the  only  means,  but  that 
there  being  many,  none  of  them  weie  put  in  practice,  and  the  National  Assembly  being  in 
existence,  and  the  only  competent  means  of  giving  a  legal  and  national  sanction  to  any 
resolution,  not  to  apply  to  it,  notwithstanding  my  formal  petition  in  conformity  with  law, 
was  to  give  a  deatk  blow  to  the  government  of  the  country. 

Your  excellency  continues,  expressing  your  desire  that  I  will  accept  the  situation  as  it  is, 
and  will  repel  the  counsels  and  suggestions  of  imprudent  friends,  against  whom  your 
excellency  is  resolve^ttto  take  the  most  rigorous  measures  in  use  of  the  powers  with  which 
you  are  invested.  With  reference  to  the  first,  I  have  to  say  to  your  excellency  that  I  do 
not  understand  the  exact  meaning  which  you  place  upon  the  words  "  accept  the  position  ;" 
but  as  accepting  is  consenting  and  admitting,  I  have  to  say  to  your  excellency  that  I  have 
not,  and  I  never  will,  agree  to  any  of  the  steps  that  have  been  taken  against  the  rights  I 
have  defended  ;  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  I  insist  upon  all  and  each  one  of  my  protests. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  359 

If  these  words  have  a  signification  strictly  personal,  I  have  to  say,  with  all  frankness,  that 
I  have  no  aspirations  of  a  personal  character  ;  that  I  entered  the  regency,  not  for  pleasure, 
but  to  labor,  and  to  sacrifice  myself  for  the  public  good,  and  yielding  to  suggestions  of  the 
most  elevated  character.  If,  finally,  they  mean  that  I,  in  my  character  of  archbi-hop, 
have  to  remain  silent  and  impassible  in  view  of  these  attacks  upon  the  supreme  authority 
of  the  church,  its  right  to  lead  and  its  immunities,  I  have  to  say,  with  all  frankness,  that 
neither  myself  nor  my  illustrious  brethren  can  maintain  silence  without  doing  violence  to 
our  consciences,  and  that  we  are  disposed  to  suffer  everything  rather  than  prove  wanting 
in  the  execution  of  such  holy  duties  when  the  occasion  shall  arrive. 

In  the  second  place,  I  should  say  to  your  excellency,  with  the  same  ingenuousness, 
whoever  may  be  those  imprudent  friends  to  whom  your  excellency  refers,  I  am  the  eole  and 
only  one  responsible  for  my  acts.  Your  excellency  concludes  by  counting  upon  rny  abnega 
tion  and  my  devotion  to  the  country,  that  at  the  moment  your  excellency  is  leaving  for 
the  interior  to  continue  the  work  of"  pacification  I  will  not  by  my  opposition  interrupt  the 
march  of  events.  To  this  I  answer,  in  conclusion,  that  your  excellency  can  be  sure  that, 
while  I  am  determined  to  defend  the  right,  I  shall  not  be  the  one  to  pass  the  bounds  of  a 
true  prudence  by  any  step  contrary  to  the  duties  it  imposes  upon  me  at  the  times  when  it 
should  be  observed. 

Your  excellency  will  be  pleased  to  accept  the  expression  of  my  attentive  consideration 
and  very  distinguished  appreciation. 

God  RU'ird  your  excellency  many  vears. 

PELAGIO  ANTONIO, 

Archbishop  of  Mtxico. 

His  Excellency  General  BAZAIXE, 


No.  6. 

United  protest  af  all  the  pnlates  of  Mtxico.     • 

YOUR  EXCELLENCIES:  Scarcely  arrived  in  the  bosom  of  our  country,  after  the  long  and 
painful  banishment  to  which  we  had  been  condemned  by  the  government  which  emanated 
from  the  Plan  of  Ayutla,  not  because  we  had  made  any  kind  of  partisan  political  opposi 
tion — a  thing  which  the  Mexican  Episcopacy  have  been  very  far  from  doing — but  solely  on 
account  of  the  conscientious  and  canonical  defence  we  had  made  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
faith,  the  rights  of  religion,  the  principles  of  Christian  morals,  and  of  the  prescriptions  of 
the  Holy  Catholic  Church  ;  returning  with  the  high  and  noble  hopo  that  we  had  been  led 
to  conceive,  on  the  one  hand  by  the  intimations  made  at  various  times  to  the  Holy  Father, 
on  the  part  of  the  Emperor  of  the  French,  that  the  bishops  who  had  been  banished  should 
return  to  Mexico,  and  on  the  other  by  the  highly  significant  fact  that  one  of  the  bishops 
had  been  named  a  member  of  the  executive  power  and  afterwards  of  the  regency  ;  and, 
finally,  by  the  solemn  obligation  which  the  said  icgency  contracted  with  the  church  and 
the  nation  in  its  manifesto  not  to  decide  any  of  the  ecclesiastical  questions  except  in  accord 
with  the  Holy  Apostolic  See  ;  returning  with  the  consoling  hope  of  being  able  to  dedicate 
our  latest  days  in  peace,  and  under  the  guarantee  of  a  Catholic  government,  the  restorer 
of  sound  principle-,  to  the  re-establishment  of  religion  and  of  morals,  and  to  the  reform 
of  society,  through  the  means  of  our  pastoral  labors,  we  have  been  overwhelmed  with  a 
terrible  and  grievous  surprise  by  encountering  a  situation  in  every  respect  exactly  equal  to 
that  which  preceded  our  banishment,  in  all  that  relates  to  the  church,  and  even  worse, 
by  reasoji  of  the  strange  position  in  which  we,  as  prelates,  find  ourselves  placed. 

'The  opposition,  as  well  founded  as  inutile,  which  was  made  by  the  illustrious  Archbishop 
of  Mexico,  in  his  quality  of  regent,  to  the  communications  or  noticesVhich  were  published 
in  the  official  paper  of  the  24th  of  October  last,  and  which  placed  in  legal  course  the  pay 
ments  emanating  from  the  appropriation  of  ecclesiastical  property  and  the  collection  of 
rents  of  houses  "taken  from  the  church,  and  expedited  the  continuance  of  the  works  of 
alteration  upon  the  same,  wrhich  has  been  suspended  ;  the  decision  taken  by  your  excellen 
cies  alone,  without  the  concurrence  of  the  other  regent,  that  through  the  sub- secretary  of 
justice  the  judges  and  tribunals  should  be  informed  that  they  should  have  and  that  they 
must  take  cognizance  of  all  causes  arising  under  the  affairs  to  which  the  said  notices  refer ; 
the  insistance  of  your  excellencies  in  this  resolution,  notwithstanding  the  protest  of  nullity 
addressed  to  you  on  the  following  day  by  his  excellency  Seiior  Labastida,  in  his  character 
of  regent ;  the  formal  dismissal  of  the  illustrious  archbishop  from  his  charge  of  regent, 
made  by  your  excellencies  in  concurrence  with  his  excellency  General  Bazaine  ;  the  studious 
ornitsiori  which  has  been  made  of  the  church  in  certain  measures  regarding  the  property  of 
public  charities  ;  the  resistance  to  the  return  to  the  religious  societies  of  the  part  not  yet 


360  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

sold  of  their  convents,  and  held  in  lots  by  the  government ;  the  indifference  with  which 
it  has  been  seen  that  these  nuns  have  been  reduced  to  the  utmost  poverty,  without  permit 
ting  them  to  receive  even  the  pitiful  portion  which  had  been  left  to  them  by  the  despoiling 
government ;  various  particular  acts,  which  brevity  will  not  permit  us  to  refer  to,  but 
which  show  a  decided  determination  to  protect  the  pretended  rights  created  by  the  so- 
called  laws  of  reform  ;  and,  finally,  the  circular  issued  by  the  sub-secretary  of  justice,  on 
the  15th  instant,  at  the  instance  of  his  excellency  Senor  Bazaine,  removing  all  obstacles, 
and  declaring  that  there  is  no  legal  impediment  to  the  exercise  of  whatever  rights  of  action 
which  were  held  with  respect  to  the  property  called  clergy  property,  on  the  arrival  of  the 
French  intervention  in  the  country — all  these  acts  manifest  with  the  most  weighty  evi 
dence  that  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  in  Mexico  suffers  to-day,  at  the  hands  of  the  govern 
ment  which  actually  exists  in  the  capital,  a  compulsion  in  its  most  holy  rights  and  in  its 
cononical  liberties  entirely  equal  to  that  which  it  suffered  when  the  authorities  emanating 
from  the  Plan  of  Ayutla  were  in  power,  because  such  compulsion  consists,  not  in  the  form 
of  government,  nor  in  the  persons  of  those  \vlio  compose  it,  but  in  the  character  and  im 
portance  of  its  acts;  and  th^se  of  ypur  excellency's  tend  to  expedite  the  consummation  of 
the  work  which  those  authorities  began,  for  you  declare  in  full  force  the  rights  and  actions 
which  spring  from  the  sacrilegious  and  illegal  laws,  and  from  the  acts  committed  against 
the  immunity  of  the  church  by  said  authorities,  and  even  in  the  same  language,  for  the 
same  odious  expression  is  now  used  which  was  then  employed  to  designate  the  ecclesiastical 
property. 

Unhappy  would  to-day  be  the  evils  which  the  church  suffers  were  they  no  more  than 
these  ;  but  by  a  misfortune  which  we  can  never  sufficiently  deplore,  there  are  peculiar  cir 
cumstances  which  render  still  worse  than  them  the  situation  of  the  church  to-day  in  Mexico, 
and  which  increase  its  grief  to  an  extraordinary  degree. 

Then  the  government  frankly  manifested  its  principles.  It  appeared  to  the  view  of  all 
this  Catholic  people  in  the  character  of  an  opposition  armed  with  power  against  religion 
and  the  church  ;  and  the  latter,  as  a  victim  immolated  by  the  government,  defended  itself 
heroically,  suffering  the  consequences  of  a  terrible  persecution,  and  perishing  nobly  for  the 
holy  cause  of  justice.  To-day's  government  inaugurates  itself  with  professions  eminently 
religious  and  moral,  after  the  French  army  had  destroyed,  in  the  capital,  that  of  Juarez, 
and  it  presents  itself  before  the  Mexican  people  as  the  protector  of  its  faith,  of  its  religion, 
of  the  church,  and  of  the  priesthood.  Then  we  were  banished  ;  to-day  we  are  invited  and 
received  with  expressions  of  consideration,  creating  by  this  means  among  the  people  a  feel 
ing  of  confidence  as  regards  their  tenderest  affections,  their  dearest  interests.  Then  the 
prelates  leaving  our  country  carried  with  them  the  hope  that  the  first  political  change 
which  should  take  place  would  bring  with  it  a  complete  moral  and  religious  restoration. 
To-day,  returning  after  such  a  change  to  be  present  at  the  immolation  of  all  our  principles, 
the  consummation  of  the  ruin  of  the  church,  we  have  received  a  blow  such  as  is  only 
received  at  the  death  of  all  human  hope.  Then  the  church,  had  only  one  enemy — the 
government  that  persecuted  it.  To-day  it  has  -two' — that  same  government  which  still 
lives  in  the  country,  which  still  has  resources  of  its  own  ;  an  army  that  contends  hand  ta 
hand  for  every  foot  of  ground,  and  that  counts  upon  the  aid  of  its  principles  and  interests 
in  the  enemy's  camp  and  in  the  capital — an  enemy  whose  first  occupation  it  is  to  carry  into 
effect  the  destructive  plans  of  its  opponent  in  religious  and  moral  affairs.  Then  we  received 
the  blow  from  the  hand  of  an  open  enemy  ;  to-day  we  are  attacked  by  those  who  called 
themselves  friends  of  the  church  and  protectors  of  its  libeities.  Then  the  attack  and  the 
defence  did  not  pa?s  beyond  strictly  national  bounds  ;  to-day  we  have  to  lament  the  char 
acter  which  the  intervention  has  given  to  these  attacks,  and  that  from  it  have  come  the 
exigencies  which  have  obliged  your  excellencies  to  so  proceed.  Then  we  verified  our 
episcopal  acts  simply  as  bishops;  to-day  we  have  to  make  our  defence  passive  and  legal, 
because  we  cannot  pass  that  limit  also  as  Mexicans.  Then,  notwithstanding  the  restrictions 
imposed  by  the  laws  of  the  press,  we  could  publish  our  protests  and  our  pastorals  to  the 
people,  because  there  existed  no  other  restraints  than  such  as  would  result  from  the  incon 
veniences  of  a  trial.  To-day  the  press  is  bound  in  such  a  manner  that  it  is  open  only  to 
those  who  favor  the  intervention,  for  there  is  not  only  the  responsibility  consequent  upon 
a  very  strict  law,  but  also  in  denial  of  the  very  epoch  itself,  to  say  nothing  more,  even 
previous  censorship.  .  The  publication  of  a  pontifical  allocution, -of  an  edifying  and  moral 
retraction,  and  of  any  paragraph  copied  from  abroad  in  which  allusion  is  made  to  the 
authority  of  the  Holy  Father  with  respect  to  the  ecclesiastical  questions  of  this  country, 
are  the  subjects  of  formal  admonitions  to  the  press,  and  of  prohibitions  to  insert  in  the 
future  this  class  of  articles,  at  the  same  time  that  anti-ecclesiastical,  and,  at  some  times, 
even  scandalous  doctrines,  pass  unnoticed. 

It  is  for  these  reasons  that,  speaking  of  the  situation  in  which  circumstances  have  now 
placed  us,  we  consider  it  worse  than  be*fore. 

The  episcopacy  of  Mexico,  considering  its  responsibility,  save  by  the  manifestations  made 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  361 

by  his  excellency  Seiior  Labastida,  and  by  certain  steps  which  have  been  taken  by  other 
prelates  with  reference  to  your  excellencies,  had  remained  silent  up  to  the  present  time, 
in  order  that  it  might  not  be  believed  that  it  proceeded  with  precipitation  or  lack  of  pru 
dence.  But  to-day,  when  affairs  have  reached  their  utmost  extreme — to-day,  when  even 
the  palliatives  and  reserve  with  which  the  first  dispositions  appeared  have  been  cast  aside- 
to-day,  when  the  instance  of  a  French  subject  has  been  sufficient  to  induce  the  declaration  that 
all  the  rights  and  actions  springing  from  the  despoilment  of  the  church  property  still  exist  in  all 
their  force  and  vigor — to-day,  when,  by  this  sole  act,  all  reservation  of  these  affairs  for  the  deci 
sion  of  the  government 'which  shall  be  definitely  established  in  the  country  has  ceased,  our 
silence  would  no  longer  be  excusable  ;  it  would  conceal  the  wrongs  we  suffer,  and  cause  us 
to  appear,  in  a  certain  measure,  as  accomplices,  a  position  which  it  is  our  duty  to  repel  at 
all  hazards,  in  the  name  of  the  rights  of  religion,  the  voice  of  conscience,  and  love  of  our 
country. 

What  shall  we  say  to  your  excellencies  in  this  exposition,  after  so  much  that  ourselves 
and  our  predecessors  have  said  at  different  times  against  these  claims  and  pretended  rights 
that  your  excellencies  have  just  again  placed  in  vigor  and  reinvested  with  legal  force  by 
your  circular  of  the  15th  instant?  What  can  we  demonstrate  now  that  is  not  already 
demonstrated,  or  now  set  forth  that  will  be  new  to  any  Mexican  ordinarily  well  informed 
as  to  our  political  history  ?  What  arguments,  however  specious  they  may  be,  can  now  be 
adduced  by  the  defenders  of  these  sacrilegious  laws  of  spoliation  that  have  not  been  already 
refuted  and  utterly  demolished,  either  by  the  bishops,  the  ecclesiastical  authorities,  or  the 
Catholic  press?  If  the  law  of  the  llth  of  January,  1847,  which  took  possession  of  the 
ecclesiastical  property  only  to  the  extent  of  fifteen  millions,  was  considered  by  the  illus 
trious  Seiior  Portugal — that  prelate  as  wise  as  illustrious — as  a  law  without  force,  being  in 
manifest  opposition  to  the  will  of  the  people,  and  impossible  of  execution  with  justice  from 
its  repugnance  to  the  principles  of  sound  morality,  as  the  inexhaustible  fountain  of  terrible 
misfortunes  for  the  church  and  society,  as  a  law  violative  of  the  rights  and  illegal  as  against 
the  immunities  of  the  church,  not  less  than  against  its  canonical  and  even  civil  liberties, 
and,  besides,  as  an  anti-economical  law,  immoral  and  incendiary,  what  can  we  now  say  with 
reference  to  those  laws,  the  pretended  claims  and  rights  under  which  your  excellencies  have 
revived  by  your  circular  of  the  15th  instant?  If  that  virtuous  prelate,  with  the  liberty 
which  belongs  to  a  truly  apostolic  zeal,  could  not  reconcile  his  Catholic  professions  with 
the  approbation  and  execution  of  such  laws,  and  who  supposed,  as  the  indispensable  condi 
tion  of  their  origin,  either  the  grossest  ignorance  of  the  principles  of  religion,  or  its  positive 
abjuration  and  a  species  of  apostasy,  what  shall  we  say  when  we  refer  to  laws  which 
surpass  infinitely,  under  every  aspect,  in  arbitrariness,  tyranny,  immorality,  violence,  dis 
asters,  and  ruin,  those  which. then  led  to  the  complaints  and  protests  of  the  former  prelate 
of  Michoacan  ? 

Nothing  remains  to  us,  therefore,  to  say,  after  so  much  that  has  already  been  said,  and 
still  less  when  addressing  ourselves  to  persons  so  involved  in  the  course  of  events,  as  well 
as  penetrated,  for  so  we- believe,  with  the  illegal,  ruinous,  unpopular,  and  sacrilegious 
character  of  the  laws  so  pompously  called  laws  of  reform,  as  your  excellencies. 

But  we  cannot  do  less,  your  excellencies,  than  make  known  to  you  the  utter  surprise 
and  confusion  into  which  we  have  been  plunged  by  the  said  chculars,  not  merely  because 
they  have  come  from  your  excellencies,  whose  religious  sentiments  have  never  been  placed 
in  doubt,  not  merely  from  their  character  and  importance,  but  more  particularly  because 
we  cannot  find  any  plausible  reason — not  to  justify  them,  for  that  is  impossible — but  that 
could  at  least  excuse  them  on  the  ground  of  public  convenience. 

That  Senor  Juarez  with  his  party  should  enact  such  laws,  and  should  work  unceasingly 
to  carry  them  into  effect,  this  we  can  well  conceive,  as  well. as  the  energetic  opposition  of 
the  prelates,  and  the  conscientious  resistance  of  all  true  Catholics;  but  that  a  government 
under  the  protection  of  France,  (not  as  a  cjnqueror,  not  as  attempting  to  overthrow  our 
independence,  but  as  respecting  it,  and  offeiing  to  save  it,  and  instructing  its  commander- 
in-chief  not  to  interfere  with  the  freedom  of  its  acts,)  which  has  just  been  established  as 
the  government  of  a  nation  in  virtue  of  a  vote  of  a  council  of  notables,  and  in  opposition 
to  the  government  of  Seiior  Juarez,  that  such  a  government  should  work  for  the  laws  which 
this  latter  his  dictated,  these  baing,  as  they  are,  the  essential  and  sole  cxuse  of  the  division 
among  the  Mexicans,  and  of  the  civil  war,  this  we  c  inaot  understand. 

What  political  advantages  can  be  derived  from  such  a  cjurse?  Asids  from  those  which 
will  spring  from  the  influence  of  the  holders  and  immoral  speculators  who  availed  them 
selves  of  the  vast  riches  of  the  church,  and  who  are  very  few  cornp»red  with  the  immense 
majority  of  the  Mexican  nation  who  detest  such  speculations,  certainly  none. 

We  well  know  that  to  present  such  proceedings  in  a  favorable  light  a  thousand  plausible 
excuses  are  invented,  principally  to  win  over  by  surprise  the  court  of  France,,  which  lacks 
the  data  which  is  indispensable  to  practically  judge  of  the  state  of  society  here.  But  the 
truth  will  not  be  long  in  appearing  in  its  true  light,  and  to  the  scandal  of  the  world  it  will 
be  known  that  the  immense  rnajouty  of  the  Mexicans  are  essentially  Catholic,  that  they 


362  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

respect  the  laws  of  God  and  of  their  church,  that  they  bewail  the  attacks  received  from 
the  government  of  Ayutla,  and  that  if  they  manifested  themselves  in  favor  of  the  inter 
vention,  it  was  because  it  presented  itself  as  their  protector,  not  against  the  persons — for 
that  would  be  but  a  childish  jest — but  against  the  acts  of  the  government  of  ^efior  Juarez. 
But  the  attitude  that  the  intervention  to-day  takes  by  such  dispositions  has  transformed  its 
triumphs  to  victories  over  the  party  oppressed,  for  it  gives  force  and  vigor  to  the  claims 
and  rights  emanating  from  such  acts.  The  impartiality  and  policy  with  which  it  presented 
itself  and  pretends  to  justify  its  acts  consists,  therefore,  solely  in  the  sterile  protect  of  the 
party  conquered  by  arms,  but  triumphant  in  its  principles,  and  that  without  ceding  a  single 
hair  in  its  opposition  to  France,  and  in  the  complete  ruin,  not  only  of  a  respectable  politi 
cal  party — and  this  would  be  much  and  unjustifiable,  supposing  the  programme  was  one 
of  impartiality — but  also  of  the  nation  in  its  moral  integrity.  Being  a  Catholic  people, 
the  Mexicans  must  consider  as  enemies  all  who  attack  their  faith  and  their  religious  and 
moral  interests ;  that  supposing  the  anti-Catholic  party  does  not  yield,  but,  on  the  con 
trary,  is  strengthened  by  such  concessions,  and  that  the  rest  of  the  nation  considers  itself 
oppressed,  the  intervention  may  have  physical  force  in  the  country,  but  moral,  political, 
and  national  it  will  have  none  ;  that  it  will  have  no  support  but  that  of  its  arms,  and  that, 
while  it  might  have  become  the  possessor  of  the  gratitude  of  a  people,  favoring  them  in 
what  they  hold  to  be  most  valuable  and  sacred,  it  has  been  left  alone  between  an  armed 
party  who  combats  it,  and  a  people  unarmed  and  helpless  who  fear  it. 

A  position  such  as  this,  however  much  it  may  be  covered  up  or  disguised,  cannot  be  ex 
cused,  and  particularly  when  taking  into  consideration  the  spirit  of  the  instructions  given  by 
the  Emperor  to  his  excellency  General  Forey. 

Whatever  may  be  the  elements  upon  which  France  may  count,  it  is  clear  that  it  did  not 
enter  into  the  mind  of  the  Emperor  to  establish  an  order  of  things  here  separate  and  inde 
pendent  from  the  will  and  the  great  interests  of  the  Mexican  people  ;  and  this  is,  without 
doubt,  the  motive  of  those  instructions,  at  once  so  circumspect  and  in  every  respect  so  deli 
cate  as  those  given  to  his  excellency  General  Bazaine  by  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  in 
the  communication  of  the  17th  of  August  last,  which  has  been  published  in  the  journals 
of  the  capital. 

It  is  there  declared  terminantly  that  nothing  violent  or  arbitrary  will  be  attempted  or 
sought,  not  even  special  advantages  over  other  nations  ;  there  the  acts  of  the  government 
of  Sefior  Juarez  are  qualified  as  iniquitous,  and  the  situation  which  ihat  government  cre 
ated  is  regarded  as  the  culminating  point  of  dissolution  ;  there  it  is  declared  that  France, 
triumphant  by  virtue  of  its  good  intentions  towards  our  country,  rejects  all  idea  of  sub 
stituting  its  influence  for  the  free  determinations  of  the  country  ;  there  the  authority  of 
the  notables  is  considered  as  of  great  weight  and  authority  ;  there  the  general-in-chief  is 
prohibited  from  substituting  his  initiative  for  that  of  the  government;  there  the  principle 
of  impartiality  is  proclaimed,  but  only  as  regards  the  passions,  the  vices,  and  the  bastard 
interests  of  the  parties,  and  where  principles  are  involved.  This  is  a  chart  full  of  intelli 
gence,  of  reason,  and  of  hope.  Will  it  be  possible  to  find  here  the  justification  for  what 
is  now  passing,  the  support  that  is  pretended,  the  reason  jof  the  res-jives  that  have  been 
taken? 

When  his  excellency  General  Forey  issued  his  manifesto  to  the  nation,  declaring  before 
its  face  that  if  it  were  possible  to  give  any  recognition  whatever  to  those  who  had  acquired 
church  property,  fraudulent  contracts  should  not  be  sustained,  and  in  consonance  with 
this,  issued  his  decree  of  the  22d  of  May,  he  gave  evidence  of  impartiality  and  of  equity. 
But  all  this  has  disappeared  by  the  issuance  of  the  notices  or  communications  of  the  24th 
of  October,  because  these,  placing  in  legal  course,  without  any  restriction  whatever,  the 
notes  given  for  church  property;  and  expediting  the  suits  for  collection  of  rents,  without 
the  icquisite  of  previous  qualification,  has  destroyed  entirely  the  moral  guarantees  which 
the  manifesto  and  decrees  before  cited  had  given.  Still,  these  notices,  themselves  estab 
lishing  in  principle  that  the  measure  was  transitory,  that  it  did  not  imply  the  solution  of 
the  principal  questions,  nor  the  definite  legitimization  of  any  right — because  this  remained 
reserved  to  the  sovereign — left  alive  the  hopes,  although  very  feeble,  that  his  excellency 
Seilor  Forey  had  caused  us  to  conceive,  and,  above  all,  facilitated  up  to  a  certain  point  in 
the  critical  situation  of  the  country  the  resignation  of  the  faithful  and  the  prudence  of  the 
pastors.  But  to-day,  after  the  circular  of  the  15th  instant,  there  is  an  end  to  the  reign  of 
principles,  the  empire  of  right,  the  encouragement  of  hope,  confidence  in  the  situation, 
and,  in  fine,  of  all  promises.  A  step  has  been  taken  so  grave  tint  perhaps  it  would  not 
have  been  taken  even  by  the  cabinet  of  the  Tuileries. 

And  what  has  been  the  cause  ?  What  powerful  motive  hus  precipitated  this  crisis  ? 
Perhaps  the  supreme  interests  of  society?  Perhaps  an  extreme  necessity,  a  sudden  emer 
gency,  a  tempest  which  could  not  be  conjured  by  any  other  means?  No  !  it  was  the  most 
trifling  cause,  the  most  insignificant  in  regard  to  the  effect. 

The  complaint  of  a  French  subject,  and  the  request  of  the  general-in  chief  made  to  your 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  363 

excellencies  by  virtue  of  this  complaint.  This  is  the  cause  of  all ;  this  is  what  Mexico  has 
to  hope  from  the  impartiality  that  was  promised,  and  from  the  non-interference  of  that 
chief  in  order  to  leave  the  government  free  in  its  acts  ;  this  is  the  melancholy  synopsis  of 
the  situation  in  which  the  Mexican  church  to-day  finds  itself. 

Your  excellencies,  turning  a  glance  backwards  over  the  dispositions  and  acts  to  which  we 
have  referred,  should  determine  to  apply  the  remedy,  which  only  requires  from  your  excel 
lencies  a  firm  and  resolute  will.  We  ourselves  ask  it,  with  the  most  pressing  urgency,  in 
the  name  of  religion,  of  morality,  of  our  country,  by  the  obligation  which  we  have  to  de 
fend  the  rights  of  the  first,  to  guard  the  prescriptions  of  the  second,  and  to  speak  under 
the  legitimate  inspiration  of  th«  third.  We  ask  it  in  compliance  with  our  most  sacred 
duty  as  prelates  of  the  church  and  pastors  of  the  flock  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  ask  it  with 
the  confidence  which  is  inspired  by  the  religious  and  patriotic  sentiments  of  your  excel 
lencies,  and  the  lofty  and  generous  views  that  the  French  government  has  so  clearly  mani 
fested  in  its  instructions  to  the  two  chiefs  of  the  army  in  Mexico.  We  therefore  hope  that 
these  circulars  will  be  annulled,  that  this  violence  they  inflict  upon  us  will  cease,  and  that 
all  proceedings  will  be  suspended  in  these  affairs,  which,  from  their  character,  their  import 
ance,  the  nature  of  the  situation,  and  even  from  the  understanding  with  the  French 
government,  should  be  postponed  until  they  can  have  a  solution  capable  of  placing  in 
harmony  conscience  and  legitimate  interests  ;  a  solution  canonical  and  civil  ;  a  solution  in 
which  shall  concur  the  spiritual  and  the  temporal  sovereigns;  a  solution  upon  which  the  hopes 
of  religion  and  of  the  country  now  hang  dependent. 

But  if,  unfortunately,  the  said  circulars  are  to  remain  in  force,  we,  as  prelates  of  the 
Mexican  church,  in  the  use  of  our  canonical  faculties,  and  in  compliance  with  our  duties, 
protest  in  the  most  solemn  form  against  the  said  circulars  and  their  fffects.  We  hold  the 
rights  of  the  church  reserved  from  the  inability  and  nullity  so  protested  of  said  circulars. 
We  reproduce  and  now  expressly  apply  our  manifestation  of  the  30th  August,  1859,  of 
which  we  enclose  to  your  excellencies  lour  copies,  issued  by  reason  of  the  laws  of  the  12th, 
13th,  and  23d  of  July  of  that  year,  decreed  by  Senor  Juarez,  in  Vera  Cruz,  the  claims  and 
rights  under  which  your  excellencies  revive  by  your  circular  of  the  15th  instant,  and  in 
consonance  with  what  we  then  set  forth,  we  conclude  this  exposition,  protesting  our  respect, 
with  the  following  declarations: 

First.  That  it  is  not  lawful  to  obey  either  the  communications  of  the  24th  of  October, 
the  circulars  of  the  9th  of  November  and  the  loth  instant,  nor  any  disposition  whatever 
of  those  that  tend  to  the  execution  of  the  eaid  decrees  of  Senor  Juarez,  nor  to  co-operate  in 
the  compliance  therewith. 

Second.  That  neither  that  government  nor  any  government,  whatever  it  may  be,  has  any 
authority  to  take  possession  of  the  property  of  the  church  ;  that,  therefore,  as  well  the 
decrees  of  that  government  as  the  notices  and  circulars  issued  by  order  of  your  excellencies, 
involve  an  illegal  and  tyrannical  disposition  of  the  most  sacred  property,  and  are  subject  to 
the  censures  of  the  holy  church,  and  especially  to  the  excommunication  fulminated  by  the 
Holy  Council  of  Trent,  in  chapter  11  of  session  22  de  reformatione.  In  consequence,  there 
are  comprehended  in  this  canonical  penalty  not  only  the  authors  and  executors  of  the  de 
crees,  notices,  and  circulars  aforesaid,  but  also  all  those  who  ia  any  way  co-operate  or  have 
co-operated  towards  their  fulfilme'nt. 

Third.  That  the  political  change  which  has  taken  place  in  Mexico  in  consequence  of  the 
intervention  has  not  altered  or  lessened  in  any  respect  the  obligations  and  moral  and 
canonical  responsibilities  to  which  those  of  whom  we  have  just  spoken  are  subject,  and  that 
therefore  ail  of  our  protests,  circulars,  and  diocesan  orders,  issued  by  reason  of  the  so- 
called  constitution  of  laws  and  reform,  remain  in  all  their  force  and  vigor,  and  are  appli 
cable  to  the  notices  and  circulars  of  your  excellencies  already  mentioned,  and  to  whatever 
other  dispositions  of  your  excellencies  that  tend  to  place  in  execution  the  laws,  decrees, 
and  acts  to  which  our  canonical  protests  said  manifestation,  circular,  and  diocesan  orders 
refer. 

Those  incurring  the  censure  cf  the  said  canon,  in  virtue  either  of  the  law  of  the  25th 
of  July,  1856,  of  the  decrees  published  in  Vera  Cruz  by  Seilor  Juarez  in  July,  1859,  or 
afterwards  in  Mexico,  of  the  communications  and  circulars  issued  by  order  of  your  excel 
lencies,  or  of  the  disposition  or  orders  of  whatever  authority  or  person,  public  or  private — 
that  is  to  say,  the  authors,  executors,  or  co-operators  in  the  despoliation  of  the  church  in 
its  property,  lands,  rents,  possessions,  claims,  rights,  temples,  objects  contained  therein 
destined  to  public  worship,  &c.,  are  strictly  obliged  to  make  restitution  and  reparation  for 
their  scandalous  crime ;  and  they  cannot  be  absolved,  not  even  at  the  point  of  death,  if 
they  do  not  comply  with  the  conditions  established  by  the  church  and  set  forth  in  our  cir 
culars  and  diocesan  decrees  aforesaid. 

Such  are,  your  excellencies,  the  declarations  and  protests,  which,  in  the  unhappy  case 
that  our  petition  is  not  attended  to,  and  the  notices  of  the  2ith  of  October  and  the  circu 
lars  of  the  9th  November  and  15th  December  remain  in  force,  we  shall  have  to  make,  and 


364  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

now,  in  fact,  do  make,  not  from  a  spirit  of  partisan  opposition,  which  we  are  very  far  from 
feeling,  but  solely  to  comply  with  our  duty. 

Hard  it  is  to  find  ourselves  placed  in  this  situation,  even  if  we  were  treating  of  a  national 
government  and  bitterly  hostile.  What  is  it,  therefore,  when  the  authorities  in  question 
have  been  inaugurated  as  protectors  and  have  presented  themselves  as  friends  ? 

But,  your  excellencies  can  believe  us,  we  cannot  keep  silence  without  making  ourselves 
criminals  by  this  silence  before  the  strict  justice  of  that  government  before  whose  tribunal 
we  shall  have  to  appear  at  the  end  of  a  life  which  is  rapidly  escaping.  When  these  terrible 
occasions  present  themselves  which  call  for  the  exercise  of  our  pastoral  charge,  when  we 
see  that  a  soul  lost  through  our  silence  will  call  down  upon  ourselves  the  same  perdition, 
we  tremble  with  terror.  Not  even  evident  knowledge  of  the  inutility  of  our  expostula 
tions  and  protests  would  excuse  us  before  God.  See  the  fearful  .confirmation  of  this  truth 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  gives  us  in  chapter  Hi,  verses  18  and  19,  of  Ezekiel  :  "  When  I  say 
unto  the  wicked,  thou  shalt  surely  die,  and  thou  givest  him  not  warning,  nor  speakest  to 
warn  the  wicked  from  his  wicked  way  to  save  his  life,  the  same  wicked  man  shall  die  in 
his  iniquity,  but  his  blood  or  perdition  will  I  require  at  thine  hand.  Yet,  if  thou  warn 
the  wicked,  and  he  turn  not  from  his  wickedness,  nor  from  his  wicked  way,  he  shall  die 
in  his  iniquity,  but  thou  hast  delivered  thy  soul." 

We  conclude,  therefore,  protesting  to  your  excellencies,  with  this  unhappy  motive,  our 
attentive  consideration  and  distinguished  estimation. 
God  guard  your  excellencies  many  years. 

PELAGIC  A. ,  Archbishop  of  Mexico. 

CLEMENTE  DE  J.,  Archbishop  of  Michoacan. 

PEDRO,  Archbishop  of  Guadalajara. 

PEDRO,  Bishop  of  San  Luis  Pctosi. 

JOSE  MARIA,  Bishop  of  Oajaca. 

Their  Excellencies  Generals  DON  JUAN  L.  ALMONTE  and  DON  JOSE  M.  DE  SALAS,  Regents  of 

the  Empire. 
MEXICO,  December  26,  1863. 


No.  7. 
Your  Excellencies  (he  Eegtnts  : 

The  two  first  named  of  us,  having  been  absent  from  the  capital,  have  learned  upon  our 
return  that  your  excellencies  issued  a  circular,  dated  15th  of  the  present  month,  in  which 
some  of  the  impious  and  fatal  orders  emanated  from  the  so-called  reform  laws,  against 
which  the  venerable  allocutions  of  our  holy  father,  the  vicar  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
directly  operate,  have  been  left  in  full  force  ;  and  all  the  energetic  protests  of  the  illustri 
ous  Mexican  episcopate,  against  which  also,  not  for  a  vile  selfish  interest,  but  for  conscien 
tious  motives,  the  respectable  clergy  of  the  nation  have  contended  with  such  unconquera 
ble  valor,  as  well  as  ourselves  personally,  who  have  been  persecuted  and  imprisoned,  and 
finally,  against  which  the  public  opinion  of  the  whole  country  has  manifestedly  pronounced. 
But  we  have  seen  with  great  satisfaction  at  the  same  time  the  just  protest,  which  said 
episcopate,  on  returning  from  banishment  so  gloriously  suffered  for  the  cause  of  the  church, 
has  addressed  to  your  excellencies.  We,  who  are  honored  more  than  we  deserve,  by  form 
ing  part  of  the  enlightened  firm  and  compact  body  of  Mexican  prelates,  constrained  by  our 
conscience  and  our  duty,  and  guided  only  by  a  true  Catholic  spirit,  make  ours  and  do  sub 
scribe  to  all  and  every  protest,  circular,  and  orders,  issued  formerly  by  the  venerable  Mex 
ican  episcopate  against  the  nefarious  and  heinous  work  of  the  so-called  reform,  which  has 
overwhelmed  our  beloved  country  with  every  species  of  evil. 

Your  excellencies  themselves  are  unexceptional  witnesses  that  the  sole  and  only  motive 
the  country  has  had  in  accepting  willingly  the  French  intervention,  the  empire,  and  regency, 
has  been  the  feeling,  or  rather  the  profound  rooted  attachment  to  Catholic  sm,  whose 
saving  principles  and  grave  interests  the  nation  desires  to  save  at  any  saciifice,  and  which 
it  had  every  reason  to  believe  could  have  been  attained  by  those  means. 

May  Divine  Providence  grant  the  pious  and  just  wishes  of  the  episcopate,  the  clergy,  and 
the  immense  majority  of  Mexicans,  who  see  with  the  utmost  sorrow  their  beloved  country 
and  religion  in  danger. 

Your  excellencies  will  please  to  accept  the  assurances  of  our  respect  and  personal  esttem. 

Mexico.  December  31st,  1863. 

D'R  JOS£  MARIA  DIEZ  DE  SOLLANO,  Bishop  of  Leon. 

BTtANCISCO  DE  LA  C.  RAMIREZ,  Bishop  of  Ojladro,  Apostolic  Vicar  of  Tamaulipas. 

D'R  JUAN  B.  ORMACHEA,  Bishop  fleet  of  Tulandngo. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  365 


No.  8. 

Proted  of  Supreme  Tribunal. 

The  necessity,  without  exaggeration  painful,  but  unavoidable,  presents  itself  again  before 
this  supreme  tiibunal  to  address  itself  to  that  sub-secretaryship,  explaining  the  difficulties 
there  are  to  carry  out  the  measures  dictated  by  it  ;  the  tribunal  alludes  to  the  circular  of 
the  15th  instant,  drawn  by  petition  of  his  excellency  General  Bazaine,  by  which  it  is  de 
clared  that  "there  is  no  legnl  obstacle  to  prevent  the  exercise  of  any  right  and  acts  which 
might  be  had  in  regard  to  the  property  called  of  the  clergy,  on  the  arrival  of  the  French  in 
tervention  to  the  nation." 

The  circular  of  the  9th  of  November  upon  the  same  subject,  although  not  s6  extensive 
in  its  effects,  had  already  obliged  the  tribunal  to  lay  open  the  reasons  given  in  its  official 
communication  of  the  10th  of  the  same,  and  since  then  announced  that  if  the  legal  diffi 
culty  disappeared,  not  there  set  forth,  the  same  disposition  being  reproduced,  the  case 
would  then  present  itself,  in  which  the  interested  parties  would  proceed  according  to  the 
inspiration  of  their  own  conscience. 

Without  the  legal  difficulty,  which  the  circular  of  the  9th  November  had  been  removed 
in  that  of  the  15th  instant,  the  conscientious  case  referred  to  has  presented  itself,  because 
the  tribunal  cannot,  either  individually  or  collectively,  keep  eilent  upon  the  justness  of  the 
orders  contained  in  said  circulars,  after  the  judgment  pronounced  upon  them  by  the  worthy 
members  of  the  Mexican  episcopate,  residing  at  present  in  this  capital. 

The  tribunal  has  official  knowledge  of  the  exposition,  declarations,  and  protests  which 
were  addressed  on  the  26th  of  the  present  month  by  the  said  most  reverend  prelates  to 
the  excellencies  the  regents,  Generals  Juan  N.  Almonte  and  Jose  Mariano  de  Salas,  and  in 
that  document,  which  is  a  new  testimony  added  to  other  thousands  of  the  same  kind,  that 
the  defence  of  the  rights  of  the  church  involves  that  of  nations,  families,  and  individuals, 
is  lost  when,  under  religious  and  political  aspects,  it  is  offered  to  demonstrate  the  injustice 
and  inconvenieuce  of  putting  in  vigor  the  iniquitous  legislation  called  by  antiphrasis 
reform. 

No  one  can  doubt  the  glorious  liberty  which  all  Catholics  have  to  oppose  their  passive 
resistance  to  the  attacks  directed  against  God's  church.  We,  members  of  the  supreme  tri 
bunal  of  justice  of  the  empire,  belong  to  it,  and  preserve  now  the  same  liberty  that  we 
enjoyed  in  the  fatal  days  when  the  administration  of  the  reform  ruled,  bringing  upon 
some  violent  peisecutions,  and  plunging  those  who  escaped  best  into  complete  obscurity 
and  misery. 

But  having  to  speak  as  the  superior  tribunal  of  the  empire  must  do,  it  will  enter  into 
certain  considerations,  casting  a  retrospective  glance  upon  our  public  lights,  upon  that 
right  in  which  the  operations  of  all  powers  havo  been  based,  upon  which  the  decisions  of 
the  tribunals  have  been  constantly  given,  and  which  has  been  a  guiding  rule  to  every 
individual  in  the  affairs  of  their  public  and  private  life.  Everything  in  Mexico  is  explained 
by  Catholic  principles,  from  the  conquest  to  the  independence,  and  from  the  independence 
to  the  intervention;  and  without  that  principle  nothing  in  it  can  be  explained,  the  doors 
of  future  welfare,  to  which  it  aspires,  being  completely  closed. 

Everybody  knows  that  the  immense  idea  of  Columbus  would  have  remained  fruitless  iu 
his  brain  if  the  immortal  Ysabelle,  of  Castile,  had  not  comprehended  it  ;  but  everybody 
knows  also  that  that  queen,  model  of  crowned  heads,  the  first  thing  that  she  proposed  to 
herself  in  the  discoveries  was  to  establish  religious  principles,  and  the  development  of  that 
thought  was  the  principal  moving  power  of  her  operations  upon  the  territories  that  were 
first  discovered  on  this  continent.  Her  successors  folio  wed  the  very  same  principles,  either 
to  proceed  in  making  further  conquests,  or  to  protect  the  inhabitants  from  the  violence  of 
the  conquerors,  so  that  to  conquer,  or  to  govern  with  justice  and  equity  those  conquered, 
we  have  Catholic  principles  exercising  their  eminently  tutelar  influence. 

How  Spanish  mouarchs  of  Austrian  dynasty  understood  Catholic  principles  history  tells 
us,  and  our  legislation  proclaims  it  at  every  step.  It  was  the  lot  of  those  sovereigns, 
especially  the  two  first,  Emperor  Charles  the  V  and  King  Phillip  the  II,  to  govern,  whilst 
Europe  was  shaken  by  the  frightful  religious  war  stirred  up  by  Protestantism;  they  embraced 
the  Catholic  cause,  and  while  the  Protestants  endeavored  to  attack  the  church  in  its  dog 
mas,  principles,  immunities,  and  all  that  it  possessed  and  possesses  now,  they  followed 
entiiely  an  opposite  course  in*  Spain  and  the  Americas.  By  simply  stating  this  fact,  and 
observing  that  the  orders  of  the  Holy  Council  of  Trent  were  admitted  and  respected,  it 
proves  that  in  Spain  and  America  the  church  preserved  untouched  its  canonical  legislation. 

Later  Spanish  kings  continued  the  same  line  of  conduct,  even  including  those  of  the 
Bourbon  dynasty,  who  showed  some  slight  signs  of  being  partisans  of  that  doctrine,  which 
ended  in  the  French  revolution  ;  and  precisely  owing  to  that  respect  to  the  church,  that 
liberty  left  to  its  beneficent  decision,  and  guaranteed  by  the  laws  and  acts  of  the  author- 


366  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

ities,  it  is  explained  how,  while  in  Europe  iniquitous  spoliations  of  riches  accumulated  in 
former  ages  were  committed  in  Mexico  and  the  other  Americas  belonging  to  Spain,  they 
accumulated  them  to  invest  in  proper  objects,  all  in  accordance  with  canonical  legislation, 
especially  protected  by  civil  l;r.vs,  without  allowing  any  one  for  a  moment  to  suppose  that 
those  riches,  sacred  in  every  way,  would  one  day  become  the  object  of  criminal  cupidity 
of  a  few,  who,  to  despoil  its  legitimate  and  benevolent  owner,  would  refuse  to  give,  not 
only  the  title  of  possession,  but  even  the  right  to  acquire  that  title,  and  that  such  iniquity, 
such  absurdity,  should  take  the  haughty  and  ostentatious  name  of  reform,  civilization,  and 
progress.  It  follows  from  these  observations  that  at  e\vry  step,  as  it  is  proved  by  our  his 
tory,  our  code  of  laws,  and  by  our  public  records,  that  during  the  whole  time  that  Mexico 
was  under  the  dominion  of  Spain,  canonic  legislation,  supported  by  civil  one,  ruled  supreme 
throughout  the  country  ;  that  the  Mexican  church  was  governed  by  it  for  the  acquirement 
of  its  prosperity,  its  preservation,  and  protection  ;  that  the  same  legislation  was  applied  by 
the  tribunals,  and  formed  part  of  the  public  laws  of  the  country. 

After  the  lapse  of  three  centuries  of  continued,  constant,  uniform,  and  never  contra 
dicted  practise  of  those  laws,  came  the  great  evient  of  independence,  and  while  we  mention 
it,  it  is  also  necessary  that  we  should  mention  one  of  the  principal  causes  which  was  pre 
dominant  during  the  war,  and  which  became  the  terminating  one  of  the  result  In  both 
epochs,  the  fear  that  the  cause  of  religion  should  be  endangered  if  it  continued  to  depend 
upon  its  former  metropolis,  was  one  of  the  principal  chapters  which  caused  the  proclama 
tion  of  independence,  but  particularly  in  the  latter  the  idea  is  carried  out  with  greater 
precision,  making  the  Roman  Catholic  and  apostolic  religion  the  first  of  the  time  guaran 
tees  given  in  the  immemorable  Plan  of  Yguala. 

We  all  know  why  such  word  was  placed  in  said  plan,  and  what  it  was  intended  to  sig 
nify.  It  was  done  because  the  constitutional  Spanish  courts  by  their  acts,  and  several  of 
its  deputies  by  their  discourses,  commenced  attacking  the  Catholic  church,  not  in  its  dog 
mas,  because,  although  it  is  the  true  mark  aimed  at,  modern  tactics  only  commence  by 
wounding  its  discipline.  It  was  against  that  then  that  the  Spanish  courts  made  their 
assaults  ;  but  Mexico,  who  had  seen  the  Catholic  church  teaching  freely  its  dogmas  for 
three  centuries,  and  exercising  its  discipline,  Mexico — who,  under  the  maternal  rule  of  that 
church,  had  lived  for  so  long  a  period  in  tranquillity  and  happiness,  did  not  wish  to  see  it 
endangered,  and  her  children  sought  to  unite  with  its  political  independence  that  of 
religious  incolumity.  Consequently,  it  was  not  the  intention  in  these  plans  of  independ 
ence,  nor  in  the  text  of  them,  to  attack  that  canonical  legislation,  by  virtue  of  which  the 
church  holds  its  property,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  prevent  all  that  could  possibly  menace 
the  same  and  give  it  additional  support.  The  tribunals  had  the  same  understanding  as  the 
nation,  and  far  from  making  any  alteration  by  that  great  event,  that  part  of  our  public 
laws  received  an  additional  confirmation  of  extraordinary  solemnity  in  its  form. 

After  this  came  a  fatal  succession  of  a  series  of  political  constitutions  in  the  midst  of  our 
international  dissensions.  We  have  the  constitution  of  1824,  one  of  1837,  another  of 
1843,  and  an  act  of  reforms  of  1847,  and  in  all  those  codes  of  law  the  profession  of  the 
Catholic,  apostolic,  and  Romish  religion  is  textual ly  consigned  by  the  Mexican  nation,  by 
which  it  is  of  course  understood  that  the  church  is  as  much  mistress  of  her  discipline  as 
she  is  essentially  of  her  dogmas,  and  that  the  nation  protects  it  as  it  is,  that  is  to  say, 
according  to  its  canons.  The  consequence  of  this  is.  that  the  public  laws  of  the  nation 
are  in  harmony  with  all  political  constitutions,  except  that  of  1857,  as  regards  the  property 
of  the  church  by  canonical  legislation. 

It  is  true  that  during  that  period  many  attacks  have  been  made  against  the  church,  and 
not  few  have  been  the  orders  issued  against  its  rights  ;  but  it  is  true,  also,  that  almost 
always  thess  triumphed  at  last ;  for,  far  from  considering  the  first  as  coming  from  a  leiral 
source,  they  were  held  for  what  they  really  were,  anti-constitutional  and  illegitimate,  the 
principles  of  that  part  of  our  public  laws  not  suffering  any  alteration  whatever. 

The  first  attack  made  by  the  few  enemies  that  the  Catholic  church  has  in  Mexico,  to 
carry  out  the  iniquitous  spoliation  meditated  by  them  for  years  back,  took  place  after  the 
triumph  of  the  revolution  of  Ayutla  by  these  who  were  then  lords  of  public  adminis 
tration  ;  but  all  the  nation  impugned  the  novelties  introduced  by  the  reformists  to  that 
degree  that  the  principal  author  of  the  victorious  revolution,  the  unfortunate  Don  Ygnacio 
Comonfort,  was  obliged  to  change  his  ground  in  December,  1857. 

The  spurious  interests  created  by  the  legislation  emanated  from  the  plan  of  Ayutla  were 
never  surrendered  by  that  of  the  "Ciudadela,"  and  then  commenced  the  disastrous  cam 
paign  by  which  all  the  nation  fighting  on  one  side  to  preserve  its  social  constitution,  (which 
is  a  religious  one,)  and  on  the  other  by  the  innovators  awaking  the  ferocious  instincts  of 
the  vulgar  masses  to  spoliation  and  slaughter,  the  first  having  subjugated  the  last,  although 
not  definitely  for  one  single  instant ;  and  amidst  the  clash  of  arms,  the  disastrous  reform 
laws  (which  are  now  recommended  to  be  executed)  were  issued  at  Vera  Cruz  by  a  govern 
ment  that  had  nothing  but  the  name,  even  in  violation  of  the  same  constitution  of  1857. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  367 

After  the  bloody  triumph  of  the  reformists,  what  we  all  witnessed  took  place,  that  is  to 
say,  the  simultaneous  banishment  of  the  Mexican  bishops,  an  unbounded  persecution  of 
the  clergy,  the  imprisonment  of  many  of  them,  and  bloody  executions  of  others,  the  savage 
ejection  of  the  cloistered  maidens,  whose  only  crime  was  that  of  occupying  themselves  in 
praying  for  their  persecutors,  depriving  them  beforehand  of  all  their  property  ;  the  shooting 
down,  the  imprisonment,  tte  concealment,  expulsion,  and  wretchedness  of  the  best  citizens  ; 
the  gagging  of  the  press,  using  the  most  oppressive  and  overwhelming  terror  to  suffocate 
the  voice  or  complaints  or  the  sufferer  ;  in  fact,  everything  was  put  into  play  by  the  triumph 
ant  faction  to  sanction  tht-ir  reiorm  laws.  How  can  those  laws  appear  to  the  eyes  of  com 
mon  sense  ?  They  are  wanting  in  the  most  essential  thing — justice  ;  and  to  put  them  into 
practice  it  was  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  the  ominous  means  of  force.  To  avoid  them, 
and  for  that  reason  only,  the  Mexican  people  were  obliged  to  recur  to  the  last  extreme,  the 
last  supreme  effort  left  them,  and  that  was  to  solicit  aid  from  a  foreign  hand  ;  and  when 
Fiance  extended  hers  she  understood  their  true  possession  and  felt  the  evils  that  surrounded 
them,  helping  to  apply  the  remedy.  The  intervention  not  recognizing  the  administration 
of  Don  Benito  Juarez  as  a  government,  (nor  has  it  ever  addressed  to  him  one  single  word 
as  such,  and  by  that  means  disavowing  his  laws,  his  decrees,  his  acts,  and  everything  that 
the  idea  of  a  government  includes,)  where  are  the  antecedents,  then,  to  suppose  that  the 
reform  laws  are  in  existence?  Are  they  to  be  found  in  the  conduct  of  the  Mexican  people, 
or  in  the  genuine  spirit  of  the  intervention?  In  neither  ;  and  what  is  certain  is,  that  the 
only  ones  that  exist,  and  by  which  the  church  property  can  be  administered,  are  the  same 
(canonical  and  civil)  that  existed  for  three  and  a  half  centuries.  The  supreme  tribunal  of 
justice  swore  to  obey  the  laws  of  the  empire,  and  to  cause  them  to  be  obeyed,  including 
among  these  those  by  virtue  of  which  the  Mexican  church  possesses  what  belongs  to  it, 
and  cannot  withdraw  its  obedience  to  bestow  it  upon  them  that  bear  but  the  name. 

The  supreme  tribunal  of  justice  complies,  then,  with  strict  duty  when  it  repeats  that 
under  no  consideration  will  it  consider  the  so-called  reform  laws  in  force,  and  adds,  also, 
that  because  they  wished  to  enslave  the  church,  the  tribunal  is  honored  by  declaring  pub 
licly  and  solemnly  that  it  yields  its  obedience  to  the  voice  of  the  Mexican  episcopate,  who 
has  decided  that  it  is  not  lawful  to  comply  with  the  circulars  of  the  9th  of  November  and 
15th  of  the  present  month. 

If  to  the  preceding  consideration* — based  all  upon  law — we  add  others,  which,  although 
secondary  to  the  duties  incumbent  upon  the  tribunals,  they  are,  notwithstanding,  of  great 
importance  in  political  order,  and  we  will' briefly  notice  some  of  the  innumerable  ones  that 
occur  to  us.  In  the  first  place,  the  monopolist  holders  of  the  promissory  notes  (pagares) 
find  the  monopolists  of  houses  belonging  to  the  church,  being  protected  by  a  terrible  law 
that  admits  of  no  procedure,  delay,  or  form  by  which  a  define*  could  be  made,  will  fall 
upon  the  hands  of  debtors,  the  greatest  part  of  which  are  incapable  of  covering  the  debt 
in  seven  months,  and  will  see  their  ruin  consummated  by  ihe  public  sale  of  the  balance 
of  their  fortune. 

Secondly,  such  immense  disaster  will  injure  agiiculture  and  all  kinds  of  productive 
business  to  favor  only  a  handful  of  monopolists,  for  it  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  in 
Mexico  ecclesiastic  spoliation  is  always  done  in  that  manner,  for  the  advantage  of  the -few, 
and  detriment  to  the  multitude,  whereas  while  they  remained  in  the  exclusive  power  of 
the  church  produced  positive  advantages  everywhere. 

And,  finally,  by  carrying  out  the  reform  laws,  without  marking  the  limits  and  bound 
aries,  and  thtir  revision,  so  solemnly  promised,  and  which  justice  so  imperiously  demands, 
the  revolution  will  increase  in  colossal  proportions,  because  to  the  war  that  is  now  made 
without  truce  against  intervention  by  the  anti-Catholic  and  anti-monarchical  bands,  if  it  be 
not  completely  vanquished  ;  the  throbbings  of  the  excited  Mexican  people,  wounded  in  their 
religious  principles  and  vividly  outraged  in  their  material  interest,  will  then  be  added  to  it. 

Those  that  may  think  otherwise  are  mistaken,  fur  in  Mexico,  as  well  as  in  any  other 
place,  and  with  more  reason  than  in  another  place,  neither  the  consciences  of  the  faithful 
nor  the  interests  of  the  holders  of  church  property  will  find  repose  unless  the  will  of  the 
supreme  pastor  of  the  church  be  made  to  appear  in  a  concordat.  Peace,  that  the  immense 
genius  of  Napoleon  the  Great  could  not  restore  to  France  without  the  aid  of  the  Pope, 
(that  most  elevated  and  respected  personage  on  the  earth,)  will  not  return  to  Mexico  unless 
he  gives  his  assistance  also. 

The  tribunal  concludes  by  repeating  again,  with  sorrow,  that  for  the  reasons  it  had  the 
honor  of  giving  in  its  official  communication  of  the  10th  November  last,  as  well  as  for 
those  herein  set  forth,  cannot  legally,  nor  is  it  permitted  to  them  conscientiously  to  comply, 
or  to.  cause  the  circulars  of  the  9th  of  November  and  15th  of  the  present  month  to  be 
complied  with. 

And,  by  unanimous  consent,  we  inform  your  honor  of  the  same,  for  the  knowledge  of 
their  excellencies  the  regents 


368  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

No.  9 

Decree  of  the  rcgtncy  removing  the  judges  of  the  supreme  court. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  JUSTICE  AND  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

The  regency  of  the  empire  to  all  of  its  inhabitants  maketh  known  : 

That  considering  that  the  first  duty  of  the  supreme  magistracy  of  a  state  consists  in 
respecting  the  laws  and  administering  justice,  without  ever  deviating  from  the  principles 
upon  which  social  order  is  based  ; 

Considering  that  the  supreme  tribunal,  by  its  exposition  addressed  to  the  regency  of  the 
empire  on  the  31st  of  December  last,  has  placed  itself  in  rebellion  against  the  legitimate 
government,  declaring  that  it  will  never,  by  its  acts  and  decisions,  lend  any  acquiescence 
to,  nor  will  it  join  in,  decisions  which  have  for  their  object  the  execution  of  the  circulars 
and  official  communications  ordered,  or  which  may  be  ordered  to  be  published  by  the 
regency,  relative  to  the  question  of  the  property  called  clergy  property,  if  such  dispositions 
shall  not  be  for  the  purpose  of  restoring  the  same  at  once  and  directly  to  the  said  clergy  ; 

Considering  that  the  tolerance  observed  up  to  the  present  time  by  the  regency  with 
respect  to  reprehensible  acts  of  this  order,  in  the  hope  that  its  efforts  would  be  successful 
ill  changing  for  the  better  the  ideas  and  sentiments  of  the  individuals  reinvested  with  that 
high  magistracy,  has  been  considered  by  them  as  an  act  of  debility,  and  not  as  an  idea  of 
conciliation,  by  means  of  which  it  was  desired  to  reunite  the  honorable  men  of  all  opinions 
in  order  to  form  a  truly  national  party  ; 

Considering  that  the  regents  of  the  empire  would  be  unworthy  of  the  confidence  of  their 
fellow-citizens  and  of  the  high  mission  they  have  received,  if  in  the  presence  of  this  act 
of  rebellion  they  delayed  a  longer  time  to  reduce  the  magistracy  to  the  limits  of  their 
attributes,  which  consist  in  applying  the  laws  and  administering  justice  without  mixing 
themselves  with  acts  which  belong  exclusively  to  the  legislator,  the  regency  of  the  empire 
decree — 

ART.  1.  All  of  the  magistrates  and  secretaries  of  the  supreme  tribunal  appointed  in  con 
formity  with  the  decree  issued  by  the  regency  of  the  empire  on  the  15th  of  July,  1863,  are 
hereby  dismissed. 

ART.  2.  The  reorganization  of  the  said  tribunal  shall  be  immediately  proceeded  with,  the 
persons  being  ineligible  to  form  any  part  of  it  who  signed  the  exposition  addressed  to  the 
regency  on  the  31st  of  December  last. 

The  under  secretary  of  state  and  of  the  department  of  justice  and  public  instruction  is 
charged  with  the  execution  of  the  present  decree. 

Dated  in  the  imperial  palace  of  Mexico  the  2d  day  of  January  1864. 

JUAN  N.  ALMONTE. 
JOSE  MARIANO  SALAS. 

To  the  UKDER  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  AND  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION. 

And  I  communicate  the  same  to  you  for  its  publication  and  due  observance. 

FELIPE  RAYGOZA, 
Under  Secretary  of  Slate  and  of  the  Department  of  Justice  and  Public  Instruction. 

IMPERIAL  PALACE,  MEXICO,  January  2,  1864. 


No.  10. 

Manifesto  of  the  Regents  Almonte  and  Salas. 

MEXICO,  January  21,  1864. 

MEXICANS  :  In  accepting  the  elevated  mission  which  has  been  confided  to  us,  of  conse 
crating  our  efforts  and  our  intelligence  to  prepaiing  the  way  for  the  new  destinies  of  our 
beloved  country,  it  was  our  duty  not  to  lose  sight  for  a  single  moment  of  the  intentions  of 
the  sovereign  whose  soldiers  have  come  to  free  Mexico  from  tyranny  in  order  to  make  it 
master  of  itself.  Our  line  of  conduct,  therefore,  was  traced  beforehand  by  our  gratitude 
towards  the  intervention  and  by  the  interests  of  our  country,  which  it  was  necessary  not 
to  separate  from  the  French  policy.  That  policy  all  know.  In  the  folds  of  the  banner 
which  represents  it  are  always  borne  the  benefits  of  independence,  and  the  conciliation  of 
parties  in  order  to  scatter  benefits  in  the  midst  of  oppressed  peoples,  assuring  equal  justice 
to  all  and  the  protection  of  their  rights  by  the  faithful  execution  of  the  laws. 

All  good  Mexicans  have  been  moved  with  pleasure  when  they  have  seen  this  noble  ban 
ner  displayed,  its  colois  side  by  side  with  our  own.  The  reason  was  because  that  banner 
brought  to  our  beautiful  country,  devoured  by  fifty  years  of  revolutions,  that  poce  and 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  369 

order  indispensable  to  our  true  regeneration.  We,  ourselves,  the  same  as  the  great  majority 
of  the  nation,  have  so  comprehended  it,  and  calling  to  our  side  in  the  different  posts  of  the 
magistracy  and  of  the  administration  those  men  who,  in  other  times,  had  been  distinguished 
for  their  wisdom  and  their  patriotism,  we  were  persuaded  that  they  would  comprehend  the 
new  situation  of  Mexico,  and  would  loyally  second  us  in  the  truly  patriotic  work  we  had 
undertaken,  which  is  nothing  less  than  the  reconciliation  of  all  parties  on  the  ground  of 
their  common  interests. 

What  has  taken  place,  however  ?  The  administration  of  justice,  that  first  and  most 
imperious  necessity  of  a  people  freed  from  tyranny,  has  from  the  beginning  of  our  reorgan 
ization  proved  recreant  to  its  noble  object.  The  supreme  tribunal,  that  should  be  the 
natural  guide  of  all  the  other  courts  which  are  inferior  to  it,  has  forgotten  nothing,  and' 
nothing  has  it  learned.  The  magistrates  of  past  times,  who  had  been  again  reinvested 
through  our  confidence,  have  carried  to  the  sanctuary  of  their  deliberations  the  spirit  of 
party,  which  is  opposed  to  justice,  and  which  by  fostering  bad  passions  keeps  alive  the  evils 
of  hatred  and  discord.  After  having  exhausted  all  means  of  persuasion  and  tolerance  with 
respect  to  these  magistrates  whose  reform  is  impossible,  the  regency,  persuaded  that  the 
well-being  of  our  country  lay  in  the  adoption  of  the  measures  pointed  out  to  us  by  that 
generous  people  who  are  lavishing  their  blood  and  their  gold  without  other  ambition  than 
than  of  elevating  us  to  the  level  of  the  most  civilized  nations,  has  found  it  incumbent  to 
resign  itself  to  the  painful  duty  of  removing  from  their  public  functions  the  magistrates  of 
the  supreme  court  who  have  refused  us  their  co-operation. 

Mexicans  :  Be  tranquil  and  secure.  The  regency,  invested  with  authority,  will  watch 
over  your  interests  conjointly  with  the  chiefs  of  the  intervention.  The  course  of  justice 
will  not  be  interrupted.  In  making  new  nominations  of  those  who  are  to  be  charged  with 
its  administration  we  shall  not  inquire  of  these  magistrates  to  what  party  they  have 
belonged,  but  we  shall  exact  from  them  that  they  will  faithfully  maintain  equal  rights 
for  all,  without  distinction  of  opinions,  and  if  it  be  necessary  we  shall  recall  to  them — if 
they  forget  it— that  the  dissensions  of  the  nation  were  conducting  it  to  certain  ruin,  when 
the  powerful  hand  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  was  stretched  out  to  arrest  it  on  the  fatal 
decline. 

JUAN  N.  ALMONTE. 

JOS&  MARIANO  DE  SALAS. 


No.  11. 

Official  note  from  General  Neigre  to  the  Archbishop  of  Mexico. 

MEXICO,  January  16,  1864. 

YOUR  GRACE  :  There  has  just  been  brought  to  my  knowledge  a  matter  of  very  grave 
import.  Certain  incendiary  publications,  which  have  been  put  under  the  doors  of  various 
houses  and  scattered  clandestinely  among  the  public,  have  reached  my  hands. 

The  authors  of  these  culpably  publications  magnify  petty  material  interests  which  our 
holy  religion  repudiates,  and  appeal  to  the  most  detestable  passions  against  the  army  of 
his  Majesty,  the  Emperor,  which  has  come  to  rescue  Mexico  from  anarchy  and  to  afford 
protection  to  the  pastors  of  souls,  in  order  to  allow  them  the  greatest  liberty  in  their  holy 
ministry.  They  forget  that  those  prelates  of  whom  they  pretend  to  be  the  organ,  and 
whom  they  make  to  appear  as  humiliated  and  despised,  have  never  been  surrounded  with 
more  respect  and  veneration. 

I  desire  to  believe,  your  grace,  that  you  are  ignorant  of  these  criminal  proceedings.  I 
therefore  have  to  denounce  them  to  you,  and  to  address  to  you  an  entreaty  in  the  interest 
of  public  order  and  tranquillity  ;  since,  in  the  name  of  the  Catholic  religion,  of  which  we 
Frenchmen  are  the  eldest  sons,  and  in  the  name  of  the  prelates  whom  we  cover  with  our 
respect,  a  degraded  party  is  in  movement  to  disturb  the  national  repose.  Tell  that  party, 
your  grace,  that  we  are  watching  it,  and  know  its  machinations  ;  that  the  French  army, 
in  accord  with  the  lawful  government  of  the  country,  will  maintain  tranquillity ;  tell  it 
that,  although  we  are  always  reluctant  to  employ  violent  measures  of  repression,  we  shall 
know  how,  if  circumstances  put  us  under  that  painful  obligation,  to 'make  them  return 
again  to  the  obscurity  from  which  they  are  daring  to  put  forth  diatribes  which  prove  them 
to  be  the  real  enemies  of  Mexico. 

Be  pleased  to  tell  them  this,  your  grace,  and  if  they  stop  at  your  evangelical  words,  your 
grace  will  have  done  a  great  service  to  humanity,  and,  failing  their  gratitude,  you  will 
have  ours. 

BARON  NEIGRE,  General  in  Command. 

His  Grace  the  ARCHBISHOP  OF  MEXICO. 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 24 


370  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.* 

No.  12. 
Reply  of  the  Archbishop  to  General  Ncigre. 

YOUR  EXCELLENCY  :  la  reply  to  the  communication  of  your  excellency  of  the  16th  instant, 
I  have  the  honor  to  assure  you,  with  respect  to  incendiary  writings  distributed  through  the 
city,  that  I  have  not  had,  nor  even  now  have,  any  knowledge  of  them  up  to  the  present  • 
time.  It  would,  therefore,  have  been  necessary  that  I  should  have  read  them  to  be  able 
to  answer  you,  and  I  would  thank  you  sincerely  if  you  would  have  the  kindness  to  send 
me  a  copy  of  them. 

Here  I  would  finish  my  letter  if  you  did  not  make  in  yours  certain  assertions  that,  inde 
pendently  of  the  writings  referred  to,  you  throw  upon  the  Mexican  clergy.  It  is,  therefore, 
indispensable  to  rectify  these  assertions  in  case  they  are  not  exact. 

There  is  an  acknowledged  fact — one  publicly  notorious — which  is,  that  we  have  all  pro 
tested  against  the  two  individuals  who  assume  to  be  a  government,  and  against  the  circulars 
of  the  9th  of  November  and  15th  of  December  last,  and  we  declare  categorically  that  the 
church,  in  its  immunities  and  rights,  is  at  present  the  object  of  the  same  attacks  that  it 
had  to  suffer  during  the  government  of  Juarez  ;  that  never  was  the  church  so  bitterly 
persecuted  ;  and  that  we,  the  chief  prelate,  from  the  position  in  which  we  have  been  placed, 
find  ourselves  in  a  worse  situation  than  at  that  period. 

Your  excellency  tells  me  that  in  the  exercise  of  their  sacred  ministry  the  pastors  of  souls 
enjoy  the  greatest  protection  and  the  most  complete  liberty,  and  that  they  have  never  been 
held  in  greater  respect  and  veneration.  Your  excellency,  then,  will  perceive  that  the  two 
documents  quoted  (our  manifesto  and  your  letter)  represent,  with  respect  to  the  position 
of  the  church,  two  propositions  entirely  contradictory,  and  that  of  the  two  propositions  one 
is  necessarily  true  and  the  other  consequently  false. 

In  conformity  with  this  statement  of  facts,  and  the  deductions  of  logic,  it  results  that 
we,  a  Mexican  prelate,  find  ourselves,  according  to  your  assertion,  in  the  alternative  of 
denying  those  writings  or  of  retracting  our  words 

We  cannot  retract,  because  we  have  spoken  the  truth,  protested  justly,  and  acted  right 
fully,  and  we  feel  in  our  conscience  that  we  have- been  placed  in  the  painful  necessity  of 
acting  thus. 

From  what  your  excellency  tells  me,  I  infer  that  you  are  badly  informed  with  regard  to 
the  situation  of  the  Mexican  church,  and  I  am  convinced  that  if  you  had  well  known  the 
facts,  the  interests  involved,  and  the  motives  which  have  determined  our  conduct,  you 
would  have  done  us  justice  in  the  opinion  which  you  would  have  formed  of  that  conduct. 

I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  to  your  excellency  a  copy  of  my  protest. 

Your  excellency  will  be  pleased  to  accept  the  expression  of  my  consideration. 

PELAGIO  ANTONIO, 

Archbishop  of  Mexico 

His  Excellency  Baron  NEIGRB,  General  in  Command. 


No.  13. 

EXCELLENCY  :  With  your  excellency's  note,  dated  yesterday,  I  received  a  manuscript  copy 
of  the  publications  which,  in  your  excellency's  former  communication,  you  said  had  been 
circulated  in  a  clandestine  manner,  and  having  taken  note  thereof,  I  say  in  answer,  that  I 
am  exceedingly  well  disposed  to  tell  my  dioceseners  whatever  it  is  my  duty  to  tell  them  ac 
cording  to  the  purpose  of  my  pastoral  charge,  whenever  the  restriction  of  the  press  is  with 
drawn,  with  the  understanding  that  I  shall  assume  all  legal  responsibility  for  whatever  I  say. 

Your  excellency  will  accept  again  the  assurances  of  esteem  with  which  I  am,  general, 
your  excellency's  most  obedient  servant, 

PELAGIO  ANTONIO, 

Archbishop  of  Mexico. 

His  Excellency  Baron  NEIGRE,  Genera  in  Command. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  371 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  March  2,  1864. 

SIR:  I  have  tbe  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  29th 
ultimo,  accompanied  with  various  documents,  translated  into  English,  relative  to 
the  present  attitude  of  the  clergy  of  Mexico  towards  the  French  authorities. 

I  beg  to  renew  my  thanks  for  your  attention,  and  at  the  same  time  to  repeat 
the  assurances  of  my  distinguished  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Senor  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,' fyc.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seivard. 
[Translation.  ] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  March  I,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY:  That  the  government  of  the  United  States  may  be  informed 
of  the  conduct  pursued  by  the  French  army  and  other  agents  of  the  imperial 
government  during  the  invasion  which  is  in  progress  in  Mexico,  I  have  the 
honor  to  enclose,  with  this  note,  various  documents  translated  into  English,  and 
upon  which  I  pass  on  to  make  a  slight  narrative. 

No.  1  is  a  report  presented  to  General  Forey  by  Mr.  Budin,  employed 
in  the  treasury,  who  was  sent  to  Mexico  by  the  imperial  government  to  con 
sult  with  the  said  general-in-chief  upon  measures  suitable  for  this  branch  of 
service  and  to  re-establish  order,  as  was  said,  in  the  Mexican  treasury.  The 
report  reduces  itself  to  a  proposition  of  the  barbarous  measure  of  sequestrating 
all  the  property  owned  by  Mexican  patriots  who  were  resisting  the  interven 
tion,  or  were  perhaps  showing  their  reprobation  of  it  simply  by  leaving,  their 
domiciles  upon  their  being  occupied  by  the  French. 

No.  2  is  a  decree  issued  by  General  Forey  at  Puebla  in  accordance  with 
a  like  consultation.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  decision  was  carried  out  with 
the  greatest  cruelty  as  well  at  Puebla  as  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  where  scarcely 
had  the  invaders  entered  than  the  decree  was  republished  and  put  in  execution. 
So  impolitic  and  cruel  this  must  have  appeared  in  France,  where  at  the  time  the 
Russian  sequestration  decreed  against  the  Poles  was  subject  of  censure,  although 
that  insurrection  surely  had  not  such  plain  foundations  as  the  Mexican  resistance 
to  actual  invasion — so  impolitic  and  cruel,  I  repeat,  such  measures  appeared,  that 
the  imperial  government  rebuked  it  officially  in  the  Moniteur,  and  gave  orders 
that  it  should  be  revoked.  Nevertheless  General  Forey  only  moderated  it  a 
little  in  an  order  which  he  issued  on  the  19th  of  August  last,  (No.  10.)  In  that 
document,  marked  10,  it  is  confessed  that  the  penalty  was  applicable  even  to 
individuals  who  had  absented  themselves  from  the  capital  on  the  entrance 
of  the  French  without  having  part  in  the  legitimate  administration,  much  less 
taking  arms  against  intervention,  and  on  those  who  were  noted  simply  for  their 
liberal  opinions.  Even  in  respect  of  these  individuals  it  was  decided  that  to 
return  to  their  hearths  they  should  make  a  declaration  never  to  serve  either  in 
the  military  or  civil  branch  against  the  so-called  regency  which  was  just  es 
tablished.  Notwithstanding  this  mitigation,  the  fact  is  that  the  properties  of  the 
patriots  that  were  sequestered  even  now  continue  under  confiscation. 

No.  3  is  a  communication  from  Mr.  de  Saligny,  proposing  that  there  be 
established  in  Mexico  the  same  restrictions  in  relation  to  the  press  which  are  in 
force  in  France. 


372  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

No.  4  is  a  decree  in  which  sanction  is  given  to  these  restrictions,  with  ex 
aggerations  in  respect  to  Mexico.  But  these  are  not  merely  the  rules  observed 
on  the  publication  of  written  articles,  but  the  liberty  of  the  press  is  completely 
suppressed,  a  previous  censorship  existing  over  all  offered  for  publication,  as 
Archbishop  Labastida  and  other  archbishops  and  bishops  assure  us  in  their  pro 
test  of  the  26th  of  December  last,  of  which  I  sent  a  copy  to  your  department, 
with  my  communication  of  the  29th  February  last  past. 

Nos.  5  and  6  constitute  a  report  by  Mr.  Budin,  and  a  decree  founded  on 
it,  issued  by  General  Forey,  declaring  void  all  sales  and  alienations  posterior  to 
the  entry  of  the  French  army  into  the  city  of  Mexico,  whenever  made  by 
persons  subject  to  sequestration,  in  conformity  to  the  decree  which  has  before 
been  spoken  of.  The  exclusive  purpose  of  this  determination  is  to  augment 
the  number  of  sequestered  properties,  and  of  victims  of  the  like  policy,  making 
escape  from  their  cruel  effects  totally  out  of  question  for  the  patriots  and  their 
innocent  families. 

Under  No.  7  I  enclose  a  decree  of  the  same  General  Forey  establishing 
courts-martial  with  discretionary  power  to  pass  without  appeal,  and  on  a  single 
hearing,  upon  all  persons  who  form  bands  of  "armed  malefactors,"  with  which 
name  it  is  sought  to  stigmatize  the  Mexicans  who,  under  previous  authority 
of  the  constitutional  government,  united  as  guerillas  in  making  war  upon  the 
invaders.  Under  the  rigor  of  this  decree,  and  even  in  excess  of  its  hasty  pro 
visions,  many  hundreds  of  Mexicans  have  been  sacrificed,  condemned  occasion 
ally  upon  the  vaguest  suspicion. 

The  document  No.  8  is  an  order  of  the  so-called  regency  of  the  empire 
to  the  governor  of  the  district  of  Mexico,  in  which,  under  the  veil  of  poorly 
feigned  piety,  solicitude  to  please  the  clergy  is  adverted  to,  providing  that  all 
the  old  Spanish  legislation  upon  observance  of  festival  days,  so  frequent  in 
former  times  in  Mexico,  should  be  strictly  observed  henceforward,  contrary  to 
the  spirit  of  toleration  which  in  latter  days  had  been  prevalent. 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  this  fanatical  provision  so  wounded  the  interests 
of  manufactures  and  commerce  that  the  French  general  disapproved  it,  and  the 
so-called  regency  were  subjected  to  the  humiliation  of  revoking  it,  giving  another 
proof,  among  so  many  others,  that  it  is  merely  the  despised  instrument  of  the 
invaders. 

No.  9  is  a  circular  from  the  department  of  foreign  relations  of  the  con 
stitutional  government,  providing  for  the  observance  (as  a  just  measure  of  re 
prisal  for  the  sequestration  decree  by  the  invader)  of  the  laws  of  the  country 
which  authorized  the  like  measure  against  those  guilty  of  treason  to  their  native 
land. 

Lastly,  No.  11  is  a  letter  from  General  Forey,  published  by  his  order  in 
the  papers  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  in  which  he  relates  that  a  French  soldier  had 
been  assassinated  at  the  village  of  Tlalpan,  at  a  very  short  distance  from 
said  city,  and  that,  in  consequence,  much  inquietude  prevailed  there  among 
French  and  traitors.  To  punish  the  delinquent,  whom  he  vaguely  accuses  of 
other  assassinations  without  even  indicating  them,  he  announces  that  he  has 
determined  to  fine  the  whole  village  six  thousand  dollars  and  arrest  various  per 
sons  of  ill  report,  (so  he  calls,  it  is  supposed,  the  patriots  of  that  village,)  keeping 
them  as  hostages  to  answer  with  their  lives  for  the  lives  of  French  soldiers  and 
their  partisans  the  traitors. 

Following  (as  No.  12)  appears  the  decree  issued  by  the  French  commander 
at  Tlalpan,  in  conformity  with  those  barbarous  provisions.  Two  things  are 
noteworthy  in  this :  first,  that  the  moral  influence  of  the  French  army  must  be 
very  weak,  when  it  is  hardly  felt  at  Tlalpan,  in  the  environs  of  the  capital,  and 
when,  notwithstanding  a  garrison  present  in  the  village,  the  French  and  traitors 
were  filled  with  terror  at  any  manifestation  of  the  hatred  with  which  they  were 
regarded  by  the  Mexicans.  The  second  to  be  noted  is  that  savage  fury  of  General 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


373 


Forey  in  punishing  an  entire  village  for  the  act  of  some  unknown  person,  in 
making  responsible  for  future  occurrences  an  uncertain  number  of  individuals 
selected  at  caprice,  or  rather  to  punish  their  patriotic  opinions,  and  in  announc 
ing,  as  h#  has  with  most  odious  complacency,  that  if  those  measures  were  not 
sufficient  for  their  object,  he  would  destroy  the  entire  settlement.  These  acts 
manifest  very  clearly  what  are  the  means  which  the  invaders  of  Mexico  employ 
to  attain  their  ends,  and  what  character  of  injustice  and  barbarism  predominates 
in  this  invasion,  which  it  is  an  insult  to  good  sense  to  call  civilizing. 

The  interest  which,  in  my  opinion,  the  government  of  the  United  States  must 
feel  in  the  events  of  grave  importance  which  are  taking  place  in  my  country, 
makes  me  hope  that  you  will  receive  with  satisfaction  the  annexed  documents,  and 
the  brief  remarks  I  have  thought  it  proper  to  make  in  this  note. 

I  avail  of  the  occasion  to  repeat  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  very  dis 
tinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMEKO. 


the  documents  which  the  Mexican  legation  at  Washington  remitted  to  the  Department  of  State  of 
the  United  States,  annexed  -o  Us  note  of  this  date,  on  the  attacks  and  outrages  committed  by  the  French 
in  M&xico. 


No.   Date. 


1883. 

May  21 

May  21 

June  15 

June  35 

June  16 

June  16 

June  20 

July  16 

July  18 

Aug  19 

Aug.  22 

Aug.  27 


Contents. 


Report  of  M.  Budiu  to  General  Forey,  proposing  that  he  issue  a  law  cf 
confiscation  of  the  property  of  Mexican  patriots  who  defend  independ 
ence 

Law  of  confiscation  issued  in  consequence  by  General  Forey. 

Report  cf  M.  Saligny  to  General  Forey  that  he  subject  the  press  in  Mex 
ico  to  the  same  restrictions  that  weigh  upon  the  press  in  France. 

Decree  Issued  by  General  Forey  in  consequence,  in  conformity  with  the 
preceding  report. 

Report  of  M.  Budin  to  General  Forey,  proposing  that  he  declare  void 
some  of  the  sales  made  by  the  Mexican  government  of  national  prop 
erty. 

Decree  issued  by  General  Forey  in  consequence,  in  conformity  with  the 
preceding  report. 

Decree  of  General  Forey  establishing  courts-martial  to  try  some  of  the 
offences  committed  in  Mexico. 

Decree  of  the  regency,  so-called,  that  festival  days  be  observed  in  Mex 
ico  in  the  manner  provided  by  ancient  Spanish  legislation. 

Circular  of  the  national  government  of  Mexico  calling  for  the  fulfilment 
of  the  Mexican  laws  of  confiscation  in  respect  to  the  property  of  traitors. 

Explanatory  order  of  General  Forey  on  the  decree  of  sequestration  is 
sued  at  Puebla  the  15th  of  June  previous. 

Letter  of  General  Forey  on  reprisals  to  be  made  at  Tlalpam  for  the  as 
sassination  of  a  French  soldier. 

Decree  issued  by  the  military  commander  at  Tlalpann  in  virtue  of  the 
preceding  letter. 


WASHINGTON,  March  1,  1864. 


IGN.  MARISCAL 


374  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 


No.  1. 

Communication  made  by  M.  Budin  to  General  Forty  in  regard  to  the  sequestration  of  the  property  of  the 

Mexican  patriots. 

PUEBLA,  May  21,  1863. 

GENERAL  :  When  you  arrived  in  the  Mexican  republic  with  the  army  of  which  the  Em 
peror  has  intrusted  to  you  the  command,  in  order  to  punish  the  wrongs  and  insults  of  which 
France  and  her  citizens  have  been  the  object  on  the  part  of  the  government  of  Mexico, 
you  gave  ample  publicity,  by  your  proclamations  and  by  important  acts,  which  it  is  need 
less  to  repeat  here,  to  the  purpose  of  the  intervention  and  the  favorable  views  of  his  Im 
perial  Majesty  in  regard  to  this  country.  You  have  not  ceased  to  repeat  that  conquest  was 
not  the  idea  of  France  ;  that  under  her  banner  no  other  intentions  were  entertained  but  to 
cause  the  country  to  reorganize  herself,  by  delivering  it  from  the  despotism  which  for  so 
long  a  time  has  weighed  upon  its  destinies,  ruined  its  finances,  and  impeded  all  the  material 
progress  which  its  abundant  resources,  its  rich  soil,  s»  favored  by  nature,  should  cause  it 
to  realize.  In  order  to  attain  more  promptly  the  object  contemplated  in  the  intervention, 
you  have  called  for  the  co-operation  of  honorable  men  of  all  parties  ;  you  have  invited  the 
aid  of  all  men  of  moderate  opinions.  The  number  of  those  who  have  come  to  place  them 
selves  under  the  loyal  banner  of  France  is  relatively  great,  if  we  consider  that  the  changes, 
that  the  revolutions,  of  which  this  unfortunate  country  has  been  the  theatre  for  forty  years, 
have  extinguished  all  moral  sentiment  and  perverted  all  ideas  of  right  and  wrong. 

In  view  of  your  declarations,  so  clear  and  so  precise,  in  consideration  of  the  policy  so 
frank  and  so  disinterested  that  accompanies  all  the  foreign  expeditions  of  the  empire,  wa& 
it  possible  to  be  mistaken  in  regard  to  the  intentions  of  France  ?  Was  Mexico  authorized 
to  treat  as- deceitful  the  words  of  peace  addressed  to  her  by  and  in  the  name  of  a  power 
whose  every  aspiration  is  for  liberty,  whose  forces  and  sacrifices  have  no  other  object  than 
to  bear  the  torch  of  civilization  to  an  oppressed  people?  Clearly  not ;  and  if  interested 
men  in  the  support  of  the  disorderly  condition  of  things  which  you  have  come  to  attack, 
because  it  is  for  them  a  source  of  profit,  had  not  interposed  between  a  docile  people  whom 
they  lead  astray,  and  your  well-meaning  words  which  they  distort,  it  is  probable  that  the 
power  which  exists  only  by  means  of  disorder  would  have  been  now  demolished. 

The  time  has  come  for  the  adoption  against  these  agitators  of  more  rigorous  means — such 
means  as,  by  reaching  their  material  interests,  may  cause  them  to  understand,  as  I  trust, 
that  the  time  of  longanimity  has  passed.  What  the  wise  exhortations  which  you  have  ad 
dressed  to  them,  what  the  well-meaning  intentions  of  the  Emperor  which  you  have  explained 
to  them,  has  been  unable  to  effect,  will  perhaps  be  attained  by  attacking  the  property  of 
those  men  of  bad  faith,  who  persist  in  remaining  in  the  hostile  lines  to  combat  the  true 
interests  of  their  country.  The  means  the  adoption  of  which  appears  to  me  necessary  in 
regard  to  the  men  who  thus  far  have  held  aloof  from  the  intervention,  has  had  fortunate 
results  under  other  circumstances— that  is,  sequestration— sequestration,  ransacking  the  en 
tire  estates  appertaining  to  such  Mexicans  as  yet  bear  arms  against  intervention.  This 
means  would  equally  reach  the  personal  estates,  as  far  as  their  incomes  couid  be  seized. 
You  know,  general,  what  the  effect  is  of  sequestration  ;  it  is  to  transfer  to  the  hands  of  the 
state,  represented  here  by  the  prefect,  the  administration  of  all  the  goods  appertaining  to 
those  citizens  who  find  themselves  in  the  condition  mentioned. 

The  conditions  of  sequestration  may  vary  according  to  circumstances 

In  the  draught  of  a  decree  which  I  have  the  honor  of  submitting  to  you,  and  which  I 
request  you  to  sign  if  you  approve  its  terms,  I  have  reserved  to  the  commauder-in-chief  of 
the  army  the  right  of  mitigating  its  rigor  in  regard  to  such  citizens  as  may  be  worthy  of 
that  favor,  either  because  they  may  abandon  within  a  fixed  period  the  party  which  you  have 
had  to  oppose,  or  because  they  may  justify  themselves  for  having  been  dragged  into  it  by 
reason  of  force  and  violence. 

Be  pleased,  general,  to  accept  the  expression  of  my  respect  and  esteem. 

BUDIN,   General  Financial  Agent. 

General  FOREY, 

General  of  Division  and  Senator  of  France, 

Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Expeditionary  Corp». 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  375 

No.  2. 

Decree  of  General  Forty  in  regard  to  the  sequestration  to  ivkick  the  preceding  communication  refers. 

According  to  the  communication  submitted  to  me  by  the  general  financial  agent  of  the 
expedition,  it  has  seemed  proper  to  me  to  decree  : 

ART.  1.  Sequestration  will  be  resorted  to  of  all  the  estates  appertaining  to  the  citizens  of 
the  republic  who  bear  arms  against  the  French  intervention,  whether  they  render  their  ser 
vices  in  the  regular  army  or  in  the  bauds  of  guerillas,  or  others  in  a  state  of  hostility  to 
wards  France. 

ART.  2.  The  personal  property  appertaining  to  the  individuals  comprised  in  the  preceding 
article  will  also  be  subjected  to  this  measure,  as  far  as  such  property  can  be  seized  upon. 

ART.  3.  The  political  prefect  of  each  state  subject  to  the  intervention  shall  constitute 
under  his  presidency  a  commission  of  four  members,  who  shall  be  charged  with  designating 
the  persons  who  should  be  comprised  in  the  above-mentioned  categories,  and  with  drawing 
up  a  statement  of  the  general  condition  of  estates,  both  in  the  country  and  in  the  cities,  and 
of  personal  property  which  may  appertain  to  them. 

ART.  4.  This  statement,  agreeably  to  the  model  annexed  to  the  present  decree,  will  be 
signed  by  all  the  members  of  the  commission  and  certified  by  the  president  prefect. 

ART.  5.  A  copy  of  this  statement  shall  be  published  in  all  the  places  of  general  resort 
throughout  the  country  subject  to  the  intervention,  with  a  notification  from  the  prefect 
informing  tenants,  lessees,  and  debtors  of  the  goods  and  credits  sequestrated,  that  they 
cannot  exonerate  themselves  lawfully  without  satisfactory  payment  of  the  amounts  due 
into  the  hands  of  the  administrator  of  internal  revenue  of  the  district  wherein  the  things 
sequestered  are  situated. 

ART.  6.  A  copy  of  the  above-mentioned  statement,  certified  by  the  prefect,  shall  be,  as 
soon  as  published,  transmitted  to  the  administrator  of  the  revenue  to  serve  as  a  guide  for  his 
direction. 

ART.  7.  The  arrangements  relative  to  rents,  hiring  out,  or  other  matter  whatever,  that 
may  be  further  entered  into  by  the  prefects  to  enhance  the  value  of  the  personal  estates 
that  may  be  unoccupied,  shall  also  be  certified  in  writing  to  the  same  administrator,  in  order 
that  they  may  serve  him  as  foundations  for  legal  proceedings  against  those  indebted. 

ART  8.  It  is  expressly  prohibited,  under  the  penalties  prescribed  by  law,  to  the  agents 
appointed  for  the  collection  of  the  internal  revenue  to  exact  from  those  indebted  a  sum 
greater  than  that  set  down  in  the  lists.  Exception  only  is  made  in  regard  to  the  expenses 
anticipated  to  be  necessary  in  order  to  verify  the  collection  of  the  sums  which  may  be  due, 
and  which  should  be  collected  in  their  entirety. 

ART.  9.  The  administrators  of  the  revenue  shall  give  a  receipt  for  every  sum  paid  to 
them,  and  shall  include  all  receipts  of  this  kind  in  a  separate  account,  either  in  their  books 
or  in  their  monthly  statements.  Such  account  shall  be  entitled,  "Collections  made  of  sequestered 
property." 

ART.  10.  The  gener.il- in-chief  reserves  to  himsolf  the  right  of  deciding,  according  to  the 
information  laid  before  him  by  the  prefects,  upon  all  petitions  that  may  be  presented  to 
him,  either  for  exemption  from  the  decree  of  sequestration,  or  for  the  restitution  of  the  in 
comes  received  in  virtue  of  the  preceding  dispositions 

ART.  11.  The  present  decree  shall  be  immediately  published,  printed,  and  circulated 
throughout  the  whole  extent  of  the  country  subject  to  the  intervention,  and  a  similar  course 
shall  be  pursued  in  succession  in  all  the  states  of  the  republic,  in  order  that  it  may  be  ex 
ecuted  in  its  form  and  tenor  by  the  prefects  that  may  be  established  in  those  states. 

ART.  12.  Fifteen  days  after  its  publication  the  commission,  mentioned  in  article  3,  shall 
proceed  to  draw  out  the  statement  above  referred  to.  In  it  shall  be  included  all  persons 
who  shall  not,  at  that  date,  have  returned  to  their  homes,  or  who  may  not  be  prisoners 
of  war. 

In  case,  after  the  conclusion  of  this  document,  and  its  transmission  to  the  administrator, 
the  prefect  shall  be  informed  of  the  emigration  of  one  or  more  of  such  persons  as  may  be 
subject  to  administration  in  his  department,  it  shall  be  his  duty  to  draw  up  a  supplementary 
statement,  which  shall  have  the  same  legal  effect  as  the  preceding  to  confer  title. 

ART.  13.  The  general  financial  agent  is  charged  with  the  execution  of  the  present  decree, 
which  shall  be  notified  to  the  commanding  officer  in  each  district  and  state  through  the 
chief  officer  in  command  of  the  staff. 

Given  at  Puebla.  May  21,  1863. 

FOREY, 
General  of  Division,  Senator  of  France,  &fc.,  fyc. 


376  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS, 

No.  3.  r 

Communication  of  M,  De  Saliyny  to  General  Forty  in  regard  to  the  liberty  of  the  press. 

MEXICO,  June  15,  1863. 

GENERAL  :  By  ai?  order  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  public,  you  have  for  a  time 
suspended  the  publication  of  the  periodicals  of  the  country.  This  exceptional  means  was 
justified  by  the  reasons  naturally  arising  out  of  the  condition  in  which  the  republic  of  Mexico 
was  found  subsequent  to  the  departure  of  the  government  of  Juarez,  and  previous  to  the 
establishment  of  the  new  power.  It  was  to  be  feared,  in  fact,  that  abandoned  to  itself,  and 
without  other  control  than  that  of  its  editors,  the  press,  which  in  well-organized  states  is  a 
powerful  means  by  which  to  inculcate  to  the  masses  the  ideas  of  order  and  healthy  policy, 
would  be  here  only  an  instrument  in  the  service  of  evil  passions  to  agitate  the  country,  by 
misrepresenting  the  intentions  of  France,  and  dividing  good  citizens,  by  sowing  the  seeds 
of  discord  among  them.  Under  all  these  points  of  view,  it  was  indispensable  to  adopt  a 
course  which  allowed  time  to  study  the  situation  of  affairs  before  consigning  it  to  the  dis 
cussion  of  the  periodicals,  and  tracing  to  the  press  a  line  of  conduct  such  as  would  never 
place  it  in  opposition  to  the  direction  which  the  constituted  authorities  considered  proper 
to  be  impressed  on  public  affairs.  There  could  not  exist  in  the  life  of  a  nation  more  solemn 
moments  than  those  which  gleam  athwart  Mexico  under  the  present  circumstances.  Her 
future,  her  prosperity,  her  greatness  in  time  to  come,  even  her  very  existence,  constitute 
the  prize  which  is  to  reward  the  efforts  that  are  about  to  be  made  by  those  honorable  citi 
zens  who  shall  accept  the  laborious  work  of  toiling  in  the  reorganization  of  the  country  on 
a  new  basis. 

If,  in  view  of  such  difficulties,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  good  Mexican  to  preach  concord, 
and  adherence  to  the  temporary  power  charged  with  preparing  the  destinies  of  the  country, 
with  greater  reason  is  it  that  permission  cannot  be  granted  to  the  organs  of  the  press  to 
branch  out  into  controversies,  which,  if  they  are  always  dangerous  when  they  attack  the 
spirit  of  governments  already  assented  to,  could  at  the  present  conjuncture  paralyze  the 
best  intentions,  by  inspiring  doubts  into  the  mind,  and  disseminating  doctrines  that  may 
threaten,  even  before  they  are  resolved  upon,  the  bases  of  tbe  institutions  which  the  Mexican 
republic  anxiously  hopes  from  the  friendly  intervention  of  the  Emperor. 

Confining  itself  within  the  limits  of  decent  discussion,  under  the  seal  of  moderation,  and 
without  ever  attacking  religion,  the  personal  character  of  public  men,  or  the  private  life 
of  individuals,  the  press  may  be  well  occupied  with  the  general  interests  of  the  country, 
and  making  known  its  aspirations,  until  the  time  when  the  rightful  representatives  of  the 
people  have  determined  the  form  of  the  new  government  which  it  is  proposed  to  establish. 
If  the  press  properly  comprehends  its  mission,  it  is  called  to  perform  the  most  eminent 
services,  by  propagating  good  ideas  among  the  masses,  and  warring  upon  the  Utopias  which 
corrupt  them. 

Your  intention,  general,  is  to  apply  to  the  press  of  Mexico  the  regulations  established  in 
France  ;  it  is,  therefore,  a  reasonable  liberty  which  is  conceded  to  the  press.  Liberty  is 
not  licentiousness.  Firmly  persuaded  of  this  wise  principle,  which  is  the  safeguard  of  all 
interests,  the  writers  of  the  Mexican  press  will  always  rise  to  the  level  of  the  important 
mission  and  sacred  duty  to  which  they  are  called,  in  seconding  the  constituted  authorities, 
and  frequently  advising  them,  without  ever  forgetting  the  respect  which  is  their  due. 

I  have  prepared,  and  I  have  the  honor  of  now  submitting  to  your  approbation,  the  de 
cree  which  regulates,  in  accordance  with  the  principles  laid  down,  the  conduct  of  the  press 
of  Mexico.  This  decree  is  intended  to  have  merely  a  transitory  effect ;  it  will  be  susceptible 
of  all  the  modifications  which  the  definitive  government  of  the  country  may  think  proper 
to  give  it. 

Accept,  general,  the  assurances  of  my  highest  esteem  and  regard. 

A.  DE  SALIGNY, 

Minister  of  the  Emperor. 

General  FOREY, 

General  of  Division  and  Senator  of  France, 

Commander-in-Chiff  of  the  Fxpeditionary  Army  of  Mexico. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  377 


No.  4. 
Decree  of  General  Forey  regulating  the  liberty  of  the  press . 

Forey,  general  of  division,  and  senator  of  France,  commanding  in  chief  the  expeditionary 
army  of  Mexico : 

Desiring  to  revoke  the  order  suspending  the  press,  which  was  dictated  by  the  anomalous 
circumstances  in  which  Mexico  is  situated,  I  have  thought  proper,  in  accordance  with  the 
communication  made  to  me  by  the  minister  of  the  Emperor,  to  decree  as  follows : 

ARTICLE  1.  Every  person  domiciliated  in  Mexico  for  a  period  of  one  year  preceding  may 
establish  a  periodical,  to  treat  of  public  affairs,  civil,  commercial,  scientific,  and  literary 
matters,  after  having  first  obtained  the  authority  of  the  government  to  that  effect. 

ART.  2.  Each  periodical  will  be  under  obligation  to  have  a  responsible  editor,  approved 
by  the  administration,  and  whose  signature  shall  appear  at  the  end  of  each  number  of  the 
paper.  All  original  articles  must  be  signed  by  their  authors ;  reproductions  from  other 
periodicals  by  the  responsible  editor. 

ART.  3.  All  discussion  of  the  laws  and  institutions  established  for  the  country  by  its  rep 
resentatives  is  expressly  forbidden. 

ART.  4.  It  is  likewise  forbidden  to  the  press  to  concern  itself  with  what  appertains  to 
religion,  as  such  discussion  may  always  compromise  sacred  interests,  or  impair  the  honor 
and  consideration  due  to  the  clergy. 

ART  5.  A  moderate  discussion  of  the  acts  of  the  administration  is  allowed,  without  any 
reference,  however,  to  the  persons  of  the  representatives  of  authority. 

ART.  6.  The  journals  must  insert,  entire  and  without  charge,  the  communications  that 
may  be  sent  to  them  by  the  department  of  the  government  intrusted  with  the  censorship 
of  the  press. ,  Such  communications  must  neither  be  preceded  nor  accompanied  by  any  re 
flections  whatever. 

ART.  7.  Any  person  mentioned  in  the  articles  of  discussion  may  likewise  cause  to  be  in 
serted,  free  of  charge,  whatever  be  its  length,  his  answer  or  his  observations  on  the  article 
which  concerns  him,  provided,  always,  such  answer  contains  nothing  that  may  call  for  the 
animadversion  of  the  authorities,  or  incur  a  penalty  provided  by  the  laws  of  the  country. 

ART.  8.  The  infraction  of  articles  2,  3,  4,  5,  and  6  will  be  an  occasion  for  warnings,  which 
shall  be  notified  to  the  responsible  editor  of  the  paper  and  to  the  author  of  the  article  con 
demned,  and  which  shall  be  inserted  at  the  head  of  that  number  of  the  paper  which  appears 
on  the  day  following  that  of  the  notification.  These  warnings  cannot  be  the  object  of  any 
discussion  on  the  part  of  the  journal  to  which  they  are  given. 

ART.  9.  After  two  successive  warnings,  every  periodical  may  be  suspended  for  a  certain 
determinate  period.  If  occasion  be  given  for  a  third  warning,  before  being  relieved  from 
the  consequences  of  the  two  preceding,  the  paper  may  be  definitively  suppressed. 

ART.  10.  The  penalties  laid  down  in  article  9  will  be  dictated  by  the  executive  power, 
according  to  the  information  laid  before  it  by  the  director  of  the  press. 

ART.  11.  Crimes  and  delinquencies,  qualified  as  such  by  the  laws  of  the  land,  and  com 
mitted  by  the  medium  of  the  press,  either  against  public  morality  or  against  private  persons 
or  private  interests,  will  be  prosecuted  and  judged  in  accordance  with  actual  legislation  in 
effect  at  the  time. 

ART.  12.  Questions  relative  to  matters  of  minor  importance,  such  as  constitute  misde 
meanors,  are  reserved  for  the  further  decision  of  the  executive  power. 

ART.  13.  The  minister  of  the  Emperor  is  charged  with  the  execution  of  the  present 
decree. 

Given  at  Mexico,  June  15,  1863. 

FOREY. 


No.  5. 

Communication  of  M  Budin  to  General  Forey  in  relation  to  sales  called  illegal. 

MEXICO,  June  16,  1863. 

GENERAL  :  The  lieutenant  colonel  commanding  in  the  city  of  Mexico  informs  me,  in  a 
communication  bearing  date  on  the  present  day,  that  the  goods,  movable  and  immovable, 
appertaining  to  the  persons  comprised  in  your  decree  of  sequestration,  are  being  alienated 
by  the  agents  of  the  proprietors,  who  think,  by  acting  in  this  way.  to  withdraw  them  from 
the  effects  of  the  aforesaid  decree.  You  cannot  permit,  general,  that  the  arrangements  by 
means  of  which  you  have,  with  sufficient  reason,  calculated  to  inspire  a  great  number  of 


378  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

those  who  have  followed  the  opposite  p.uty  with  better  sentiments  towards  their  country, 
should  thus  be  eluded  by  persons  whose  first  duty  it  is  to  respect  the  acts  of  the  authority 
which  protects  them  and  affords  them  security.  There  is  no  difference  between  the  venders 
and  the  purchasers.  Both  should  be  prosecuted  by  all  the  means  requisite  to  give  just 
effect  to  the  acts  to  which  reference  has  been  made.  I  submit,  general,  the  following 
resolutions  tor  your  approval. 

1.  That  all  sales  made  since  the  entry  of  the  French  troops  into  the  city  of  Mexico,  that 
is,  from  the  10th  of  June;  all  siles  effected  in  other  places  occupied  by  France  since  the 
publication  of  the  decree  ;  finally,  all  that  may  henceforward  be  made,  be  null  and  void, 
and  will  not  hinder  the  carrying  out  of  the  provisions  of  the  decree  of  sequestration. 

2.  That  the  bureau  of  rental  revenue,  on  assuming  the  administration  of  immovable 
goods,  will  be  held  bound  to  no  reimbursement  to  purchasers. 

3.  That  the  prefect  will  compel  purchasers  to  make  restitution  to  the  bureau  of  such 
movable  goods  as  they  may  have  purchased,  or  the  value  of  them. 

4.  That  any  individual  informing  the  prefect  of  a  fraudulent  act  of  this  nature  shall 
receive  a  reward,  to  be  ascertained  by  that  functionary  in  accordance  with  the  importance 
of  the  effects  recovered. 

5.  That  any  public  functionary,  notary  or  other,  who  may,  after  the  publication  of  the 
present  decree,  give  his  official  aid  to  draw  up  any  instruments  of  writing  to  effectuate 
such  sales  as  are  herein  prohibited,  shall  be  deprived  of  his  office  and  fined  not  less  than 
one  thousand  dollars,  for  the  benefit  of  the  treasury. 

If  you  approve  the  regulations  which  I  have  the  honor  of  proposing  to  you,  in  order  to 
correct  the  abuse  which  I  have  indicated,  I  request  you,  general,  to  sign  the  annexed 
decree,  which  will  be  put  in  execution  immediately. 

Please  accept,  general,  the  expression  of  my  respectful  consideration. 

BUDIN, 

Commissioner  Extraordinary  of  Finance. 
Certified  copy  : 

BUDIN, 
Commissioner  Extraordinary  of  Finance. 


No.  6. 
Forey,  general  of  division,  senator  of  France,  commander -in- chief  of  the  expeditionary  army  in  Mtx'.co. 

In  view  of  the  preceding  communication  from  the  commissioner  extraordinary  of  finance, 
I  have  deemed  it  proper  to  decree  as  follows  : 

ARTICLE  1.  All  sales  of  goods,  movable  or  immovable,  belonging  to  persons  comprised 
in  the  decree  of  sequestration  which  may  have  been  effected  by  the  agents  of  the  proprietors 
since  the  entrance  of  the  French  troops  into  the  city  of  Mexico,  that  is,  from  the  10th  of 
June  ;  all  that  may  have  been  made  in  other  places  occupied  by  France  since  the  publica 
tion  of  the  decree ;  finally,  all  that  may  henceforward  be  made,  shall  be  null  and  void 
and  of  no  effect,  and  shall  not  hinder  the  carrying  out  of  the  provisions  of  the  decree  of 
sequestration. 

ART.  2.  The  bureau  of  rental  revenue,  on  assuming  the  administration  of  immovable 
goods,  shall  be  held  bound  to  no  reimbursement  to  purchasers. 

ART.  3.  The  political  prefect  of  each  district  will  compel  purchasers  to  make  restitution 
of  movable  goods,  or  of  the  value  of  them,  to  the  bureau. 

ART.  4.  Any  person  informing  the  prefect  of  a  fraudulent  act  of  this  nature  shall  receive 
a  reward  fixed  by  that  functionary,  and  proportionate  to  the  value  of  the  objects  recovered. 

ART.  5.  Any  public  functionary,  notary  or  other,  who  may,  after  the  publication  of  the 
present  decree,  afford  his  ministerial  assistance  to  draw  up  instruments  of  writing  for  sales 
prohibited  by  this  decree,  shall  incur  the  penalty  of  deprivation  of  office,  and  a  fine  of  not 
less  than  one  thousand  dollars,  for  the  benefit  of  the  treasury. 

ART.  6.  The  commissioner  extraordinary  of  finance  is  charged  with  the  execution  of  the 
present  decree,  which  will  be  inserted  in  the  official  bulletin  of  the  acts  of  the  intervention. 

Given  at  Mexico,  June  16,  1863. 

FQBBY. 

Certified  copy  : 

BUDIN, 
Commissioner  Extraordinary  of  Finance. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  379 

No.  7. 
Decree  of  Gen.  Furey  organizing  a  court-martial. 

The  general  of  division  and  senator  of  France,  commander-in-chief  of  the  expeditionary 
corps  in  Mexico : 

Considering  that  it  is  important  to  put  an  end  to  the  acts  of  vandalism  committed  by  the 
bands  of  malefactors  who  overrun  the  country,  perpetrating  acts  of  violence  on  persons  and 
property,  and  paralyzing  commercial  relations  ;  considering,  also,  that  the  ordinary  laws 
are  insufficient  to  repress  these  disorders  and  cause  delays  prejudicial  to  the  prompt  sup 
pression  of  crimes  in  those  same  places  in  which  they  are  committed,  I  decree  as  follows  : 

1.  All  persons  forming  part  of  a  band  of  armed  malefactors  are  outside  the  pale  of  the 
law. 

2.  All  persons  of  this  description  who  may  be  arrested  shall  be  judged  by  a  court- 
martial  . 

3.  Such  court  shall  be  invested  with  discretionary  powers 

4.  It  shall  be  composed  of  an  official  superior  as  president,  two  captains  as  judges,  a 
judge  advocate,  and  a  sergeant  as  secretary  of  the  court.     An  interpreter  shall  be  added  to 
the  court.     Persons  accused  may,  at  their  own  request,  have  counsel  to  defend  them. 

5.  The  court  shall  pronounce  sentence  by  absolute  majority  of  votes  at  the  same  sitting. 

6.  From  such  sentence  there  shall  be  no  appeal,  and  it  shall  be  executed  within  twenty- 
four  hours  from  the  time  of  rendering  judgment. 

7.  A  court-martial  shall  be  established  in  every  place  in  which  it  may  be  necessary. 

8.  The  duties  of  each  court  shall  be  temporary,  and  shall  begin  and  cease  according  to 
the  orders  of  the  commander-in-chief,  or  of  the  military  commander,  to  whom  the  com 
mander-in-chief  may  delegate  his  powers  to  this  effect. 

Headquarters  in  Mexico,  June  20,  1863. 

FOKEY,  General  of  Division,  8fC. ,  &fc. 


No.  8. 
Order  of  the  regency  to  iht  governor  of  the  district  of  Mexico  in  regard  to  the  observance  of  festivals. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE  AND  GOVEBNMENT, 
Palace  of  the  Regency  of  the  Empire,  Mexico,  July  16,  1863. 

The  gross  abuse  which,  with  manifest  violation  of  a  sacred  precept  of  religion,  has  been 
for  a  long  time  committed  in  this  capital,  in  disregarding  the  observance  of  festival  days, 
on  which,  to  the  scandal  of  all  good  Catholics,  labor  is  carried  on  in  the  workshops,  and 
stores  are  kept  open  for  the  sale  of  articles  not  necessary  to  subsistence,  nor  otherwise 
excepted  in  the  regulations  properly  promulgated  by  the  civil  authorities,  at  different 
periods,  has  justly  called  for  the  attention  of  the  regency  of  the  empire,  since  such  an 
abuse,  which  is  not  seen  in  other  countries,  even  in  those  dissenting  from  Catholicity,  dem 
onstrates  a  relaxation  from  Christian  customs,  so  much  the  more  notable,  as  it  exists  in  a 
society  that  loudly  proclaims  itself  Catholic  and  rigorous  observer  of  the  precepts  of 
religion. 

Wherefore  the  regency  has  deemed  it  proper  to  resolve  that  you  should  issue  your  orders 
to  prevent  for  the  future  this  scandalous  infraction,  and  should  see  that  all  fulfil  strictly 
the  regulations  in  force  in  respect  to  the  observance  of  festival  days. 

Which  supreme  order  I  communicate  to  you  for  the  purpose  expressed. 

J.  I.  DE  AN1EVAS, 
Sub-Secretary  of  State  and  of  Government. 


No.  9. 

'airs  in 
traitors. 


Circular  from  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs  in  regard  to  the  sequestration  of  the  property  of 

/r/«//vrc 


DEPARTMENT  or  GOVERNMENT. 


The  newspapers  have  in  a  great  measure  published  the  names  of  such  bad  Mexicans  as 
have  committed  the  heinous  crime  of  treason,  by  co-operating  with  the  invaders  of  their 
country  in  the  erection  of  a  false  and  spurious  government. 


380  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

Assuredly  the  nation  will  destroy  this  abominable  farce  ;  but,  for  all  that,  the  traitors 
should  not  remain  unpunished.  And  when  our  foreign  enemy  and  his  adherents,  violating 
all  principle,  arrogated  to  themselves  the  power  of  confiscating  the  goods  of  worthy  citi 
zens  who  serve  the  government  of  their  country,  it  is  not  just  that  the  action  of  our  laws 
should  be  suspended,  relative  to  the  sequestration  and  alienation  of  property,  for  violation 
of  the  duties  of  allegiance. 

Wherefore,  if  in  the  state,  which  you  so  worthily  govern,  such  seizure  should  be  intended 
to  have  effect,  you  will  issue  your  orders  to  have  the  preliminary  formalities  immediately 
arranged,  and  report  to  this  department,  in  order  that  the  proper  determinations  should  be 
made  in  regard  to  the  alienation  of  the  sequestered  property.  In  view  of  which,  after  the 
period  of  fifteen  days  after  the  receipt  of  this  supreme  resolution,  information  may  be 
received  of  overlooked  or  concealed  goods,  liable  to  sequestration,  and  the  informer  shall, 
in  such  case,  be  rewarded  with  the  fourth  part  of  the  amount  for  which  the  goods  so  dis 
covered  may  be  sold. 

Liberty  and  reform. 

San  Luis  Potosi,  July  18,  18C3.  FUENTE. 

The  GOVERNOR  of  the  State  of . 


No.  10. 
Explanation  l>y  Gen.  Forty  of  the,  laiu  of  sequestration  of  the  proferty  of  the  patriots. 

MEXICO,  August  19,  1863. 

To  the  superior  officers  in  command  of  the  provinces  and  districts  in  the  military  occupation  of  the  inter 
vention  : 

M.  LB  COMMANDANT  :  I  have  been  informed  that  the  commissions,  instituted  in  conformity 
with  the  decree  of  May  21  last,  in  regard  to  sequestration,  are  accustomed  to  deviate,  in 
the  execution  of  that  measure  from  the  spirit  that  dictated  it.  The  terms  of  that  decree, 
and  those  of  the  preceding  communication  on  which  it  was  founded,  should  not  give 
occasion  to  interpretations  that  in  their  very  nature  originate  errors,  these  being  so  much 
the  more  serious,  the  more  they  place  in  doubt  the  good  faith  of  the  commissioners,  in 
creating  certain  categories  of  sequestrations  not  contemplated  in  the  decree. 

In  the  main,  it  was  not  sought  to  affect  any  but  those  persons  who  oppose  the  arms  of 
the  intervention,  and  serve  either  in  the  regular  army  or  in  bands  of  guerillas.  Posterior 
to  the  publication  of  the  decree,  and  in  view  of  the  observations  of  the  financial  commis 
sary  extraordinary,  I  determined  that  those  persons  who  take  an  active  part  in  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  ex-president  should  also  be  comprised  in  the  sequestration.  In  fact,  it 
did  not  appear  proper  that  the  ministers  and  high  functionaries,  who  exert  a  much  greater 
influence  in  affairs  than  military  men,  should,  whatever  be  their  grade,  be  more  favorably 
treated. 

This  political  measure,  thus  understood  and  applied,  has  for  its  object  what  you  have 
doubtless  not  failed  to  perceive,  and  that  is,  to  draw  off,  by  touching  their  interests,  those 
persons  who  serve  in  one  or  other  way,  whether  in  a  military  or  political  capacity,  the  gov 
ernment  of  Juarez.  This  distinction  made,  you  now  understand  that  the  sequestration 
need  not  always  be  imposed  on  the  goods  of  those  persons  who  assert  that  they  are  neither 
combatants  nor  public  functionaries,  and  to  whom  the  measure  applies  because  they  hap 
pen  to  be  absent  from  their  homes,  or  because  they  conceive  that  their  ideas  are  different 
from  those  of  the  intervention.  In  regard  to  the  former,  it  will  be  proper  to  demand  from 
them  a  declaration,  in  virtue  of  which  they  will  oblige  themselves  not  to  serve  either  in  a 
military  or  in  a  civil  capacity  against  the  imperial  government  which  has  just  been 
founded.  Petitions  for  relief  from  sequestration  shall  not  be  transmitted  by  the  prefect  to 
the  proper  authorities,  unless  they  be  accompanied  by  the  above-mentioned  obligation. 
When,  through  mistake  or  other  cause,  sequestration  has  been  applied  to  the  goods  of 
individuals  of  the  second  class,  their  petitions  shall  be  attended  to  without  any  other 
requisite  than  the  presentation  of  the  certificate  of  the  authorities  of  the  place  of  the  resi 
dence  of  the  parties,  in  which  certificate  it  shall  be  stated  that  they  are  neither  military 
men  nor  public  functionaries,  or  that  they  had  retired  from  public  affairs  a  considerable 
time  previous  to  the  decree  of  the  21st  of  May. 

I  request  you,  commander,  to  communicate  the  contents  of  this  letter  to  the  civil  gov 
ernor  of  N ,  and  recommend  to  him  to  proceed,  in  the  way  which  I  have  indicated, 

in  the  practical  details  of  the  commission  of  sequestration. 

Receive,  commander,  the  assurance  of  my  most  respectful  consideration. 

FOKEY,  Marshal  of  France  and  Commander  in-Chirf. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  381 

No.  11. 

Letter  from  Marshal  Forey. 

EXPEDITIONARY  CORPS  OF  MEXICO,  CABINET  OF  THE  GENERAL-IN-CHIEF, 

Mexico,  August  22,  18G3. 

Mr.  EDITOR  :  I  have  read  in  your  paper  to-day  that  three  French  soldiers  have  been 
assassinated  in  Tlalpan  recently,  and  that  you  desire  to  see  the  authorities  adopt  rigorous 
measures  with  reference  to  that  locality. 

There  has  been  only  one  military  victim  ;  but  for  some  time  various  persons,  resident  in 
that  village,  have  perished,  cowardly  attacked  by  assassins,  who,  on  account  of  the  debility 
of  the  local  authority,  [this  village  is  within  sight  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  so  that  it  is 
strange,  if  the  French  arc  so  well  received,  order  does  not  prevail  that  short  distance  from 
the  principal  point  occupied  by  the  French. — Translator.]  evade  the  pursuit  of  justice,  and 
find  in  the  houses  of  the  inhabitants  an  asylum  which  effectually  conceals  them. 

For  the  rest  your  desires  have  been  already  anticipated,  and  yesterday  I  dictated,  in 
accord  with  the  government,  the  necessary  rigorous  measures  to  prevent  the  repetition  of 
crimes  which  offend  the  public  conscience,  as  well  of  French  officials  as  of  those  Mexicans 
who  have  a  right  to  my  protection. 

The  garrison  of  Tlalpan  has  been  augmented,  and  a  high  official  will  hereafter  discharge 
the  funtions  of  prefect.  The  ayuntamiento  (common  council)  has  been  removed.  The 
village  of  Tlalpan  wiil  suffer  a  penalty  of  $6,000,  which  will  in  part  be  distributed  for  the 
benefit  of  the  victims  who  have  been  cowardly  assassinated.  A  certain  number  of 
individuals  of  bad  reputation  [?]  will  be  arrested  and  will  serve  as  hostages.  If  the 
assassinations  continue,  these  hostages  shall  respond  for  them  with  their  heads.  If  this  is 
not  sufficient,  the  village  will  be  destroyed.  It  is  time  that,  as  the  Emperor  said  when 
detestable  passions  raged  in  France,  the  good  should  be  tranquilized,  and  also  the  bad.  The 
government  and  myself  are  perfectly  in  accord  ia  our  measures  to  maintain  order  and 
assure  good  citizens  the  enjoyment  of  their  property,  and  of  their  lives,  which  is  the  first 
of  all ;  and  if  we  are  disposed  to  forget  the  past  and  to  act  with  clemency  towards  those 
who  frankly  adhere  to  the  new  order  of  things  which  the  Ration  itself  has  established,  we 
are  equally  decided  to  follow  with  the  extremest  measures  of  rigor  all  the  enemies  of  social 
order.  t 

Eeceive  the  assurances,  &c. 

FOREY, 
Marshal  of  France,  Commandant  of  the  Expeditionary  Corps  of  Mexico. 


No.  12. 

TLALPAN,  August  27,  1863. 

The  superior  military  commandant  and  political  chief  of  Tlalpan,  in  accordance  with  the 
order  of  the  marshal  commanding  the  French,  army,  to  the  inhabitants  and  proprietors  of 
this  village  maketh  known  as  follows  : 

ARTICLE  1.  The  civil  and  administrators'  authorities  are  temporarily  suspended. 

ART.  2.  The  superior  commandant  of  Tlalpan  will  exercise  all  powers  in  the  district. 

ART.  3.  In  punishment  for  the  assassination  of  the  Zouave  Multer,  a  fine  of  $6,000  is 
imposed  upon  the  village  of  Tlalpan.  This  fine  must  be  fully  paid  within  four  days 
following  the  publication  of  this  decree. 

ART.  4.  The  individuals  of  this  town  who  have  been  conducted  as  prisoners  to  the 
capital  will  respond  for  the  lives  of  the  French  and  of  those  honorable  persons  who  have 
adhered  to  the  new  government  For  every  such  honorable  person  or  soldier  who  shall  be 
assassinated  in  Tlalpan,  a  reprisal  will  be  made  with  the  life  of  one  of  the  aforesaid 
prisoners. 

ART.  5.  All  the  inhabitants  of  Tlalpan  must  obey  exactly  the  orders  given  by  the 
superior  commandant. 

If  there  is  opposition  the  marshal  will  be  obliged  to  adopt  measures  of  rigor. 

COUSIN, 
Military  Commandant  and  Political  Chief. 


382  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 


No.  13. 
Lodging*. 

MEXICO,  June  15,  1863. 

De  Poitier,  lieutenant  colonel,  commander  of  the  place  of  Mexico,  to  its  inhabitants, 
know  ye : 

That  his  excellency,  general  of  division,  senator,  commander-in-chief  of  the  French 
expeditionary  corps,  with  the  object  that  the  lodgings  of  the  army  and  its  officers  should 
be  less  onerous  to  the  inhabitants  of  this  capital,  has  regulated  the  obligations  they  shall 
be  under,  declaring  that  all  owners  of  houses  are  obliged  to  place  at  the  disposal  of  each 
lieutenant  and  sub-lieutenant  one  room  ;  to  captains,  two  rooms  ;  to  superior  officers,  three 
rooms,  of  which  one  must  be  a  parlor.  Colonels  must  have  at  least  five  rooms.  The 
officers  of  staff  must  have  a  number  in  proportion  to  the  exigencies  of  the  service. 

It  must  be  understood  that  the  rooms  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  officers  of  the  army 
will  not  be  empty  ones,  but  furnished  by  the  owners ;  that  is  to  say,  they  must  supply  them 
with  beds,  chairs,  tables,  and  other  furniture.  Should  these  obligations  be  not  complied 
with,  the  municipal  authorities  shall  see  that  said  lodgings  are  furnished  at  the  expense  of 
the  proprietors  if  they  choose  to  excuse  themselves. 

Those  inhabitants  that  should  have  to  lodge  mounted  officers  must  reserve  in  their 
stables  the  necessary  locality  and  stalls  for  their  horses. 

DE  POITIER. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seivard. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

Washington,  March  2,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY:  To  complete  the  series  of  documents  relating  to  the  impor 
tant  events  which  are  actually  taking  place  in  the  Mexican  republic,  which  I 
have  had  the  honor  to  send  to  your  department,  I  enclose  with  this  note,  trans 
lated  into  English,  those  relative  to  the  occupation  of  Puebla  by  the  French 
army  on  the  evacuation  of  the  city  of  Mexico  by  the  government  and  national 
army,  and  on  the  installation  of  the  former  at  the  city  of  San  Luis  Potosi.  I 
also  enclose  a  declaration  of  blockade  of  the  Mexican  ports  on  the  Gulf,  and  some 
proclamations  of  the  French  Generals  Forey  and  Bazaine. 

I  avail  of  this  opportunity  to  repeat  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  most 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  tip.,  fyc.,  Sfc. 


General  Ortega's  announcement  of  the  surrender  of  PueLla.  —  Army  of  the  east. — The  Commander -in- 

chi<f  to  the  Minister  of  War. 

HEADQUARTERS  AT  ZARAGOZA,  May  17,  1863. 

With  this  date  and  at  this  hour,  4  a.  m.,  I  send  the  following  communication  to  the 
commander-in-chief  of  the  French  army  : 

GENERAL:  As  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  continue  defending  this  city,  from  the  want  of 
ammunition  and  provisions,  I  have  disbanded  the  army  that  was  under  my  command  and 
destroyed  its  equipments,  including  all  the  artillery.  The  city  is  therefore  at  the  order  of 
your  excellency,  and  you  can  direct  it  to  be  occupied  to-day  it  you  think  fit,  the  measures 
dictated  by  prudence  to  prevent  the  evils  that  a  violent  occupation  will  bring  with  it  when 
there  is  no  motive  for  it.  The  generals,  commanders,  and  officers  of  which  this  army 
consists,  are  at  the  Government  House,  and  surrender  as  prisoners  of  war.  I  cannot, 
general,  continue  defending  myself  any  longer.  If  I  could,  do  not  doubt  that  I  would 
do  so. 

Please  accept,  &c.,  &c. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  383 

The  above  I  transcribe  for  the  information  of  the  supreme  magistrate  of  the  republic, 
to  whom  I  hope  you  will  explain  that  the  army — the  command  of  which  he  was  pleased  to 
intrust  to  me — defended  itself  as  was  suitable  to  the  honor  and  reputation  of  the  republic,  and 
that  it  would  have  continued  doing  so  if  an  absolute  physical  impossibility  had  not 
interposed  to  prevent  it,  since  some  days  past  it  had  consumed  all  the  provisions  and  the 
small  quantity  of  ammunition  which  remained  to  it  after  the  fierce  attacks  which  it  lately 
suffered,  and  in  which,  fortunately,  it  did  not  lose  a  single  redoubt. 

I  believe,  sir,  that  I  have  fulfilled  the  wishes  of  the  supreme  government,  and  complied 
with  the  duties  imposed  upon  me  by  honor  and  the  office  intrusted  to  me  ;  but  if  it  should 
not  be  so  I  will  with  pleasure  submit  to  a  trial  as  soon  as  I  am  at  liberty,  for  in  a  few 
hours  I  shall  be  a  prisoner. 

Libeity  and  reform. 

J.  G.  ORTEGA. 

The  MINISTER  OF  WAR,  Mexico, 


Proclamation  of  President  Juarez. 

MEXICANS  :  The  nation  has  just  suffered  a  great  disaster.  Puebla  de  Zaragoza,  immor 
talized  by  numerous  and  glorious  attacks,  has  just  surrendered — not  because  of  the  power 
of  the  French,  whom  our  soldiers  had  become  accustomed  to  repulse,  but  for  reasons 
which  the  government  must  consider  without  parallel  for  their  glory  alone.  None  of  our 
generals,  or  chiefs,  who  have  so  greatly  distinguished  themselves  in  the  defence  of  that 
city,  have  as  yet  sent  to  the  government  information  of  this  deplorable  event,  but  a  variety 
of  private  accounts  accredit  the  fact,  although  they  are  silent  or  vary  on  points  of  the 
greatest  interest.  But  the  occupation  of  Zaragcza,  which  could  not  be  taken  in  any  of 
the  repeated  assaults  of  the  enemy,  nor  by  the  most  formidable  modes  of  warfare,  does 
not  in  any  way  lessen  or  tarnish  the  glory  of  our  brave  warriors,  who  have  known  how  to 
maintain  the  name  of  Mexico  in  spite  of  the  arrogant  invaders.  Dishonorable  and  with 
out  glory  has  been  their  success,  who  have  always  been  worsted  in  the  brave  combats  of 
which  the  city  of  Zaragoza  has  been  the  theatre. 

Mexicans!  this  calamity  cannot,  under  any  aspect,  discourage  the  holy  undertaking 
which  you  are  carrying  out.  Prove  to  the  French,  prove  to  all  the  nations  who  are 
watching  your  actions  in  this  unfortunate  situation,  that  adversity  is  not  a  sufficient 
cause  for  fainting  to  the  determined  republicans  who  defend  their  native  land  and  their 
rights.  Our  country  is  vast,  and  contains  innumerable  elements  of  war,  which  we  will 
use  against  the  invaders.  Not  only  will  the  capital  of  the  republic  be  defended  to  the  last 
extremity  with  all  the  elements  which  we  can  command,  but  all  places  will  be  defended 
with  like  vigor.  The  national  government  will  urge  with  energy  on  all  sides  the  resistance 
to  and  attack  upon  the  French,  and  will  not  listen  to  any  proposition  of  peace  from  them 
which  shall  offend  in  the  minutest  particular  the  independence,  complete  sovereignty,  the 
liberty,  or  the  honor  of  the  republic  and  its  glorious  antecedents  in  this  war. 

Mexicans !  let  us  swear  by  the  heroes  killed  in  defending  the  holy  walls  of  Zaragoza, 
let  us  swear  by  those  who  still  live,  victors  there  while  able  to  battle,  that  we  will  wage 
war  without  ceasing,  and  under  all  sacrifices,  against  the  odious  army  which  is  profaning 
the  soil  of  Hidalgo,  of  Moreloz,  of  Zaragozi,  and  of  Gonzalez  Ortega 

BENITO  JUAREZ. 


Close  of  the  General  Conyre&s. 

On  the  31st  of  last  month  the  general  congress  closed  its  sessions  in  conformity  with  the 
constitution.  On  this  solemn  occasion  the  following  discourses  were  delivered  : 

The  president  of  the  republic  arose  and  said  : 

CITIZEN  DEPUTIES  :  Notwithstanding  the  violence  and  danger  of  the  present  situation,  you 
have  occupied  yourself  in  the  performance  of  your  important  duties  up  to  the  present  day, 
on  which  the  constitution  commands  you  to  terminate  them.  Although  this,  indeed,  is 
nothing  new  and  requires  no  great  effort  on  the  part  of  the  worthy  representatives  of  the 
Mexican  people,  in  whom  all  the  civic  virtues  are  conspicuous,  it  will  be,  in  truth,  one  proof 
the  more  of  the  security  and  firmly  established  dominion  of  our  institutions  presented  to 
the  view  of  our  foreign  enemy,  when  not  only  he  but  many  politicians  of  Europe  prophe 
sied  the  utter  ruin  of  our  government  at  the  very  clash  of  the  arms  of  Napoleon  III. 


384  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

But  the  influence  of  the  army  which  that  potentate  has  sent  to  subjugate  us  reaches  no 
further  than  the  ground  which  it  occupies,  and  our  enemies  have  no  reason  to  be  proud  of 
an  occupation  that  has  left  all  the  honor  and  the  glory  on  our  side. 

The  events  that  have  transpired  in  Puebla  de  Zuagoza  have  filled  the  people  of  Mexico 
with  noble  pride,  and  have  intensified  their  purpose  of  repelling  the  invaders  of  their  coun 
try,  who  have  already  thrown  off  the  mask  of  deceit  to  parade  their  impudence  in  the  face 
of  the  world.  The  defence  of  Zaragoza  and  the  glorious  disaster  which  terminated  that 
truly  sublime  drama — a  contest  in  which  the  French  were  FO  often  humbled,  an  exploit 
unparalleled  in  its  heroism,  and  only  performed  under  the  pressure  of  the  sternest  necessity 
and  the  noble  resolution  of  never  surrendering  our  arms  and  our  banners — are  prodigies  that 
proclaim  the  greatness  of  this  people,  examples  that  will  not,  most  assuredly,  be  lost  on 
the  people  of  Mexico. 

Your  solicitude  has  been  worthily  employed  in  ameliorating  the  fate  of  our  soldiers 
wounded  and  taken  prisoners,  and  in  providing  for  their  families.  The  government  has 
always  employed  itself  in  fulfilling  this  demand  of  patriotism  and  of  the  clearest  justice, 
and  the  republic  makes  such  provisions  in  this  regard  as  are  in  its  power. 

Adversity,  citizen  deputies,  dismays  only  contemptible  nations.  Our  people  are  ennobled 
by  great  deeds,  and  we  are  far  from  losing  sight  of  the  immense  moral  and  material  obsta 
cles  which  the  country  will  oppose  to  its  unjust  invaders. 

The  vote  of  confidence  with  which  you  have  honored  me  anew  claims  the  warmest  ex 
pression  of  ray  acknowledgment  to  the  assembly  of  the  nation,  though  it  can  no  longer 
enhance  my  honor  or  my  duty  in  the  defence  of  my  country. 

You  are  now  going  to  serve  her  beyond  the  precincts  of  these  walls,  and  your  love  for 
her  should,  on  all  occasions,  be  animated  by  the  assurance  that  the  government  will  sustain 
the  will  of  the  Mexican  people,  maintaining,  at  all  hazards,  their  autonomy  and  their  dem 
ocratic  institutions. 

Mr.  Sebastian  Lerdo  de  Tejada  replied  in  the  following  terms  : 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  :  The  congress  of  the  union  concludes,  to-day,  the  second  yearly  term  of 
its  sessions,  on  the  day  designated  by  the  fundamental  code. 

While  some  of  the  representatives  of  the  people  have  been  defending  the  national  honor 
and  independence  in  arms,  others  have  come  from  the  remotest  states,  so  that  congress 
might  not  fail  to  assemble  at  the  time  appointed  by  the  constitution.  Thus  once  again 
has  the  pretext  been  belied  for  the  iniquitous  war  waged  against  the  republic,  when  it  is 
sought  to  veil  the  ambitious  purpose  of  usurping  its  sovereignty  with  the  assumed  desire  to 
afford  assistance  to  the  Mexican  people  in  reorganizing  themselves,  and  to  give  them  a  pro 
tection  which  they  have  not  solicited. 

In  these  solemn  moments  an  occasion  has  been  presented  for  the  display  of  the  firm 
adhesion  of  all  the  states,  and  of  the  general  will  of  the  immense  majority  of  Mexicans  to 
sustain  the  institutions  and  the  government  of  the  republic.  In  the  face  of  the  invading 
army,  in  the  midst  of  the  perils  of  war,  and  in  spite  of  the  general  confusion  occasioned  by 
it,  the  representatives  of  the  people  have  come  from  all  quarters,  so  that  the  regular  course 
of  public  power  might  not  be  interrupted. 

In  this  session  congress  has,  justly  and  preferably  to  all  else,  engaged  its  attention  in  all 
that  concerns  the  war.  In  its  course  it  has  been  able  to  admire  the  heroic  courage  and 
constancy  of  the  defenders  of  Puebla  de  Zaragoza.  It  justly  acknowledges  and  declares 
that  they  have  merited  well  of  their  country,  and  that  they  and  the  families  of  those  who 
fell  should  be  cared  for  with  special  solicitude. 

There  they  have  conquered  for  the  republic  a  new  glory  never  to  be  forgotten,  and  they 
have  given  to  their  fellow-citizens  a  noble  example  to  imitate.  They  will  ever  serve  for 
models  to  all  good  Mexicans,  to  enable  them,  whatever  may  be  the  vicissitudes  of  war,  to 
continue  it  without  being  dismayed  by  any  misfortune  or  terrified  by  any  sacrifice,  until 
they  obtain  the  invader's  respect  for  the  justice  of  the  cause  of  Mexico. 

That  the  contest  may  be  prosecuted  without  cessation,  congress  has  granted  to  the  execu 
tive  a  prolongation  of  the  amplest  powers  that  may  be  required. 

The  chief  magistrate,  who  has  defended  the  rights  of  Mexico  under  the  most  difficult 
circumstances,  remains  invested  with  all  the  plenitude  of  power  given  him  by  the  free  elec 
tion  of  the  people  and  the  repeated  votes  of  confidence  of  the  national  legislature.  We 
doubt  not  but  that,  with  these  testimonials,  with  the  energetic  and  unanimous  co-opera 
tion  of  all  the  states,  and  with  the  patriotism  of  all  good  Mexicans,  he  will  omit  nothing 
that  may  be  necessary  to  prosecute  the  contest  worthily,  until  a  final  victory  is  effected  for 
the  rights,  the  sovereignty,  and  the  independence  of  the  republic. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  385 

Benito  Juarez,  President  of  the  Mexican  republic,  to  his  fellow-countrymen. 

MEXICANS  :  For  grave  considerations  connected  with  the  defence  of  the  nation,  I  ordered 
our  army  to  evacuate  the  city  of  Mexico,  withdrawing  the  abundant  materials  of  war  which 
we  had  collected  there,  and  I  ordered  that  the  city  of  San  Luis  Potosi  should  be  temporarily  . 
the  capital  of  the  republic.  The  first  of  these  resolutions  was  immediately  put  into  execu 
tion,  and  the  second  has  likewise  been  carried  into  effect  by  the  instalment  of  the  supreme 
government  in  this  city,  which  possesses  so  many  facilities  for  carrying  on  the  war  against 
the  enemy  of  our  glorious  and  beloved  country. 

In  Mexico,  as  in  Puebla  de  Zaragoza,  we  would  have  resisted  the  French,  and  yielded  at 
last  to  invincible  necessity.  But  it  was  not  expedient  to  choose  voluntarily  those  adverse, 
though  glorious,  situations,  nor  to  regard  our  honor  alone,  as  though  we  had  despaired  of 
our  fortune. 

Concentrated  at  one  point,  as  now,  the  enemy  will  be  weak  outside  of  that ;  scattered, 
he  will  be  weak  in  all  quarters.  He  will  see  himself  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  the 
republic  is  not  confined  within  the  limits  of  the  cities  of  Mexico  and  Zaragoza  ;  that  life  and 
spirit,  the  consciousness  of  justice  and  of  strength,  the  love  of  independence  and  of  repub 
licanism,  the  noble  pride  aroused  against  the  iniquitous  invader  of  our  soil,  are  sentiments 
diffused  throughout  the  entire  Mexican  people  ;  and  that  the  silent  and  indefinite  majority, 
in  whose  uprising  Napoleen  III  placed  the  successful  issue  and  the  justification  of  the  most 
astonishing  enterprise  which  the  nineteenth  century  has  seen,  will  not  rise  above  a  chimera 
invented  by  a  handful  of  traitors. 

The  French  were  mistaken  when  they  thought  they  could  lord  it  over  the  nation  at  the 
mere  sound  of  their  arras,  and  when  they  presumed  to  crown  their  shameless  assumption  by 
violating  the  laws  of  honor,  and  when  they  considered  themselves  masters  of  Zaragoza,  because 
they  had  occupied  the  fort  of  San  Javier.  Now,  they  deceive  themselves  most  miserably 
in  flattering  themselves  that  they  rule  over  the  country,  when  they  scarcely  begin  to  real 
ize  the  enormous  difficulties  of  their  inconsiderate  enterprise  ;  since,  if  they  have  consumed 
so  much  time,  invested  so  large  sums,  and  sacrificed  so  many  lives  to  obtain  a  few  advan 
tages  in  the  glorious  engagements  at  Puebla,  what  can  they  expect  when  we  shall  oppose 
them  the  whole  people  as  an  army  and  the  territory  of  the  country  as  a  battle-field  ?  Did 
Napoleon  I  master  Spain  because  his  troops  occupied  Madrid  and  several  cities  of  that  king 
dom  ?  What  happened  to  the  French  army  after  having  entered  the  capital  of  Russia? 
Were  not  the  invaders  of  those  countries  ignominiously  driven  out  ?  Did  it  not  happen  the 
same  to  the  retrograde  faction  that  held  in  its  possession  our  former  capital  ?  And  in  what 
of  our  towns  did  we  not  overthrow  the  power  of  Spain  ? 

Believe  me,  fellow-countrymen,  your  valor,  your  perseverance,  your  republican  sentiments, 
your  firm  union  and  adhesion  to  the  government  which  you  have  chosen  as  the  depository 
of  your  confidence,  of  your  power,  and  of  your  glorious  standard,  will  suffice  to  make  your 
unjust  and  perfidious  enemies  bite  the  dust.  Forget  your  quarrels  ;  lay  aside  your  aspira 
tions,  be  they  reasonable  or  unreasonable,  if  on  account  of  them  you  feel  less  resolute  and 
determined  in  the  defence  of  your  country,  because  against  our  country  we  have  no  cause 
of  complaint.  Let  us  be  united,  then,  and  let  us  spare  no  sacrifices  to  save  our  independ 
ence  and  our  liberty,  those  great  blessings,  without  which  all  the  rest  are  sources  of  sad 
ness  and  shame.  Let  us  be  united,  and  we  will  be  free.  Let  us  be  united,  and  we  will 
cause  all  nations  to  bless  and  glorify  the  name  of  Mexico. 

BENITO  JUAREZ. 

SAN  Luis  POTOSI,  June  10,  1863. 


Circular   to  the  governors  of  the  states. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  FOREIGN  RELATIONS  AND  GOVERNMENT. 

The  President  and  his  ministers  have  arrived  yesterday  in  this  city.  In  it  the  supreme 
government  remains  established,  and  here  the  chief  functions  of  federal  power  will  be  dis 
charged,  in  accordance  with  the  decree  issued  to  that  effect. 

I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  to  you  a  copy  of  the  proclamation  issued  by  the  President 
in  regard  to  the  aforesaid  tiansfer,  and  I  take  the  liberty  of  recommending  to  you  to  cause 
the  greatest  possible  publicity  to  be  given  to  this  important  document.  With  good  reason 
the  chief  magistrate  believes  that  his  voice,  on  this  solemn  occasion,  will  have  a  faithful 
echo  in  the  hearts  of  Mexicans. 

The  unequivocal  and  universal  marks  of  enthusiasm  with  which  the  President  has  been 

greeted  on  his  way  and  in  this  city,  assure  him  more  and  more  that  the  invader  of  our 

country  is  abhorred  in  all  quarters,  and  that  our  defence  will  be  terrible,  unexpected, 

worthy  of  our  cause,  and  worthy,  also,  of  the  victory  which  must  necessarily  crown  our  forces. 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 25 


386  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

A  people  can  be  conquered  only  because  its  aggressor  has  in  his  hand  an  insurmountablc- 
superiority,  or  because  discord  rends  its  besom,  or,  in  fine,  because  it  regards  its  danger  and 
its  future  "with  indolent  listlessness.  Since  the  events  that  have  transpired  at  Zatagoza,  the 
French  army  cannot  boast  of  its  pre-eminence  in  combat.  There  remain  to  be  considered 
our  domestic  quarrels  or  our  unpatriotic  coldness,  since  the  impotent  insurrections  of  the 
traitorous  reaction  scarcely  merit  the  name  of  civil  discords  ;  and  as  to  our  indolence,  the 
enemy  has  clearly  seen  that,  since  our  great  civil  wars,  the  whole  nation  renounces  the 
pleasures  of  an  ignominious  peace,  to  rush  against  the  invaders  of  their  native  land. 

Union,  governor,  union  with  the  powers  that  are  its  bonds,  ought  to  be  promoted  and 
affirmed  with  diligent  solicitude  ;  and  a  generous  oblivion  of  all  that  prevents  us  from  de 
voting  ourselves  with  all  the  ardor  of  our  nature  to  the  sacred  cause  of  the  republic  will 
make  us  great  and  invincible. 

The  President,  in  order  that  the  virtues  recommended  in  his  proclamation  may  take 
deeper  root  with  you,  has  requested  me  to  address  you  in  regard  to  a  matter  of  great  inter 
est  on  this  occasion,  the  first  on  which  I  have  the  honor  of  communicating  witli  you  outside 
of  the  ancient  capital. 

The  law  of  nations,  in  treating  of  de  facto  governments,  presumes  that  they  leally  exist : 
but  it  is  an  evident  fact  that  the  spurious  authorities  imposed  by  Napoleon  III  on  the  peo 
ple  now  held  or  hereafter  to  be  held  in  subjection  by  them  are  not  and  cannot  be  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  country,  and  much  less  when  the  legitimate  government  exists  in  reality. 
So  much  for  the  law  of  nations.  Now,  as  far  as  concerns  our  public  law,  those  false  author 
ities  are  nothing  better  than  seditious  and  treasonable.  Wherefore,  the  chief  magistrate- 
commands  me  so  to  declare,  and  to  protest,  as  in  his  name  I  do  protest,  that  the  republic 
does  not  and  will  not  recognize  in  these  supposed  functionaries  any  power  or  authority 
whatever  to  bind  it  by  their  treaties,  agreements,  or  promises,  by  their  acts,  omissions,  or 
other  means  or  manner  whatsoever  ;  and  that  those  who  execute  any  authority  or  commis 
sion,  conferred  or  consented  to  by  the  French,  will  most  undoubtedly  be  punished  in  accord 
ance  with  the  laws  of  the  country. 

Please  to  accept  the  assurance  of  my  highest  consideration  and  esteem.  Liberty  and 
reform ! 

FUENTE. 

SAX  Luis  POTOSI,  June  10,  1863. 


Circular  addressed  to  the  foreign  diplomatic  body  in  Mexico. 

NATIONAL  PALACE,  SAN  Luis  POTOSI, 

June  11,  1863. 

I  have  the  honor  of  addressing  to  your  excellency  certified  copies  of  the  proclamation 
just  issued  by  the  President,  and  of  the  circular  addressed  by  his  order  to  the  governors  of 
the  states,  in  reference  to  the  transfer  of  the  seat  of  government  of  the  republic  to  this  city, 
now  declared  the  temporary  capital  of  the  United  States  of  Mexico. 

It  appears  useless  to  me  to  repeat  to  your  excellency  what  I  have  already  officially  said, 
that  is,  that  whenever  you  consider  it  proper  to  transfer  your  residence  to  this  city,  you 
will  have  placed  at  your  disposal  all  the  escort  necessary  for  your  person  and  retinue,  which 
will  be  stationed  at  proper  intervals  along  the  route  from  the  nearest  positions  to  the  city 
of  Mexico  occupied  by  the  constitutional  government. 

I  am  gratified,  on  this  occasion,  to  be  able  to  renew  to  your  excellency  the  assurance  of 
my  consideration  and  esteem. 

JUAN  A.  DE  LA  FUENTE. 


Circular  addressed  to  the  foreign  consular  agent  in  Mexico. 

NATIONAL  PALACE,  SAN  Luis  POTOSI, 

June  11,  1863. 

For  your  information  and  convenience,  I  have  the  pleasure  of  transmitting  to  you,  by 
direction  of  the  President  of  the  republic,  a  copy  of  the  proclamation  just  issued  by  him, 
and  also  a  copy  of  the  circular  addressed  by  his  order  to  the  governors  of  the  states,  in 
reference  to  the  transfer  of  the  seat  of  government  of  the  nation  to  this  city,  already 
declared  the  temporary  capital  of  the  United  States  of  Mexico. 

I  take  this  opportunity  of  renewing  to  you,  &c.,  &c.,  £c., 

FUENTE 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  387 

In  view  of  the  state  of  war  existing  between  France  and  the  government  of  Juarez, 
acting  by  virtue  of  the  powers  which  belong  to  us,  declare  : 

That  from  the  6th  of  September  instant,  the  ports  and  their  outlets,  the  rivers,  harbors, 
roadsteads,  creeks,  &c. ,  of  the  coasts  of  Mexico,  which  are  not  in  the  occupation  of  our 
troops,  and  which  still  acknowledge  the  power  of  Juarez,  from  the  lagoon,  ten  leagues  to 
the  south  of  Matamoras,  up  to  and  including  Campeche,  between  twenty-five  degrees  and 
twenty  two  minutes  north,  ninety-nine  degrees  and  fifty-four  minutes  west,  and  nineteen 
degrees  and  fifty- two  minutes  north,  and  ninety-two  degrees  and  fifty  minutes  west,  (meridian 
of  Paris,)  shall  be  held  in  a  state  of  effective  blockade  by  the  naval  forces  under  our  corn- 
main  i,  and  that  friendly  or  neutral  vessels  shall  have  a  delay  of  twenty-five  days  to 
complete  their  cargoes  and  to  quit  the  places  blockaded 

The  points  excepted  from  the  blockade  are  Tampico,  Vera  Cruz,  Alvarado,  Coatzacoalcos, 
Tabasco,  and  Carmen. 

Proceedings  in  conformity  with  international  law  and  the  treaties  in  force  with  neutral 
powers  will  be  taken  against  all  vessels  which  shall  attempt  to  violate  the  said  blockade. 

On  board  of  the  frigate  Bellona,  of  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  the  French,  anchored  in 
the  roadstead  of  Sacrificios,  the  5th  of  September,  1863. 

A.  BOSSE. 


MEXICO,  September  30,  1863. 

MEXICANS  :  I  have  terminated  the  great  mission  which  the  French  Emperor  intrusted  to 
me,  and  I  am  now  about  to  leave  for  France. 

I  can  assure  you  that  no  alteration  has  been  made  in  the  policy  of  the  French  Emperor 
to  this  day. 

In  departing  from  you,  I  leave  you  with  a  general  in  whom  you  may  have  full  confidence. 

To  form  a  new  constitution,  that  all  might  be  happy  under  it,  was  the  object  of  the 
mission  ;  but  the  Emperor's  intentions  were  not  fully  realized,  because  they  are  not  suffi 
ciently  known. 

In  leaving  Mexico,  I  hope  my  departure  will  be  the  means  of  opening  the  eyes  of  the 
blind  (or  refractory)  among  you,  and  that  the  false  patriots  in  your  midst  will  be  discovered 
in  the  ruin  they  seek  for  their  country.  Then  the  true  Mexican  will  find  out  there  are  but 
few  false  Mexicans ;  and  that  there  are  not  many  who  treat  with  contempt  or  disregard 
the  existing  government.  Then  the  true  Mexican  will  be  astonished  to  see  the  little  num 
ber  of  mock  patriots,  and  their  proximity  to  the  mire  in  which  they  are  rapidly  falling. 

Be  assured  that  God,  whose  Providence  protects  the  French  arms,  will  not  allow  the 
fratricide  of  the  nation. 

Adieu,  Mexicans !  I  leave  with  full  confidence  in  the  welfare  of  your  country.  You 
may  be  proud,  and  you  may  thank  Providence  that  your  happiness  has  been  consigned  to 
the  French  Emperor.  In  leaving,  I  can  say  you  will  not  regret  placing  your  happiness  in 
his  hands. 

FOREY. 


HEADQUARTERS  AT  MEXICO,  October  22,  1863. 

MEXICANS  :  On  taking  command  of  the  army,  I  must  explain  to  you  that  this 'change  of 
commander  does  not  imply  any  change  of  politics. 

My  mission  is  to  watch  over  the  sincere  fulfilment  of  the  manifesto  of  the  12th  of  June, 
1863,  which  contains  the  essential  principles  in  which  the  provisional  government  must 
stand  in  the  direction  of  public  affairs. 

These  general  principles,  which  belong  to  our  epoch,  and  proceed  from  the  instructions 
of  the  Emperor's  government,  prove  how  much  our  sovereign  benevolently  interests  himself 
for  the  regeneration  of  your  fine  country. 

My  task  will  be  easy  if  you  assist  me,  and  I  reckon  upon  it,  as  you  ought  to  have  faith 
in  my  earnest  wish  to  bring  to  fulfilment,  when  the  time  arrives,  each  of  the  promises 
contained  in  the  manifesto  alluded  to. 

Have,  therefore,  confidence  in  the  future.  Let  every  Mexican  lay  aside  the  spirit  of 
party  ;  let  all  unite  to  establish  a  stable  government  in  harmony  with  the  ideas  of  the  age, 
protected  by  the  French  flag  wherever  its  glorious  colors  wave. 

BAZAINE,  Commander -in-  Chief. 


388  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Scward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  May  10,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  Carrying  out  my  purpose  of  remitting  to  you  the  docu 
ments  which  may  come  into  my  possession,  and  may  contribute  to  the  elucida 
tion  of  the  grave  events  which  are  actually  taking  place  in  my  country,  in  the 
important  crisis  she  is  now  passing  through,  I  have  the  honor  to  send  to  you, 
translated  into  English,  the  annexed  documents  relative  to  the  case  of  Don 
Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa  Anna,  ex-general  in  the  Mexican  army.  By  these  it 
seems  that  notwithstanding  General  Santa  Anna  had  been  invited  by  what  in 
Mexico  is  now  called  "the  regency,"  which  congratulated  him  on  his  arrival 
in  the  country,  the  general-iu- chief  of  the  French  army  made  him  leave  the 
country  upon  frivolous  pretexts,  and  the  so-called  "regency"  submitted  to  this 
determination,  as  it  submits  in  everything,  to  the  caprice  of  the  invaders,  because 
it  has  neither  strength  nor  existence  proper  to  itself,  being  merely  a  vile  instru 
ment  of  the  French. 

For  the  rest,  it  appears  to  me  unnecessary  to  reproduce  the  web  of  calumnies 
against  the  constitutional  government,  the  patriots,  and  the  people  of  Mexico, 
contained  in  the  proclamation  of  General  Santa  Anna,  and  by  which  he  tries  to 
excuse  his  humiliating  submission  to  the  show  of  government  set  up  by  the  in 
vaders  of  his  country. 

I  reiterate  to  you,  Mr.  Secretary,  the  protestation  of  my  most  distinguished 
consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fyc.,  $r. 


VERA  CRUZ,  February  28,  1864. 

On  the  27th  instant,  at  5  o'clock  in  the  evening,  I  disembarked  in  this  port,  proceeding 
from  St.  Thomas,  where  I  lived  some  years,  receiving  the  hospitality  which  political  vicissi 
tude  obliged  me  to  seek  in  a  foreign  country. 

On  deciding  to  return  to  my  native  soil,  I  bring  with  me  the  intention  of  co  operating, 
in  whatever  way  I  may  be  able,  in  the  consolidation  of  the  institution  which  the  nation 
has  thought  proper  to  adopt,  under  the  beneficent  shadow  of  the  throne  on  which  will  be 
seated  the  illustrious  prince  designed  in  the  sublime  counsels  of  Divine  Providence  to  raise 
the  nation  from  the  abyss  of  misfortune  into  which  she  has  been  plunged  by  anarchy.  The 
regency  of  the  empire  may  consider  my  services  needless  and  deliver  me  the  orders  it  may 
think  proper. 

On  the  installation  of  the  regency  I  charged  General  Don  Santiago  Blanco  to  declare  my 
sentiments  of  adhesion,  and  the  satisfaction  it  gave  me  to  know  that  a  national  government 
had  been  established  under  the  form  chosen  by  the  will  of  the  Mexican  peple,  which  com 
mission  he  had  the  goodness  to  discharge  according  to  my  desire.  Consequently,  I  now  do 
so  directly  from  this  place,  to  inform  the  regency  that  it  may  rely  on  my  poor  services  and 
give  what  orders  it  pleases  to  the  dean  of  the  Mexican  army. 

Please  to  acquaint  the  regency  with  this  note,  and  accept  my  protestations  of  considera 
tion. 

ANTONIO  LOPEZ  DE  SANTA  ANNA. 

The  UNDER  SECRETARY  OF  WAR,  Mexico  city. 


IMPERIAL  PALACE,  MEXICO,  March  7,  1864. 

MOST  EXCELLENT  SIR  :  The  regency  has  received  with  the  most  grateful  satisfaction  your 
note  of  the  28th  ultimo,  in  which  you  were  pleased  to  communicate  your  safe  arrival  at 
that  port,  on  the  27th,  from  St.  Thomas,  where  you  have  lived  for  several  years.  It  is 
also  informed  of  the  noble  feelings  which  animate  your  excellency  on  returning  to  your 


MEXICAN     AFFAIRS.  389 

country— feelings  which  were  never  doubted,  both  beciuse  they  demonstrate  your  patriot 
ism,  and  because  you  had  made  them  known  through  General  Blanco  when  the  present 
government  was  installed. 

The  regency  congratulates  your  excellency  on  your  return  to  your  native  soil,  arid  views 
with  the  deepest  interest  your  decision  to  lend  it  your  important  services. 

In  having  the  honor  to  tell  you  this  in  reply,  it  is  a  satisfaction  to  me  to  offer  you  the 
assurances  of  my  distinguished  consideration. 

JUAN  DE  D    PEZA, 
Under  Semtary  of  State  and  War  and  Navy  Departments. 

His  Excellency  General  of  Division  DON  ANTONIO  LOPEZ  DE  SANTA  ANNA. 


MEXICAN  EXPEDITIONARY  CORPS,  OFFICE  OF  THE  GENERAL-IN  CIIIEF, 

Mexico,  March  7,  1864. 

MONSIEUR  LE  GENERAL:  His  excellency  General  Almonte  has  just  sent  me  a  supplement 
to  No.  68  of  the  Indicator,  of  Orizaba,  in  which  I  find,  in  eztenso,  the  proclamation  given 
by  you  to  Mexico,  which  bears  your  signature. 

You  have  broken  the  pledge  signed  by  you  on  board  the  English  steamer  Con  way,  and 
have  not  even  thought  it  your  duty  to  address  yourself  to  the  commander-in  chief  of  the 
Franco-Mexican  army,  who  represents  France  in  Mexico. 

You  can  no  longer  remain  on  Mexican  soil,  and  I  invite  you,  as  well  as  your  son,  to  quit 
it  without  delay. 

I  give,  in  this  respect,  formal  orders  to  the  superior  commandant  of  Vera  Cruz,  and  to 
the  admiral  commanding  in  chief  the  French  naval  forces  in  the  Gulf,  in  order  that  a  vessel 
may  be  placed  at  your  disposal. 

BAZAINE,  General. 


VERA  CRUZ,  March  12,  1864. 

GENERAL  :  I  received  with  surprise  your  excellency's  communication  of  the  7th  instant, 
in  which  you  tell  me  that,  because  I  broke  my  pledge  in  causing  my  manifesto  to  be 
printed  in  Orizaba,  and  for  not  having  addressed  myself  to  your  excellency,  who,  as  com- 
inander-in-chief  of  the  Franco-Mexican  army,  represents  France,  I  must  immediately  leave 
my  country. 

An  accusation  of  such  a  nature  compels  me  to  reply  to  your  excellency  that  you  are 
mistaken  in  what  you  say.  First,  because  I  do  not  remember  to  have  pledged  my  word  to 
be  dumb  on  returning  to  my  country.  I  am  not  acquainted  with  the  French  language, 
and  on  signing,  on  board  the  English  steamer,  the  recognition  of  the  intervention  and  the 
Mexican  emperor,  Ferdinand  Maximilian,  as  I  was  directed  to  do  by  the  commandant  of 
this  place,  I  believed  myself  bound  by  that  promise  alone,  since  I  had  no  intention  of 
doing  anything  on  coming,  for  the  reason  that  Marshal  Forey  had  arranged,  in  an  order  in 
my  possession,  that  nothing  should  be  required  of  me  on  my  arrival,  an;l  that  I  should  be 
properly  treated  in  every  respect.  Besides,  it  was  not  I  who  sent  my  manifesto  to  be 
printed.  Fiiends  from  the  interior  who  visited  me,  desirous  of  knowing  my  opinion  under 
present  circumstances,  asked  me  for  a  copy  of  my  manuscript,  which  friends,  of  their  own 
accord,  published  it,  assuredly  with  the  best  intention,  since  the  document  contained 
nothing  unfavorable  to  the  new  system,  but,  on  the  contrary,  strengthens  it  in  every  respect. 

Having  been  informed  that  it  could  not  be  printed  here,  I  directed  the  manuscript, 
signed,  to  General  Almonte,  president  of  the  imperial  regency,  which  is  the  government 
of  the  nation,  recognized  by  it  and  some  others,  including  that  of  your  excellency,  and  did 
not  direct  it  to  you,  it  not  being  upon  any  military  subject,  and  because  I  knew  that  the 
representative  of  France  is  his  excellency  the  Marquis  de  Montholon,  minister  plenipoten 
tiary  of  the  Emperor  of  the  French. 

Wherefore  your  excellency  will  understand  the  profound  displeasure  which  the  suppo 
sition  that  I  had  broken  my  word  has  produced  in  me,  and  that  upon  this  is  based,  in  part, 
the  abuse  done  me  in  expelling  me  immediately  from  the  territory  of  my  country,  after 
eight  years  and  a  half  of  ostracism,  and  when  my  health  is  latterly  so  altered.  In  conse 
quence  of  such  a  procedure,  which  I  cannot  misunderstand,  and  in  use  of  my  right,  I  protest 
formally  against  the  said  act  of  violence  against  my  person,  as  being  both  unjust  and 
inhuman,  and  I  will  appeal  to  the  government  of  his  Majesty  Napoleon  III,  from  whose 
wisdom  and  equity  I  do  not  doubt  I  shall  obtain  justice. 

This  is  all  I  can  say  to  your  excellency  in  reply  to  your  note  ;  and  offering  you  assurances 
of  my  high  consideration,  I  remain,  &c., 

ANTONIO  LOPEZ  DE  SANTA  ANNA. 


390  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 


Antonio  JA^JHZ  de  Sarda  Anna,  well  deserving  of  his  country,  and  general  of  division  of  (he.  national 

armies,  to  his  fellow -country  mm : 

MEXICANS  :  How  many  disturbances,  how  many  misfortunes,  have  occurred  in  our  coun 
try  since  I  left  you !  Like  an  impetuous  torrent,  political  passions  have  broken  loose, 
destroying  everything  and  drying  up  in  all  directions  the  sources  of  our  wealth  Never 
have  I  succeeded  in  imagining  so  painful  a  scene,  nor  could  I  ever  believe  that  in  the  name 
of  country  and  liberty  the  foundations  of  society  could  be  so  deeply  disturbed,  displaying; 
a  flag  that  inspired  fear  among  its  children  and  mistrust  among  strangers.  The  beautiful 
Anahuac  has  been  torn  to  pieces  and  martyrized  by  the  frantic  ambition  of  a  band  who 
fancied  themselves  the  depositories  of  liberty  and  right.  It  is  not  the  conservative  party 
•which  has  invited  to  our  shores  the  European  intervention,  but  the  error  and  blindness  of 
the  reformers. 

Fellow-countrymen  :  In  treading  the  soil  where  I  was  cradled,  in  incorporating  myself 
with  you,  it  is  indispensable  that  I  remind  you  of  the  situation  in  which  I  left  the  country 
in  separating  myself  from  the  power  which,  by  your  will,  I  lately  exercised  ;  I  wish  the 
truth  to  be  known  by  the  world. 

My  government  had  placed  the  nation  in  a  brilliant  position  ;  the  best  relations  existed 
with  friendly  powers  ;  the  army  was  brilliant  for  its  morale,  arms,  numbers,  and  discipline  ; 
the  fortresses  were  taken  care  of,  like  all  the  branches  of  the  public  administration  ;  no 
one  presented  himself  at  our  ports  with  demands  ;  the  roads  were  free  from  robbers,  the 
savages  kept  under,  and  the  filibusteros  frightened  ;  the  dangerous  questions  with  the 
United  States  of  the  north  relative  to  boundaries  happily  terminated  ;  commerce  and  agri 
culture  flourished  ;  neither  forced  loans  nor  expropriations  were  known ;  the  guarantees 
of  peaceful  citizens  were  not  a  falsehood  ;  the  religion  of  our  fathers  was  venerated ;  no  one 
put  his  hand  on  the  property  of  the  clergy,  whose  opulence  we  beheld  with  pride  and 
credit  spring  up  again.  Only  those  among  the  discontented  who  live  by  insurrections 
formed  mad  desires,  casting  upon  my  name  unjust  aspersions,  because  I  prevented  them 
from  doing  mischief.  And  what  government  is  forbidden  from  attempting  its  preservation, 
which  is  likewise  that  of  society,  as  well  as  maintaining  order,  which  is  the  happiness  and 
advancement  of  nations?  Never  can  I  sufficiently  deplore  that  the  ambition  of  an  ill- 
counselled  band  had  reached  the  supreme  power,  taking  advantage  of  the  ignorance  of  the 
unwary. 

The  misdeeds  of  the  representatives  of  the  liberals  have  enveloped  the  church  in  mourn 
ing  and  filled  the  hearts  of  the  Mexican  people  with  bitterness  ;  their  want  of  good  faith  in 
treaties  obliged  three  powerful  nations  to  arm  themselves  in  demand  of  the  justice  that 
was  owing  to  them.  The  conservative  party  is  not,  therefore,  responsible  for  the  late 
events  that  have  taken  place  in  our  country. 

It  appeared  natural  that,  on  finding  me  at  so  great  a  distance  from  the  events,  and  keep 
ing  so  profound  a  silence,  it  should  be  considered  strange  by  them  ;  but  my  opponents, 
eager  to  do  me  injury,  lost  no  time  in  showing  me  at  times  the  enthusiastic  friend  of  the 
intervention,  and  at  other  times  its  enemy,  according  to  the  circle  in  which  they  acted. 
It  would  have  been  easy  to  confound  them  with  replies  and  observations,  but  I  was  unwilling 
to  direct  voluntarily  public  attention  toward  myself,  and  resolved  to  be  silent  until  I  trod 
the  soil  of  my  country.  The  long  wished  for  day  has  arrived,  and  I  am  consequently  goinu- 
to  explain,  so  that  I  may  be  unmistakably  judged  in  everything  relating  to  the  crisis  that 
we  are  passing. 

At  solemn  moments  the  good  man  ought  to  speak  the  truth  with  frankness  and  sincerity. 
It  is  unquestionable  that  the  excesses  of  the  party  who  uiled  brought  about  the  armed 
intervention,  and  that  it  appeared  at  a  time  when  our  society  was  disturbed.  Honest 
people  feared  for  their  lives  and  property,  and  the  honor  of  their  families ;  they  sought, 
like  the  shipwrecked  mariners,  any  plank  whatever  to  save  themselves  That  party  having 
proclaimed  an  exaggerated  constitution,  which  they  carried  out,  despair  had  reached  its 
climax. 

Two  of  the  allied  nations  now  suspended  their  demands,  and  withdrew.  Then  the 
afflicted  people  had  recourse  to  the  other  that  remained  in  the  country,  and  proffered  it  a 
friendly  hand  ;  the  soldiers  of  the  republic  by  hundreds  joined  in  brotherhood  with  those 
whom  they  looked  upon  as  allies  to  destroy  the  domestic  tyranny  and  substitute  a  better 
order  of  things.  Mexicans  who  had  always  given  proofs  of  their  patriotism  appeared  in  the 
game  ranks ;  and  even  the  capital,  despising  the  prohibitions  and  penalties  imposed  by  the 
so-called  constitutional  government,  welcomed  the  legions  of  the  friendly  nation  with 
enthusiasm. 

The  people,  wearied  with  the  anaichy  of  half  a  century,  with  false  promises  and  tine- 
theories,  anxious  to  have  a  paternal  government,  just  and  enlightened,  proclaimed  with 
enthusiasm  the  re-establishment  of  the  empire  of  the  Montezumas  by  a  dynasty  of  royal 
extraction,  voting  at  once  for  emperor  the  illustrious  Prince  Maximilian,  archduke  of  Austria. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  391 

The  demagogues,  in  their  desperation,  are  exhausting  the  resources  that  they  are  able  to 
use,  believing  that  by  combating  they  are  defending  Mexican  independence ;  but  the  day 
will  arrive  when  they  will  find  out  that  patriotism  was  not  on  their  side  in  the  present 
struggle. 

The  states  that  have  not  yet  made  any  manifestation  will  certainly  make  it  as  soon  as 
they  obtain  any  protection,  and  the  Mexicans  who  are  now  with  arms  in  their  hands  will 
lay  them  down  on  being  convinced  that  nothing  is  attempted  against  the  nationality,  and 
that  they  are  only  aggravating  the  evils  which  we  all  lament 

A  government,  freely  elected  by  Mexicans,  being  already  installed  in  the  capital,  good 
patricians  are  under  the  obligation  to  group  themselves  around  it,  to  clothe  it  with  prestige 
and  strength.  So  sacred  a  duty  brings  me  here.  I  come,  therefore,  to  give  new*  proofs  of 
the  respect  I  owe  to  the  national  will  now  so  in  agreement  with  my  belief  and  conviction. 
The  orders  that  may  emanate  from  that  supreme  power  I  shall  treat  with  the  decision  and 
loyalty  with  which  I  have  obeyed  the  nation  on  all  occasions.  When  peace  is  re-estab 
lished,  the  country  settled  to  its  satisfaction,  I  shall  only  ask  as  a  favor  that  I  may  be 
allowed  to  enjoy,  in  ray  last  days,  the  quiet  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  secure  in  any  of 
the  situations  of  my  life. 

Fellow-citizens,  guard  in  your  memory  the  magnanimous  monarch  who  has  extended  to 
you  his  powerful  hand  so  opportunely  and  generously.  Without  his  assistance  you  would 
groan  under  the  depressing  and  barbarous  yoke  of  the  most  uncontrolled  anarchy.  Grati 
tude  is  a  virtue  peculiar  to  noble  minds. 

The  attempts  that  until  now  have  been  made,  under  the  republican  form,  have  only  brought 
discredit  and  desolation  to  the  countries  of  the  American  continent,  while  constitutional 
monarchy  has  given,  and  continues  to  give,  everywhere,  better  and  more  lasting  fruit.  If 
the  flight  of  liberty  is  not  so  lofty  under  the  monarchy  as  in  the  republic,  the  former  has 
an  advantage  that  the  second  does  not  possess,  of  being  away  from  political  disturbances. 
I  am  not  the  enemy  of  democracy,  but  of  its  extravagances.  In  our  history  it  is  shown 
that  I  was  the  first  to  proclaim  the  republic.  I  thought  that  I  was  doing  a  great  service  to 
our  country,  the  object  always  of  my  adoration,  and  nothing  stopped  me  until  the  object 
was  attained.  But  the  illusions  of  youth  having  passed,  in  presence  of  so  many  disasters 
produced  by  that  system,  I  will  not  deceive  anybody  ;  the  last  word  of  my  conscience  and 
my  convictions  is,  the  constitutional  monarchy. 

My  friends,  in  August,  1855,  I  abdicated  the  discretional  powers  with  which  I  was 
invested  by  the  free  will  of  the  people,  and  emigrated  abroad,  with  the  noble  view  of 
leaving  you  at  absolute  liberty  to  constitute  yourselves  as  you  wished,  and  not  to  appear  an 
oppressor  ;  by  an  act  of  so  much  self-denial  I  wished  at  once  to  contradict  the  imputations 
of  the  malevolent.  But  from  my  retirement,  at  whatever  distance,  I  raised  my  humble 
prayers  to  heaven  that  your  passions  might  be  calmed  and  concord  reign  among  you,  with 
out  which  the  happiness  of  no  human  society  is  possible.  At  last  I  return  to  our  country, 
without  aspirations  of  any  kind,  and  I  assure  you  that  all  the  labors  of  my  life  will  be 
recompensed  if  I  finish  my  days  among  you  in  the  midst  of  peace  and  prosperity. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  May  31,  1864. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt,  yesterday,  of  your  note 
dated  the  10th  instant,  transmitting  translations  of  documents  which  have  reached 
you  relating  especially  to  the  case  of  Don  Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa  Anna,  as  il 
lustrative  of  the  political  condition  of  Mexico. 

I  beg  you  to  accept  my  thanks  for  this  attention,  with  the  renewed  assurance 
of  my  most  distinguished  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Senor  M.  ROMERO,  <"<?.,    v.,    v. 


392  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 

MEXICAN  LEGATION, 

Washington,  May  23,  1864. 

Mr.  Romero  presents  his  compliments  to  Mr.  Seward,  and  has  the  honor  to 
enclose  herewith  a  slip  taken  from  the  New  York  Tribune  of  Saturday  last, 
containing  some  letters  from  Monterey  and  Matamoras,  Mexico.  The  impar 
tiality  and  good  common  sense  with  which  these  letters  arc  written,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  abundance  of  correct  and  trustworthy  information  that  they  em 
brace,  are  the  reasons  why  Mr.  Romero  thinks  proper  to  send  them  to  Mr.  Sew 
ard,  calling,  in  a  particular  way,  his  attention  towards  them.  They  are  a  new 
proof  of  the  great  interest  that  the  insurgents  of  this  country  have  in  the  success 
of  the  French  army  invading  Mexico,  and  show  the  disposition  of  the  national 
government  of  that  republic  towards  the  United  States. 


FROM  MEXICO. 

Movements  of  the  Mexican  troops. — Vidaurri's  stock  at  La  Mesa  captured. — His  son-in-law, 
Patrick  Milmo,  in  prison;  the  decree  of  President  Juarez  confiscating  his  cotton. — The 
rebel  land  agents  and  contractors  in  trouble. 

[Prom  our  special  correspondent.] 

MONTEREY,  MEXICO,  April  5,  1864. 

After  the  flight  of  Vidaurri,  the  troops  of  the  Juarez  government  for  a  few  days  flocked 
into  the  city  from  all  directions,  and  now  appear  to  be  moving  again  in  detached  bodies 
for  Saltillo,  it  is  said  en  route  for  San  Luis  Potosi.  The. cavalry  and  artillery  sent  in  pur 
suit  of  Vidaurri  have  not  yet  returned,  though  there  is  now  no  need  of  their  remaining 
longer  near  the  Rio  Grande,  as  all  the  troops  of  Vidaurri,  except  a  portion  of  his  escort, 
have  turned  over  to  Juarez,  and  have  delivered  up  the  fourteen  cannon  and  seven  mountain 
howitzers  he  carried  with  him  when  he  left  Monterey.  It  is  now  reported  here  that 
Vidaurri  has  escaped  into  Texas,  and  is  at  Laredo,  from  whence  he  is  expected  to  go  to  the 
north,  and  perhaps  to  Europe.  President  Juarez  has  recovered,  not  only  all  the  artillery 
that  he  lost  by  sending  it  here,  but  all  of  Vidaurri's  beside,  with  a  large  stock  of  ammuni 
tion  and  n  additional  supply  of  small-arms  of  all  sorts.  Doblado  sent  here,  after  the 
capture  of  San  Luis  Potosi,  25  field  guns,  which  were  accompanied  by  109  wagons  and 
carts  freighted  with  ammunition,  altogether  drawn  by  some  700  mules.  These  were  fur 
nished  by  the  state  of  Guanajuato  alone  to  the  liberal  government.  These  guns,  with  the 
ammunition  belonging  to  them,  have  been  recovered,  though  the  mules  are  missing.  It 
is  said  that  the  troops  of  Juarez  have  visited  Vidaurri's  stock  rancho,  called  La  Mesa,  near 
Lampazos,  and,  by  way  of  reprisal,  have  captured  his  flocks  and  herds  there  before  his 
agents  had  time  to  drive  them  across  the  Rio  Grande,  and  to  exchange  them  for  cotton 
with  the  rebel' contrabandists  of  Texas.  The  liberals  have  lost  nothing  by  this  operation. 
The  property  of  all  sorts  belonging  to  the  following  persons  it  is  commonly  thought  will 
be  confiscated  for  his  treason  :  Vidaurri  ;  Rejon,  his  secretary  of  state  ;  Hinojoso,  his  gen 
eral  ;  Quiroga,  his  colonel  of  cavalry,  and  Yudalecio  Vidaurri,  his  son.  His  son-in-law, 
Patricio  (or,  in  plain  English,  Patrick)  Milmo,  is  still  in  prison,  and  is  said  to  be  on  trial 
before  a  military  commission.  He  is  reputed  to  be  very  wealthy,  and  to  have  placed  most 
of  his  money  beyond  the  seas,  though  he  is  the  owner  of  large  stocks  of  goods  as  well  as 
other  property  here  and  in  Matamoras,  and,  besides,  has  a  laige  quantity  of  cotton  in  Texas, 
purchased  with  goods  on  which  he  paid  no  tariff  to  the  United  States  when  he  sent  them 
across  the  line.  He  may  yet,  by  claiming  its  protection,  cause  the  English  government 
(as  he  is  an  Irishman  by  birth)  to  show  what  action,  or  rather  non-action,  it  will  consider 
proper  in  the  case  of  a  person  guilty  of  a  double  violation  of  the  laws  of  neutrality,  viz  : 
between  the  United  States  and  the  rebels,  and  between  Mexico  and  her  foes,  who  has  car 
ried  on  a  contraband  traffic  with  the  rebels,  and  at  the  same  time  asserts  that  he  has  paid 
the  duties  on  the  cotton  imported  by  him,  not  into  the  treasury  of  President  Juarez,  but 
into  the  treasury  of  a  governor  in  armed  rebellion  against  him. 

Before  this  letter  reaches  you  it  is  probable  that  you  will  have  received  a  number  of  the 
Boldin  Ojidal  de  Tamaulipas,  containing  a  decree  of  President  Juarez,  declaring  all  goods 
(cotton  of  course  included)  imported  into  Mexico  at  the  port  of  Piedras  Ncgras  since  March 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  393 

7,  at  which  date  Vidaurri  was  in  arms  against  the  national  government,  and  was  collecting 
the  national  tariff  on  importations,  without  paying  it  over,  to  be  forfeited  for  the  non 
payment  of  the  legal  duties  into  bis  treasury. 

This  decree,  if  enforced,  will  afford  the  Juarez  government  what  it  most  needs— ready 
money.  Not  less  than  12,000  bales  of  cotton  were  crossed  over  into  Mexico  at  Piedras 
Negras  about  March  7,  on  which  Vidaurri  collected  (as  the  Mexican  tariff  in  all  amounts 
to  $8  per  bale)  $96,000  in  coin.  This  cotton  is  worth  at  Matamoras  $200  per  bale  ;  that  is 
to  say,  the  gross  amount  of  $2,400,000  in  cash.  As  a  matter  of  course,  every  conceivable 
appliance  will  be  brought  to  bear  to  make  the  Juarez  government  recede  from  this  decree, 
and  instead  of  confiscating  the  cotton,  as  by  law  it  can  rightfully  do,  to  let  it  pass  upon 
the  payment  of  the  duties  to  the  lawful  government— or,  in  other  words,  to  take  $96,000, 
where  it  might  take  $2,400,000.  What  will  be  the  result  of  the  pressure  brought  to  bear 
remains  to  be  seen.  In  the  mean  time,  the  rebel  lead  agents  and  contractors  are  in  great 
trouble.  Murphy,  who  has  been  supplied  with  funds  by  Mr.  John  Trooling,  of  San 
Antonio,  Texas,  to  forward  saltpetre  and  lead  from  Mexico,  and  others,  will  now  find  that 
their  contraband  trade  has  been  brought  to  a  close.  As  lead  for  the  rebels  west  of  the 
Mississippi  could  only  be  had,  since  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  from  Mexico,  and  at  a  greatly 
enhanced  price,  their  agents  and  sympathizers  here  are  very  uneasy  at  the  prospect  before 
them.  Notwithstanding  their  hitherto  openly  expressed  desire  for  the  success  of  the 
French,  they  now  are  shamelessly  sycophantic  to  the  officers  of  President  Juarez,  and  omit 
no  occasion  to  show  to  the  Mexican  public  that  they  know  how  to 

"Bend  the  pregnant  hinges  of  the  knee,  ^S* 

That  thrift  may  follow  fawning."  .-^ 

Poor  creatures  !  It  is  rather  more  distressing  than  diverting  to  witness  their  efforts  here, 
especially  when  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  every  one  who  sees  them  naturally  inquires 
why,  if  they  are  such  earnest  advocates  of  the  rebellion,  they  are  not  at  home  fighting 
for  it  in  this  its  hour  of  need.  By  the  terms  of  the  rebel  government,  all  who  have  taken 
the  oath  to  support  it,  if  between  16  and  60  years  of  age,  and  absent  without  leave,  are 
deserters,  and  are  stigmatized  as  such  by  those  who  remain  in  Dixie.  The  /&m  Antonio 
Herald  says  of  the  rebels  now  in  Monterey,  and  who  patronize  a  little  sheet  called  The 
Morning  Star,  printed  by  Swope,  whom  the  rebels  in  Matamoras  assert  to  be  a  deserter  from 
Duff's  command,  that  "they  are  few  in  number,  and  mostly  strapped  renegades."  This  is 
the  unkindestcut  of  all,  and,  besides,  is  incorrect.  Though  they  are  "renegades"  from 
Dixie,  they  are  by  no  means  "  few  in  number,"  and  "  the  cry  is,  still  they  come."  They 
are  not  in  general  "  strapped,"  or,  as  Sheridan  expressed  it,  "  money-bound,"  for  many 
of  them  have  made  more  money  than  they  ever  had  before,  by  operations  in  the  contraband 
line,  and  others  have  brought  off  the  proceeds  of  their  property  with  them,  but  they  are 
merely  "chivalryites"  of  the  class  that  resemble  the  war-horse  in  Job  in  only  one  partic 
ular  :  they  snuff  the  battle  afar  off.  While  here  they  occupy  a  decidedly  awkward  position. 
It  is,  indeed,  an  arduous  task  for  men  who  know  that  they  are  stigmatized  as  "deserters" 
by  those  they  have  left  behind  in  Dixie,  to  talk  in  favor  of  the  rebellion,  and  to  satisfacto 
rily  account  for  their  absence  from  the  theatre  of  war.  The  Mexicans  have  a  great  deal 
of  quiet  amusement  at  their  expense. 

Runaway  rebels  are  accumulating  here  to  such  an  extent,  and  the  prospect  for  an  increase 
of  their  numbers  is  such,  that  a  new  hotel  is  .about  to  be  opened.  No  doubt  it  will  do  well 
for  some  months  to  come. 

RIO  GRANDE. 


Results  of  the  pursuit  of  Vidaurri. — Luna,  Vidaurri' s  paymaster,  captured.  —Milmo  still 
under  arrest.  — Position  of  the  troops. — Temper  of  the  people.— Juarez. — His  cabinet. 
— A  duel. — A  military  execution. 

[From  our  special  correspondent.] 

MONTEREY,  April  14,  1864. 

The  pursuit  of  Vidaurri  resulted  in  the  capture  of  his  carriage,  of  a  portion  of  the  eagle 
dollars  he  took  with  him,  together  with  all  his  artillery  and  ammunition,  and  in  the  pro 
nouncing  of  his  troops  in  favor  of  Juarez.  The  pursuing  party.has  returned,  bringing  with 
it  the  captured  guns,  and  accompanied  by  the  force  that  joined  it.  Don  Pepe  Luna, 
Vidaurri' s  paymaster,  has  been  taken,  and  is  now  here  in  person.  Vidaurri's  son-in-law, 
Milmo,  is  still  under  close  arrest,  and  in  the  mean  time  the  government  is  causing  his 
account-books  to  be  thoroughly  examined,  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  whether  he  has  in 
fact  ever  paid  any  duties  into  the  national  treasury  on  the  immense  stocks  of  goods  im- 


394  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

ported  by  him,  especially  those  he  has  sent  iuto  Texas,  and  also  whether  he  has  any  funds 
of  his  father-ia-law  in  his  hands.  The  Suaristas  believe  that  for  years  p.ist  Vidaurri  has 
been  a  silent  partner  of  Milrno,  and  will  spare  no  effort  to  prove  it,  as,  hi  ease  such  should 
turn  out  to  be  the  fact,  the  government  will  coniiscate. 

The  cavalry  force  that  assembled  here,  together  with  a  portion  of  the  infantry,  have 
gone  up  to  Saltillo,  and  will  probably  advance  further,  as  some  7,000  troops,  composed 
chiefly  of  Reactionaries,  commanded  by  Mejia,  now  are  assembled  in  the  city  of  San  Luis 
Potosi,  and  appear  to  be  preparing  to  make  a  move.  General  Gonzalez  Ortega,  with  his  com 
mand,  is  watching  them,  while  Doblado  is  in  Saltillo.  Still,  quite  a  considerable  force 
remains  here.  The  marching  to  and  fro  of  the  regiments  through  the  streets,  the  per 
petual  blare  of  the  trumpets  sounding  the  calls,  and  the  music  of  the  military  bands  at 
night  on  the  Plaza  Mditar,  all  remind  a  stranger  that  the  country  is  involved  in  war. 
President  Juarez  has  gained  a  very  considerable  accession  to  his  army  since  he  came  here. 
and  is  daily  receiving  accessions  to  his  ranks.  The  common  people  (plebe)  of  northeastern 
Mexico  are  not  only  patriotic,  but  are  intensely  republican.  Though  the  mercantile  class 
may  be  disposed  to  give  up  or  to  make  terms  with  the  French,  they  will  never  willingly 
bend  the  knee  to  a  foreign  invader.  They  look  with  a  pride,  blended  with  a  personal 
affection,  to  President  Juarez  as  a  fit  leader  for  them  in  their  desperate  struggle  for  the 
maintenance  of  a  republican  form  of  government.  He  is  an  Indian  of  unmixed  race.  His 
personal  integrity  has  never  been  called  in  question.  He  is  a  thoroughly  educated  and 
enlightened  man.  He  has  ever  stood  by  his  country  with  a  loyal  devotion  and  a  cour 
ageous  endurance. 

In  coming  yea:s,  when  mankind  shall  have  so  progressed  that  individuals  will  take 
position  chiefly  on  account  of  their  moral  worth,  how  much  loftier  place  on  the  page  of 
history  will  this  Indian  Juarez  occupy  than  Napoleon  III !  He  has  never  robbed  his  own 
nor  sought  to  despoil  any  other  country  of  its  liberties.  No  blood  stains  his  conscience, 
no  ill-gotton  wealth  soils  his  hands.  In  all  the  relations  of  life,  as  a  husband,  as  a  father, 
as  a  private  citizen,  as  the  incumbent  of  high  public  trusts,  and,  lastly,  as  the  chief  magis 
trate  of  a  republic,  he  has  earned  the  reputation  of  being  an  honorable  man.  Can  any 
sycophant  of  Napoleon  III  say  as  much  of  him  ? 

Owing  to  the  existing  condition  of  affairs,  President  Juarez's  cabinet  at  present  consists 
of  only  three  individuals,  in  whose  hands  are  confided  the  functions  of  government.  Sr. 
Lerdo  de  Legada  is  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  &c. ;  Sr.  Iglesias  is  minister  of  finance,  &c. ; 
and  Gen.  Negrete  is  minister  of  war  and  marine.  The  duties  which  would  devolve  upon 
a  cabinet,  if  full,  are  divided  among  out  them.  Sr  Prieto  is  the  postmaster  general,  but  in 
Mexico  the  incumbent  of  that  office  does  not  have  a  seat  in  the  cabinet. 

On  Monday  last  all  the  merchants  interested  in  the  contraband  trade  with  Texas,  as  I 
am  informed,  held  a  sort  of  consultation  as  to  what  they  should  do  in  relation  to  the  decree 
of  President  Juarez  declaring  all  the  cotton  imported,  on  which  the  tariff  has  been  paid  to 
Vidaurri  when  in  open  rebellion,  instead  of  into  the  national  treasury,  to  be  forfeited. 
They  concluded  to  pay  the  tariff  over  again  to  the  national  government  under  protest. 
Whether  President  Juarez's  government  will  accept  this  proposal  or  not  remains  to  be  seen. 
My  own  opinion  is  that  it  will,  and  that  even  after  that  they  will  go  to  intriguing  in  favoi 
of  the  French.  All  the  rebels  and  contrabandists  here  are  in  favor  of  the  French.  It  is  true 
that  just  now  they  pay  court  to  Juarez  and  his  friends,  because  they  know  that  so  much 
of  Dixie  as  lies  west  of  the  Mississippi  could  not  hold  out  for  a  month  after  the  stoppage  of 
the  trade  with  Mexico  ;  still  written  proofs  against  them  are  abundant.  What  position  did 
they  occupy  in  regard  to  the  French  while  Vidaurri  was  in  power  .'  What  ground  does 
the  rebel  press  of  Texas  hold  in  regard  to  the  French  even  now  ? 

It  is  stated  that  on  Monday  evening  last  a  duel  was  fought  between  ColonelJuan  Varra, 
of  Juarez's  forces,  and  Commmdante,  i.  e.,  Major  Rafael  Herrera,  formerly  of  ViJaum's  com  - 
mand,  at  the  lower  suburbs  of  this  city.  The  weapons  used  were  Colt's  revolvers.  The 
ground  of  the  quarrel  is  not  stated,  but  it  is  supposed  that  Colonel  Varra  denounced  Major 
Herrera  because  he  thought  that  Major  H.  had  been  the  cause  of  his  having  been  exiled  some 
time  since  by  Vidaurri.  My  informant  states  that  the  duel  was  fought  by  permission  of  one 
of  the  high  officers  of  the  government,  who  witnessed  it  in  person.  Colonel  Varra  was 
fired  at  and  missed  three  times  by  his  antagonist  without  returning  a  shot,  and,  therefore, 
he  suggested  to  his  adversary  to  load  up  the  three  chambers  that  had  been  discharged,  and 
they  would  proceed  to  fight  in  earnest.  Upon  this  Major  H.  professed  himself  satisfied, 
and  made  some  acknowledgments,  and  the  officer  who  permitted  the  duel  forbade  it  to  pro 
ceed  further.  I  tell  the  tale  as  I  got  it  from  a  respectable  informant,  who  believed  it  to 
be  true,  and  who  had  conversed  with  one  of  the  parties  immediately  after  the  affair  was 
over.  This  is  an  unusual  occurrence  in  Mexico,  where  the  law  against  duelling  is  severe. 
I  am  told  that  one  who  fights  a  duel  "here  is  subject  to  imprisonment  for  life  and  a  forfeiture 
of  his  whole  esfate. 

On  this  morning,  at  6  o'clock,  Martin  Garcia,  said  to  have  been  a  commaudante  or  major 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  395 

under  Mejia,  was  shot  by  a  file  of  soldiers  at  the  back  of  the  citadel.  He  was  executed 
under  the  sentence  of  a  court-martial  on  account  of  his  having  been  guilty  of  high  treason, 
as  well  as  concerned  in  the  assassination  of  a  late  governor  of  San  Luis  Potosi.  Quite  a 
considerable  body  of  soldiers  under  arms  were  assembled  to  witness  the  execution.  The 
citadel  (or  Black  Fort,  as  the  Americans  have  termed  it)  consists  of  the  massive  walls  of  an 
unfinished  church  about  sixteen  feet  high,  built  of  an  almost  white  stone,  the  abutments 
or  square  columns  intended  to  support  the  arches  of  the  roof  inside  being  a  little  higher 
than  the  incomplete  walls.  These  walls  are  in  the  middle  of  a  field-work  (lately  repaired) 
surrounded  by  a  dry  ditch.  The  prisoner  was  made  to  kneel  blindfold,  with  his  face  turned 
toward  the  outside  of  the  rear  wall,  the  bullet-marks  on  which  showed  it  had  been  the 
scene  of  other  executions,  and  was  shot  in  the  back  of  the  head  (chiefly)  as  well  as  through 
the  body  by  a  file  of  six  men.  Two  stepped  up  after  he  had  fallen  forward  on  his  face,  and 
fired  into  him  again.  It  is  said  that  he  was  shot  in  the  back  because  such  is  the  sentence 
for  treason,  of  which,  as  well  as  of  assassination,  he  had  been  found  guilty.  A  priest  attended 
him  to  the  last  moment.  As  he  lay  a  stream  of  blood  flowed  down  the  sloping  ground 
beyond  his  feet.  Quite  a  number  of  women  were  present.  The  spectators  showed  no  levity. 

Seilor  Don  Jesus  Masia  Benites  y  Penillos  Avent  into  office  to-day  under  the  appointment 
of  President  Juarez  as  the  governor  and  commandant  mihtar  of  the  state  of  Nuevo  Leon. 
He  has  hitherto  been  a  highly  respectable  merchant  of  Linares,  and  has  filled  the  office  of 
first  alcalde  of  that  city. 

Last  night  a  icfreshing  rain  fell  on  this  parched  and  arid  region,  and  gentle  showers  have 
continued  to  fall  at  intervals  during  the  day.  At  sunset  this  evening  the  Silla  mountain 
was  still  enveloped  in  a  cloud. 

RIO  GRANDE. 


Arrival  of  Seflor  Iglesias,  Juarez's  minister  of  finance.— Good  understanding  between  the 
Mexican  and  American  authorities. — Interesting  news  from  the  interior. — Vidaurri  and 
the  rebels  of  Texas. — Mr.  Quintero,  the  rebel  agent,  in  Monterey. — Major  Simeon  Hart, 
the  rebel  cotton  agent,  and  his  cotton. — Monterey  the  seat  of  the  constitutional  gov 
ernment  of  Mexico. 

[From  our  special  corrcspoudent.] 

MATAMOROS,  April  25,  1864. 

On  yesterday  afternoon  the  quiet  of  this  city  was  interrupted  by  the  firing  of  a  salute. 
Upon  inquiry  it  was  ascertained  that  the  cause  of  the  salute  was  the  arrival  of  Seiior  Igle 
sias,  the  minister  of  finance  of  President  Juarez's  cabinet.  The  objects  of  his  visit  are 
unknown  to  the  public. 

The  recent  correspondence  between  Major  General  Herron  and  the  Mexican  authorities, 
together  with  the  cordial  good  understanding  that  manifestly  exists  between  them,  is  a 
source  of  unutterable  anguish  to  the  rebels  now  in  Mexico,  and  to  the  merchants  engaged 
in  the  Piedras  Negras  trade.  They  are  perplexed  and  bewildered.  Their  confidence  is 
shaken  ;  and,  in  short,  they  know  not  what  to  do.  The  tact  and  address  of  Major  Generals 
McClernand  and  Herron,  in  their  intercourse  with  Mexico,  has  damaged  the  rebel  cause  on 
this  frontier  almost  as  much  as  a  victory. 

The  news  from  the  interior  is  quite  important.  General  Uraga  has  gained  another  suc 
cess  over  the  French  at  or  near  the  city  of  Gaudalajara.  General  Purfirio  Diaz  has  reap 
peared  on  the  Pacific  slope  at  the  head  of  a  well-armed  and  well-equipped  force  of  10,000 
men.  A  movement  is  said  to  be  in  progress  by  the  combined  forces  of  Doblado  and  Gon 
zalez  Ortega  against  San  Luis  Potosi,  which  is  held  by  1,200  French  and  5,800  reactionaries 
under  Mejia ;  and,  best  of  all,  it  is  reported  that  the  French  have  abandoned  Tampico. 
Certain  it  is  that  the  Juarez  government  is  now  in  excellent  spirits.  It  has,  though  they  are 
intentionally  kept  scattered,  almost  twice  as  many  troops  in  the  field  as  the  French  have,  and  is 
assured  of  the  loyalty  of  a  vast  majority  of  the  people  to  a  republic  m  form  of  government. 
Besides,  the  despatches  from  General  Bazaine  to  Almonte,  which  were  recently  intercepted, 
show  that  the  Church  party  (reactionaries)  are  upbraided  as  having  deceived  and  misled  the 
French  government  in  every  particular.  General  Bazaine  appears  to  have  given  utterance 
to  his  dissatisfaction  with  them  in  very  strong  and  emphatic  terms,  and  to  have  charged 
that  the  persons  at  different  points  in  Mexico,  recommended  by  Almonte,  Miramon,  and 
others,  to  the  confidence  of  the  French  generals,  were  no  better  than  robbers  and  assassins, 
devoid  of  all  faith  and  honor.  The  worst  thing  of  all  for  the  French  cause  is  that  the 
charges  made  by  General  Bazaine  are  true.  What  is  Marquez  but  a  cold  blooded  murderer  ? 
What  is  Mejia  but  a  robber,  though  on  a  large  scale  ?  What  Mexican  is  there  to  be  found 


396  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

among  those  that  have  betrayed  their  country  that  have  an  unblemished  private  character  ; 
that  commands  the  confidence  and  respect  due  to  a  gentleman  / 

The  most  cheering  fact  of  all  to  the  republicans  ot  Mexico  is  the  sanction  that  has  been 
given  by  the  Emperor  to  the  policy  of  General  Bazaine  in  regard  to  the  clergy.  Now,  since 
the  clergy  of  the  reacciotiario  party  find  that  they  will  not  be  allowed  to  take  the  prominent 
position  in  politics  they  desired,  and  since  they  have  ascertained  from  the  head  of  the 
French  government  that  the  nationalized  property  of  the  church  would  not.  be  restored, 
they  have  no  further  use  for  the  French  From  this  time  forward  we  may  expect  to  see 
the  troops  of  the  church  party  going  over  to  Juarez  in  force.  What  motive  have  they  to 
tight  against  Juarez  any  longer/  Why  should  they  aid  the  French  when  the  secular  prop 
erty  of  the  church — the  real  bone  of  contention,  so  far  as  they  are  concerned — ,would  not 
in  case  of  success  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  clergy  (of  their  party,)  who  could  reward  them 
from  its  revenue  ? 

In  this  connexion  it  is  but  just  to  remark  that  the  parochial  clergy  of  Mexico  are  in  gen 
eral  liberals,  and  that  the  portion  of  the  clergy  that  belong  to  the  reacdonario  or  church 
party  are  in  most  cases  either  prelates  or  members  of  the  monastic  orders.  The  rank  and 
tile,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  of  the  clergy  of  the  country,  to  their  honor  be  it  recorded,  are 
republicans.  It  was  so  in  the  revolution  of  Mexico  against  old  Spain.  Priests,  who,  instead 
of  living  in  monasteries  or  palaces,  reside  among  the  people,  must  think  and  leel  as  they  do. 
The  history  of  Mexico  shows  that  such  have  fought  for  the  liberties  of  their  country  in 
times  past,  and  hence  may  be  expected  to  do  so  in  the  future. 

Not  only  such  of  the  clergy  as  belong  to  the  reaccionano  party,  but  the  prominent  military 
men  on  their  side,  are  greatly  disaffected.  They  have  been  and  are  overslaughed  on  all 
occasions.  Mexican  generals,  even  if  they  are  traitors  to  their  country,  don't  like  to  be 
put  under  the  command  of  French  colonels.  Still,  as  the  French  place  no  confidence  in 
them,  such  must  continue  to  be  the  practice.  The  pride  of  the  reacdonario  officers  must  be 
often  wounded  by  this  course  of  procedure.  How  long  they  will  submit  to  it  remains  to 
be  seen.  Yet  it  is  difficult  to  perceive  how  the  French  can  change  their  policy  toward  their 
Mexican  confederates  at  this  time.  General  Bazaine  knows  that  their  hopes  tor  the  resto 
ration  of  the  nationalized  church  property,  from  the  revenues  of  which  they  expected  to  be 
rewarded,  have  been  dashed.  He  knows  that  their  pride  has  been  perpetually  lacerated  by 
their  higher  officers  having  been  put  under  the  command  of  French  officers,  their  inferiors 
in  rank,  and  that  they  have  ever  been  treated  with  distrust.  He  is  aware  that  very  many 
of  them  are  only  watching  for  a  chance  to  make  terms  with  President  Juarez,  and  to  turn 
against  him.  How,  then,  can  he  change  his  policy  and  treat  them  as  equals  in  whom  he 
reposes  full  confidence  ? 

Since  Vidaurri  fled  into  Texas,  the  forces  of  Mejia  (some  5, SOU  men)  which  were  at  Ma- 
telmala  and  were  prevented  from  advancing  by  the  forces  of  Gonzalez  Ortega,  which  threat 
ened  to  get  between  them  and  San  Luis  i'otosi,  have  fallen  back  to  San  Luis  Potosi.  They 
are  now  further  from  Monterey  than  before,  and,  as  has  been  stated,  instead  of  attempting 
to  attack,  are  threatened  with  an  attack  iroin  the  combined  commands  of  Doblado  ana 
Gonzalez  Ortega.  President  Juarez  has  gained  great  advantages  ot  late,  and  may  well  be 
sanguine. 

It  is  reported  that  on  heaiing  that  Vidauiri  had  escaped  on  horseback,  and  with  only 
the  clothes  he  wore,  to  Larado,  Texas,  the  rebel  commandant  at  San  Antonio  sent  a  carriage 
and  escort  to  bring  him  to  that  place.  The  rebels  will  now  go  to  intriguing  to  get  him 
back  into  power,  and,  before  they  suspect  it,  will  probably  be  involved  in  hostilities  with 
the  government  of  President  Juarez.  They  must  have  lead,  saltpetre,  sulphur,  and  other 
articles,  contraband  of  war,  which  they  have  heretofore  been  only  able  to  get  through 
Piedras  Negras.  Indeed,  such  was  the  demand  for  lead  by  the  rebels  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
that  it  is  now  worth  100  per  cent,  more  at  Monterey  than  formerly.  Under  Vidaurri' s  rule, 
as  he  paid  no  regard  to  the  decrees  of  President  Juarez's  government,  except  so  far  as  they 
suited  his  convenience,  they  got  through  Piedras  Negras  every  thing  they  could  raise,  either 
the  cotton  or  credit  to  purchase. 

The  position  of  the  rebels  who  have,  on  various  pretexts,  got  out  of  the  so-called  south 
ern  confederacy  into  Mexico,  is  peculiarly  embarrassing  now  since  Juarez  is  in  power  at 
Monterey,  'lhat  they  are  in  favor  of  the  French  invasion  is  perfectly  well  known.  One 
of  their  leading  papers  in  Texas  not  long  since,  when  under  the  delusion  that  Vidaurri, 
aided  by  the  French,  would  certainly  defeat  Juarez,  openly  boasted  that  Mr.  J.  S.  Quintero, 
the  rebel  lead  agent  residing  at  Monterey,  had  done  more  to  bring  about  the  invasion  of 
Mexico  by  the  Frencb  than  any  other  one  person.  No  doubt  he  did  his  best  for  the  French. 
Whether  his  having  done  so,  and  his  having  made  contracts  with  Mr.  Oliver,  of  Monterey, 
for  lead,  in  violation  of  the  plighted  faith  of  the  Juarez  government,  which  hag  never  sane  - 
tioned  the  trade  in  contraband  articles  with  the  rebels,  will  enable  him  to  continue  at  Mon 
terey  and  play  the  same  part  near  the  constitutional  government  that  he  did  at  the  court 
of  Vidaurri,  remains  yet  to  be  seen. 


-MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  397 

It  is  a  little  singular  that  so  many  of  the  leading  rebels  of  Texas,  of  the  class  that  have 
had  to  do  with  the  cotton  and  money  of  the  insurrectionary  government,  are  now  either  in 
or  very  near  to  Mexico.  The  ex-collectors  of  Eagle  Pass  and  Brownsville  are  there.  Major 
Russell,  the  quartermaster  of  General  Bee's  staff,  is  there  on  a  two  months'  sick  leave. 
Major  Simeon  Hart,  the  Confederate  States  cotton  agent  in  Texas,  is  at  Eagle  Pass  ;  so  is 
Captain  George  H.  Giddings.  William  G.  Hale,  eeq  ,  is  also  reported  to  be  there,  engaged 
in  for  ward  ing  cotton  for  a  wealthy  firm  in  Matamoras.  It  is  well  for  these  gentlemen  to 
be  safe.  When  all  of  their  cotton  is  across  the  Rio  Grande  they  can  follow  it,  and  the  rank 
and  file  left  behind  will  have  to  look  out  for  themselves.  After  a  season  they  can  come 
in  and  take  the  oath  under  a  special  pardon,  as  the  general  one  is  not  broad  enough  to 
cover  their  case,  and  they  will  then  have  the  means  at  command  to  live  handsomely  where 
they  may  please  ;  or  else  they  can  live  abroad.  By-the-bye,  has  Mr.  Simeon  Hart  a  house 
in  your  city  ?  His  brother,  Mr.  Henry  Hart,  who  is  reputed  to  be  in  business  in  New  York, 
has  been  through  Texas  since  the  rebellion  be<?an,  and  is  said  to  have  returned.  It  has 
lately  been  discovered,  in  the  course  of  a  quarrel  between  Majors  Russell  and  Hart,  that  a 
large  quantity  of  cotton  which  was  crossed  into  Mexico,  marked  H.  H  ,  with  M.  K.  below, 
though  supposed  to  belong  to  the  rsbel  government,  was  really  the  property  of  one  or  both 
of  the  Harts  and  of  Thomas  F.  McKinney,  who  was  one  of  the  commissioners  not  long  bince 
sent  out  to  Vidaurri  to  negotiate  for  the  reopening  of  the  Piedras  Negras  trade.  Has  any 
of  this  cotton  reached  New  York  ;  and  if  so,  to  whom  was  it  consigned  ? 

By  the  latest  arrival  from  Monterey  the  news  has  come  that  President  Juarez  has  con 
cluded  to  make  that  city  his  capital.  It  is,  perhaps,  more  accessible  to  all  the  points  with 
which  he  has  occasion  to  keep  up  communication  than  Saltillo. 

RIO  GRANDE. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE. 

Washington,  May  25,  1864. 

Mr.  Seward  presents  his  compliments  to  Senor  Romero,  and  acknowledges, 
with  sincere  thanks,  the  receipt  of  the  slip  from  the  New  York  Tribune,  of  last 
Saturday,  containing  very  much  interesting  information  concerning  affairs  in 
Mexico,  and  the  sentiment  of  friendly  sympathy  which  is  entertained  by  the 
national  government  towards  the  United  States. 

Senor  M.  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  Sfc. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 

[Translation.  ] 
Private.]  WASHINGTON,  May  24,  1864. 

ESTEEMED  SIR  :  The  Herald,  of  New  York,  of  the  18th  April  last  past,  published 
an  account  of  what  occurred  at  a  dinner  which  several  distinguished  persons  of 
that  city,  friends  of  Mexico,  had  the  kindness  to  give  me  on  the  29th  of  March 
last.  That  portion  of  such  account  which  relates  to  the  remarks  which  I  made 
when  called  upon  to  speak  by  the  persons  who  honored  me  with  that  demonstra 
tion,  attributes  to  me  some  opinions  which  I  never  even  thought  of  uttering, 
and  is,  in  general,  so  little  exact  that  1  think  it  proper  to  make  known  to  you, 
although  this  can  have  only  an  indirect  bearing  on  the  official  business  of  the 
department  in  your  charge,  that  the  enclosure  herewith  contains  a  faithful  nar 
rative,  written  in  Spanish,  of  all  that  passed  at  that  dinner,  and  an  exact  trans 
lation  of  what  on  that  occasion  I  had  the  honor  to  say  in  English. 
I  am,  air,  very  respectfully  your  faithful  servant, 

M.  ROMERO. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


398  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

WASHINGTON,  May  25,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  beg  to  thank  you  for  the  authentic  report,  transmitted  with 
your  note  of  the  24th  instant,  of  the  proceedings  at  the  banquet  giren  to  you  by 
certain  distinguished  citizens  of  New  York,  and  which  contains  an  exact  trans 
lation  of  the  remarks  you  made  on  that  occasion. 

Although  your  note  is  unofficial,  I  shall  place  it  with  the  printed  report  on 
the  files  of  the  legation  of  Mexico  in  the  Department  of  State,  to  protect  you 
from  the  misapprehensions  which  might  result  from  the  incorrect  published  reports 
of  your  remarks  to  which  you  allude. 

I  am,  my  dear  sir,  very  truly  yours, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Sefior  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  8fc. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Setcard. 

[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  May  28,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  you  a  correct  translation,  in 
the  English  language,  of  the  document  of  which  I  sent  you  a  copy  in  Spanish, 
annexed  to  my  letter  of  the  26th  instant. 

I  also  enclose  you  a  copy,  in  English,  for  the  information  of  your  department, 
of  some  remarks  which  I  made  in  New  York,  about  the  middle  of  last  December, 
upon  the  causes  which  have  brought  about  the  present  situation  of  the  Mexican 
republic. 

I  renew  to  you,  sir.  the  assurances  of  my  veVy  distinguished  consideration, 

M.  ROMERO. 


Speech  delivered  by  Senor  Romero,  the  Mexican  minister  to  tfie  United  States,  at  a  banquet  given  by 
him  in  New  York' on  the  I6lh  of  December,  1863. 

On  the  16th  day  of  December,  1863,  a  banquet  was  given  at  Delrnonico's  by  the  Mexican 
minister,  to  his  Mends  in  New  York,  with  the  object  of  informing  them  of  the  present 
condition  of  affairs  in  the  Mexican  republic. 

It  seems  unaccountable,  yet  it  is  a  fact,  that  even  the  most  distinguished  and  learned 
men  of  this  enlightened  metropolis  are  not  fully  posted  up,  not  only  as  regards  the  import 
ant  occurrences  now  taking  place  in  Mexico,  but  also  as  to  the  condition  of  affairs  of  that 
republic — its  elements,  its  tendencies,  its  politics,  and  even  its  inward  civilization. 

It  was  the  object  of  Mr.  Romero  to  invite  some  of  the  most  distinguished  persons  of  this- 
city,  who,  by  their  position  and  antecedents,  occupy  the  front  places  in  social  life,  to  dis 
cuss  with  them,  in  a  confidential  and  friendly  manner,  Mexican  affaiis,  and  to  give  them. 
at  the  same  time,  some  important  data  upon  the  internal  situation  of  his  country.  He  paid 
special  attention  in  inviting  those  who  were  considered  as  the  leaders  of  the  different  politi 
cal  parties  into  which  this  nation  is  now  divided,  with  the  view  that  it  might  not  appear 
as  if  any  preference  had  been  given  to  any  one  of  these  parties,  and  that  the  banquet  might 
not  have  any  other  character  but  the  one  proposed. 

The  following  persons  were  then  invited  and  assisted  to  the  banquet : 

Mr.  Hiram  Barney,  a  prominent  member  of  the  republican  party,  friendly  to  the  present 
administration,  and  now  collector  of  the  custom-house  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Augustus  Schell,  a  gentlemen  much  esteemed  in  this  city,  and  a  distinguished  mem 
ber  of  that  portion  of  the  democratic  party  who  defend  with  the  greatest  warmth  and 
interest  the  institution  of  slavery.  He  was  formerly  collector  of  the  New  York  custom 
house  under  the  administration  of  Mr.  Buchanan. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  399 

Mr.  John  Van  Buren,  son  of  the  ex-President  of  the  United  States,  Martin  Van  Buren,  a 
celebrated  orator  and  lawyer  of  this  city,  and  a  prominent  member  of  that  part  of  the 
democratic  party  which  does  not  sympathize  so  strongly  with  slavery,  and  also  a  personal 
and  political  friend  of  Governor  Seymour,  of  this  State. 

Mr.  William  C.  Bryant,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  poets  of  the  United  States,  mem 
ber  of  the  radical  republican  party,  and  chief  editor  of  the  Evening  Post,  of  this  city. 

Mr.  David  Hoadly,  president  of  the  Panama  Railroad  Company,  a  person  of  conservative 
ideas,  and  high  standing  in  this  city  for  his  integrity,  honesty,  and  industry. 

Mr.  James  W.  Beekman,  a  gentleman  of  independence,  of  this  city,  descendant  of  one 
of  the  first  Dutch  families  who  colonized  this  island,  and  much  respected  for  his  honorable 
antecedents,  and  his  constant  desires  to  do  good  wherever  his  influence  and  his  services 
are  wanted. 

Mr.  William  E.  Dodge,  jr.,  distinguished  merchant  of  this  city,  and  Mr.  John  H.  Ham- 
ersley,  one  of  the  ancient  families  of  this  city,  and  a  gentleman  of  independence  and  high 
personal  qualities. 

The  three  last-named  gentlemen  belong  to  no  particular  political  party,  and  only  repre 
sent  the  wealthy  and  higher  classes  of  New  Yoik,  whose  ideas  are  above  the  mercantile 
community. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  also  invited,  who,  either  by  sickness,  or  for  having  pre 
vious  engagements,  were  ^unable"  to  attend  the  banquet  :  Mr.  George  Opdyke,  mayor  of 
the  city ;  Major  Generals  George  B.  McClellan  and  John  A.  Dix;  Mr.  John  C.  Cisco,  sub- 
treasurer  of  New  York ;  Mr.  George  Bancroft,  the  eminent  historian  of  the  United  States  ; 
Mr.  James  T.  Brady  and  Mr.  William  M.  Evarts,  both  celebrated  lawyers  of  this  city,  and 
a  prominent  member  of  the  democratic  party  the  former,  and  of  the  republican  party  the 
latter. 

Among  the  Mexican  gentlemen  that  were  present  at  the  banquet,  besides  Mr.  Romero, 
were  Seiior  Don  Ignacia  Mariscal,  secretary  of  the  legation  ;  Doctor  Don  Juan  N.  Navarro, 
consul  general  of  Mexico  in  the  United  States,  and  Seuor  Don  Jose  Ramon  Pacheco,  formerly 
Mexican  minister  at  Paris,  and  several  times  secretary  of  state  of  the  republic  of  Mexico. 

The  banquet  was  given  in  the  handsomest  apartment  at  Delmonieo's.  At  the  head  of 
the  dining-room  the  flag  of  Mexico  on  the  right,  and  that  of  the  United  States  on  the  left, 
might  be  seen  gracefully  entwined  together,  and  under  each  of  them  respectively  were 
placed  the  portraits  of  Presidents  Juarez  and  Lincoln.  At  6  o'clock,  the  hour  appointed 
for  dinner,  all  the  guests  who  had  accepted  the  invitation  were  present,  and  after  a  few 
minutes  of  conversation,  during  which  Mr.  Romero  presented  to  them  the  Mexican  gentle 
men  attending  the  banquet,  and  showed  them  a  collection  of  engravings  representing  the 
most  important  views  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  which  were  upon  a  table  of  the  reception  room, 
he  begged  them  to  walk  into  the  dining-room,  where  everything  was  already  waiting  for 
them. 

They  were  seated  in  the  manner  which  had  been  previously  arranged  as  follows  : 

Senor  Romero. 

Mr.  Barney.  Mr.  Schell. 

Mr.  Van  Buren.  Mr.  Hamersley. 

Senor  Navarro.  Senor  Mariecal. 

Seiior  Pacheco.  Mr.  Dodge. 

Mr.  Hoadley.  Mr.  Bryant. 

Mr.  Beekman. 

The  service  at  table  was  the  best  that  could  be  offered  by  Delmonico's  celebrated  hotelr 
as  well  as  the  best  that  could  be  procured  in  the  abundant  market  of  this  city. 

The  wines  were"  also  abundant  and  of  the  best  quality.  The  guests  did  full  justice  to  the 
viands,  and  were  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  ability  and  good  taste  displayed  by  the  director 
of  the  culinafy  department.  Feelings  of  the  most  perfect  cordiality  and  good  will  prevailed 
at  table. 

After  the  dessert,  Mr.  BEEKMAN  arose  and  said  : 

"I  propose,  gentlemen,  that  we  drink  the  health  of  the  gentleman  who  has  honored  us 
by  inviting  us  to  this  agreeable  meeting  ;  the  worthy  representative  of  a  neighboring  and 
a  friendly  nation,  which  while  it  struggles  for  its  independence,  struggles  also  in  defence  of 
the  principles  which  the  people  of  the  United  States  have  always  sustained  and  defended." 
This  toast  was  received  with  general  acclamations,  and  then  Mr.  ROMERO  responded  to  it 
in  the  following  terms  : 

GENTLEMEN  :  I  have  never  felt  more  embarrassed  than  I  feel  on  the  present  occasion,  in 
endeavoring  to  respond  to  the  generous  sentiments  which  our  distinguished  friend  has  just 
expressed  towards  my  country  and  myself.  Nor  have  I  ever  so  much  regretted  as  I  do  now, 
not  possessing  adequately  the  English  language,  that  I  might  duly  express  the  ardent  and 
sincere  desires  that  inspire  me  for  your  health  and  welfare,  and  for  the  peace,  prosperity, 


400  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

and  happiness  of  your  great  country.  Since  our  mutual  friend  has  made  allusion  to  Mexico, 
allow  me,  gentlemen,  to  make  a  few  remarks  in  regard  to  that  nation,  so  favored  by  nature, 
and  so  little  known,  and  so  greatly  misrepresented  abroad. 

The  internal  condition  of  Mexico  is  scarcely  understood  or  appreciated  in  this  country  or' 
in  Europe.  The  general  impression  seems  to  be,  that  we  arc  an  uncivilized  heterogeneous 
people,  constantly  divided  by  petty  personal  feuds  and  ambitions  ;  always  engaged  in 
making  pronunciamientos ;  entirely  wanting  in  patriotism  and  high-toned  sentiments  ; 
altogether  unfitted  for  self-government ;  utterly  incapable  of  developing  our  great  natural 
resources,  and  therefore  unworthy  of  the  sympathy  or  respect  of  mankind.  Gentlemen, 
there  never  has  been  an  opinion  more  unjustly  entertained;  never  a  judgment  more 
unfounded. 

All  of  you  are  aware,  gentlemen,  that  when  Mexico  was  a  colony  of  Spain,  it  was  the 
policy  of  the  Spanish  government  to  rule  the  country  through  the  instrumentality  of  the 
Catholic  clergy.  With  this  object  in  view,  the  clergy  were  clothed  with  every  kind  of 
personal  privilege,  and  were  allowed  to  monopolize  a  very  large  portion  of  the  real  estate 
and  other  property  of  the  country.  They  were  also  the  only  educated  class,  and  all  instruc 
tion  of  the  masses  was  left  entirely  in  their  hands.  By  these  means  they  maintained  a 
profound  influence  over  the  consciences  of  the  ignorant  people,  and  they  constituted  an 
aristocracy  more  powerful  and  more  deeply  rooted  than  any  other  upon  the  face  of  the 
broad  earth.  When,  in  1810,  the  early  Mexican  patriots  proclaimed  the  independence  of 
their  country  from  the  Spanish  yoke,  the  clergy  became  alarmed  by  a  movement  in  which 
it  had  not,  as  an  association,  taken  the  initiative,  and  which,  if  it  should  terminate  in  the 
overthrow  of  the  Spanish  government  and  the  establishment  of  a  national  government, 
might  place  in  peril  their  numerous  privileges,  their  immense  riches,  and  their  controlling 
influence.  They  therefore  determined  to  oppose  the  movement.  I  do  not  believe  it  neces 
sary  to  tell  you,  gentlemen,  that  so  long  as  the  Mexican  clergy  threw  the  immense  weight 
of  their  influence  on  the  side  of  the  Spanish  government,  the  Spaniards  were  everywhere 
triumphant.  But  while  the  struggle  was  going  on  in  Mexico,  a  great  change  took  place  in 
Spain.  The  Spanish  cortes,  animated  by  liberal  ideis,  had  issued  various  decrees,  seriously 
diminishing  the  personal  privileges  of  the  clergy,  and  had  passed  laws  providing  for  the 
desamortization  of  their  immense  property,  for  the  benefit  of  the  nation  at  large.  The 
Mexican  clergy  then  began  to  change  their  ground.  They  saw  at  once  how  much  they 
would  have  to  lose  if  the  laws  passed  by  the  Spanish  cortes  should  be  carried  into  effect  in 
Mexico  ;  and  believing  at  the  same  time  that  they  could  organize  a  government  which 
would  be  fuliy  under  their  own  control,  they  determined  to  adopt  the  cause  of  independ 
ence,  and  with  their  aid  the  independence  of  Mexico  was  then  achieved. 

Since  that  time  a  fearful  struggle  has  been  going  on,  between  the  clergy  on  the  one  side, 
who  have  sought  to  control  the  national  government,  and,  on  the  other,  the  few  enlight 
ened,  patriotic  men  who,  seeing  that  there  was  no  hope  that  Mexico  could  become  what 
nature  designed  her  to  be,  unless  liberal  principles  should  be  adopted,  and  an  entire  sepa 
ration  be  effected  from  church  influence  and  control,  began  to  labor  for  the  establishment 
of  a  liberal,  popular  government,  which  should  keep  down  the  ambition  and  usurpations 
of  the  clergy,  always  directed  to  the  promotion  of  their  own  interests,  without  any  regard 
for  the  welfare  of  the  country. 

The  result  of  such  a  struggle  in  its  earlier  efforts  could  not  be  doubtful,  taking  into 
consideration  the  power,  the  influence,  and  the  resources  of  each  party  respectively.  When 
ever  the  liberal  party  succeeded  in  establishing,  through  the  ballot-box,  a  legal  govern 
ment—a  government  which  would  not  favor  the  interests  of  the  clergy,  when  these  were 
opposed  to  the  interests  of  the  country— a  government  in  favor  of  promoting  foreign  immi 
gration,  of  opening  highways,  constructing  railroads,  authorizing  the  free  and  public 
exercise  of  all  religions,  the  freedom  of  the  press,  of  reducing  import  duties,  favoring  all 
branches  of  commerce — in  a  word,  of  developing  all  the  natural  wealth  and  vast  resources 
of  Mexico — the  clergy  immediately  instigated  a  pronunciamiento  against  that  government, 
and  brought  to  bear  every  influence  to  secure  its  overthrow. 

Such  a  state  of  affairs, "however,  could  not  last  forever.  While  the  struggle  was  going 
on,  the  people  began  to  grow  enlightened.  Everybody  saw  that  the  money  of  the  clergy 
was  constantly  used  to  foment  revolutions,  to  subvert  the  public  peace,  and  to  shed  the 
blood  of  the  innocent  people  for  the  iniquitous  purpose  of  maintaining  interests  and  pre 
serving  privileges  entirely  incompatible  with  the  well-being  of  the  country. 

Thus,  the  liberal  party,  which  at  the  beginning  was  small  in  numbers  and  weak  in 
power,  became  stronger  every  day,  until,  finally,  in  the  year  1860,  it  had  become  strong 
enough  to  crush  entirely  the  church  party,  and  to  re-establish,  it  was  hoped  forever,  con 
stitutional  law  and  constitutional  government  throughout  the  whole  extent  of  Mexican 
territory.  This  was  done  without  foreign  aid,  and  even  against  the  sympathies  and 
encouragement  of  European  powers,  who  had  ever  lent  all  possible  aid  to  the  church  party. 
At  the  same  time  all  the  special  privileges  of  the  clergy  were  repealed,  and  the  church 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  401 

property  was  declared  to  be  national,  and  was  sold  to  the  people  at  a  low  nominal  price. 
This  latter  measure  had  a  double  object.  While  the  Mexican  government  proposed  to  dis 
arm  the  clergy,  by  taking  from  them  the  principal  weapon  they  had  used  in  their  efforts 
to  excite  pronunciamientos  and  disturb  the  public  peace,  it  desired  to  render  useful  to  the 
country  the  immense  wealth  which  had  been  accumulated  by  the  church,  and  which,  being 
withdrawn  from  free  circulation,  and  monopolized  by  a  class  indisposed  or  incapable  of 
making  it  productive,  had  only  been  a  source  of  evil,  and  a  perpetual  barrier  to  the  nation. 

Thus,  when  it  was  generally  believed  abroad  that  we  were  at  war  without  plausible 
motive,  only  to  promote  petty  personal  ambitions,  we  were  really  working  out  one  of  the 
most  thorough  of  revolutions,  and  one  of  the  most  necessary  for  the  true  prosperity  of 
the  people  of  Mexico. 

I  desire  to  be  distinctly  understood,  gentlemen,  that  we  have  never  raised  any  issue  with 
the  church  party  of  Mexico  on  spiritual  questions.  Our  disagreement  has  been  wholly  with 
reference  to  temporal  affairs,  and  has  not,  in  any  manner,  involved  the  dogmas  of  the 
Catholic  faith. 

The  church  party  has  wished,  as  an  association,  to  rule  the  country  for  their  own  advan 
tage.  We  have  sought  to  establish  a  perfect  independence  between  church  and  state,  to 
confine  the  church  to  spiritual  affairs,  and  to  make  it  subordinate  to  the  state  in  temporal 
matters. 

Thus,  when  we  had  reason  to  believe  that  our  long  civil  wars  had  ended— for  we  had 
removed,  even  to  the  roots,  the  sole  cause  of  all  our  past  misfortunes — and  that  we  were 
now  about  to  enjoy  the  blessings  of  peace — the  only  thing  needed  by  Mexico  to  become  a 
prosperous  nation — new  misfortunes,  new  calamities  of  a  different  kind  suddenly  fell 
upon  us. 

The  church  party  of  Mexico,  seeing  that  with  their  own  means  it  was  impossible  to  make 
any  further  resistance,  or  to  foment  any  further  revolutions,  and  having  in  view,  as  they 
always  have  had,  only  their  own  advantage,  regardless  of  the  welfare  of  their  country, 
resolved  to  send  emissaries  to  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  interesting  in  their  behalf  some  of 
the  principal  European  governments,  in  order  to  be  by  them  restored  to  power  in  Mexico. 

These  emissaries  represented  that  the  church  party  were  in  favor  of  a  conservative  gov 
ernment — a  monarchical  government — modelled  after  the  European  system  ;  while  the 
liberal  party  were  in  favor  of  democratic  institutions,  and  sympathized  fully  with  the  views 
and  principles  of  the  United  States.  On  this  point  I  cannot  do  otherwise  than  acknowledge 
that  the  emissaries  were  right.  The  liberals  of  Mexico  do  believe  that  if  we  can  succeed  in 
developing  there  the  great  principles  which  have  made  the  United  States  so  great  and 
prosperous,  Mexico  will  reach  the  same  end  by  using  the  same  means. 

These  emissaries,  however,  exaggerated  the  influence  of  the  church  party  in  Mexico. 
They  said  the  liberal  government  of  that  country  was  tyrannical,  oppressive,  and  unpopular, 
and  governed  only  by  force  ;  and  they  even  affirmed  that  the  mere  moral  force  of  Europe- 
would  be  sufficient  to  overthrow  it,  and  restore  the  church  party  to  power.  They  further 
promised  that,  after  overthrowing  the  liberal  government,  the  church  party  would  establish 
a  government  which  should  be  entirely  under  the  influence  of  the  European  nations  which 
would  aid  them  in  their  purpose. 

These  false  representations  of  the  emissaries  led  to  the  allied  expedition  of  France,  Eng 
land,  and  Spain,  which,  assuming  pretexts  utterly  insufficient  and  unjust,  disembarked  at 
Vera  Cruz  in  December,  1861. 

When  the  English  and  Spanish  generals  and  commissioners,  after  having  resided  some 
time  in  Mexico,  saw  that  the  state  of  things  in  that  country  was  entirely  different  from 
what  the  church-paity  emissaries  had  represented  to  their  respective  governments,  they 
decided  without  hesitation  to  withdraw,  with  their  forces,  from  the  country  :  and  so  clear 
to  them  was  the  deception  practiced  upon  their  governments,  that  they  took  the  delicate 
step  of  withdrawing  from  the  alliance  of  their  own  accord,  without  consulting  with  their 
superiors,  and  without  even  waiting  for  instructions  from  their  governments,  although 
acting  in  an  affair  so  full  of  difficulties  and  of  ulterior  complications. 

I  have  reached,  gentlemen,  without  intending  it,  the  actual  situation  in  Mexico  ;  and 
under  this  head  I  beg  to  be  allowed  to  say  a  few  words  more. 

The  French  army  did  not  retire  from  Mexico  with  the  armies  of  England  and  of  Spain, 
for  the  French  government  had  other  objects  in  view,  and  it  was  fully  determined  to  ac 
complish  them.  The  Emperor  of  the  French  believed  at  that  time,  and  perhaps  he  still 
believes,  that  the  United  States  were  permanently  divided,  and  that  circumstances  might 
take  such  a  shape  as  to  afford  him  the  opportunity  of  acquiring  Texas,  of  recovering  Louisi 
ana,  and  of  possessing  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi. 

To  accomplish  this  end,  it  was  necessary  to  obtain  a  foothold  on  this  continent,  at  a  point 
as  near  the  United  States  as  possible,  and  particularly  to  Louisiana  and  Texas — a  point  of 
departure  where  he  could  collect,  securely  and  conveniently,  a  large  army  and  a  large  naval 
force,  and  form  a  base  of  supplies.  The  Emperor  of  the  French,  therefore,  directed  himself, 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 26 


402  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

not  so  much  against  Mexico  as  against  the  United  States.  How  far  he  has  succeeded  in  his 
plans  is  now  a  matter  which  helongs  to  history.  It  is  sufficient  fur  me  to  say,  that  by  means 
of  his  Mexican  expedition  he  has  been  able  to  collect,  on  the  American  continent,  almost  on 
the  southern  frontier  of  the  United  States,  a  large  French  army,  and  has  sent  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  a  very  considerable  French  squadron,  larger  than  the  objects  of  the  expedition  war 
rant,  and  much  larger  than  could  have  been  necessary  for  any  purpose  connected  with 
Mexico — a  country  that  has  no  navy  ;  and  all  this  has  been  accomplished,  strange  to  say, 
•without  any  remonstrance,  without  any  protest,  and  even  without  any  demonstration  of 
interest  or  concern  on  the  part  of  the  United  States. 

What  the  end  of  these  complications  will  be  it  is  very  difficult  to  foretell.  So  far  as 
relates  to  the  occupation  of  Mexico,  I  am  entirely  sure  that  the  Emperor  of  the  French 
will  soon  be  undeceived,  and  will  learn  that  he  has  undertaken  more  than  he  can  accom 
plish,  and  that  when  he  sees  the  complete  failure  of  the  farce  which  his  agents  are  now 
playing  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  he  will  rind  himself  compelled  to  retire  from  a  country  which 
he  has  so  unjustly  invaded.  With  regard  to  ourselves,  therefore,  there  can  be  only  one 
result,  that  will  be  verified  sooner  or  later.  It  will  inevitably  be  the  triumph  of  the  holy 
cause  of  Mexican  independence. 

The  French  will  soon  fail  of  even  the  aid  of  the  church  party.  That  party  hoped,  and. 
to  a  certain  extent,  with  reason,  that  when  the  French  army  should  occupy  the  city  oi 
Mexico,  the  imperial  government  would  annul  the  laws  of  reform  issued  by  the  liberal  gov 
ernment  of  that  republic,  and,  the  first  thing,  would  restore  to  the  clergy  the  property  that 
had  been  taken  from  them,  and  nationalized  and  sold.  But  it  happened  that  among  the 
persons  who  had  purchased  the  ecclesiastical  property  there  were  a  considerable  number 
of  French  subjects,  who  would  be  injured  by  the  restitution  of  that  property;  and  this 
consideration  has  led  the  French  government  not  only  not  to  abrogate  the  reform  laws, 
but  to  prevent  its  satellites,  who  have  assumed  the  name  of  regency  in  Mexico,  from  them 
selves  attempting  to  abrogate  them.  If,  then,  the  French  government  should  persist  in 
the  policy  which  they  have  commenced  to  follow,  it  will  not  be  long  before  the  church  party 
will  begin  to  make  as  decided  opposition  to  the  intervention  as  they  did  a  year  ago  to  the 
constitutional  government. 

In  conclusion,  there  is  one  remark  that  cannot  be  withheld.  It  appears  to  me,  gentle 
men,  that  there  exists  a  striking  similarity  between  the  church  party  of  Mexico  and  the 
pro-slavery  party  in  the  United  States.  The  church  was  there  a  power  stronger  than  the 
state ;  so  was  slavery  in  this  country.  The  church  has  there  been  the  only  cause  of  our 
civil  wars ;  so  now  is  slavery  here.  The  church  party  in  Mexico,  after  being  conquered  by 
the  people,  solicited  foreign  intervention,  in  order  to  be  re-established  in  power  ;  so  slavery 
in  this  country,  as  I  understand,  has  sought  foreign  aid  even  before  being  conquered  by  the 
government  of  the  United  States. 

This  toast  was  also  received  with  enthusiasm,  after  which  some  of  the  gentlemen  present 
begged  Mr.  Hiram  Barney  to  respond.  Mr.  Barney  arose  and  said  : 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  After  what  our  friend  the  Mexican  minister,  who  has  given  us  such  import 
ant  information,  and  has  so  thoroughly  considered  the  Mexican  question,  has  said,  there 
is  nothing  left  that  I  can  add.  My  official  position  does  not  permit  me  either  to  express 
my  sentiments  and  my  sympathies  for  Mexico  with  the  vehemence  which  I  feel  and  with 
the  freedom  that  I  would  were  I  in  other  circumstances.  We  have  not  as  yet  offered  Mex 
ico  the  aid  which  it  was  our  duty  to  give  her  in  the  present  critical  situation,  and  I  really 
do  not  know  whether  it  is  because  we  would  not  or  because  we  could  not  do  it.  I  need 
not  say  that  the  sympathies  of  our  people  are  in  favor  of  the  Mexican  nation,  and  that  we 
hope  that  instead  of  Europe  being  able  to  establish  monarchies  in  this  continent,  she  may 
see,  in  a  short  time,  some  of  the  monarchies  of  the  Old  World  turned  into  republics." 
[Applause.] 

Mr.  Barney  took  his  seat  in  the  midst  of  acclamations  of  joy  from  those  around  him, 
when  Mr.  Bryant  arose  and  made  the  following  address: 

"GENTLEMEN  :  Of  all  the  atrocities  committed  in  the  world  since  its  creation,  I  do  not 
believe  that  there  is  any  more  mean,  more  base,  or  more  vile  than  that  of  the  present  French 
Emperor,  who,  taking  advantage  of  the  civil  war  of  the  United  States,  and  the  wearied 
Mexican  republic,  has  sent  from  the  other  continent  an  army  of  adventurers,  with  the  object 
of  overthrowing  the  republican  institutions  which  the  Mexican  people  had  given  to  them 
selves  by  virtue  of  their  sovereignty,  and  establishing  a  monarchy  by  force,  placing  at  its  head 
the  stem  of  one  of  the  most  absolute  and  despotic  families  ever  known  upon  earth.  The 
baseness  and  villany  of  this  action  has  no  equal,  and  its  lowness  can  only  be  compared  with 
the  greatness  of  soul,  elevation  of  sentiments,  and  pure  patriotism  with  which  the  Mexicans 
are  endowed,  defending  the  independence  of  their  country  and  sustaining  the  constitutional 
government  of  Juarez,  who  is  now  the  emblem  of  that  holy  cause.  I  propose,  then,  gen 
tlemen,  that  we  drink  to  the  government  of  Juarez,  that  eminent  patriot  who  has  not 
hesitated  to  wrestle  in  defence  of  a  holy  cause  with  a  European  colossus,  and  who  has  be- 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  403 

•come  the  representative  of  patriotism  and  constancy,  presiding  now  over  a  government 
which  will  realize,  by  its  triumph,  the  highest  hopes  for  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of 
Mexico."  [Applause.] 

This  toast  was  as  well  received  as  the  former  ones,  and  it  met  with  demonstrations  of 
great  pleasure. 

Several  indications  were  then  made  to  Doctor  Navarro,  Mexican  consul  general  in  the 
United  States,  to  respond  to  Mr.  Bryant's  toast,  and  after  stating  the  difficulty  he  labored 
under  to  do  so  in  a  foreign  language  to  the  eloquent  and  beautiful  address  of  Mr.  Bryant, 
he  said  that  he  drank  "  the  health  and  well-being  of  the  gentlemen  present,  and  the  pros-^ 
perity  and  happiness  of  the  United  States." 

Mr.  Schell  proposed  that  Mr.  Van  Buren,  as  the  most  distinguished  orator,  and  a  gentle 
man  well  versed  in  the  politics  of  foreign  governments,  should  express  the  sympathies  of 
the  United  States  in  favor  of  Mexico — a  proposition  that  was  most  favorably  received,  but 
which  unfortunately  could  not  be  granted,  Mr.  Van  Buren  suffering  then  an  indisposition 
which  prevented  him  from  speaking  sufficiently  loud  for  the  time  he  thought  necessary  to 
say  anything  worthy  to  be  heard  by  such  an  audience. 

Mr.  Dodge  asked  Mr.  Romero  several  questions  about  the  extent  of  Mexican  territory 
that  the  French  occupied;  upon  the  so-called  "Junta  of  Notables"  who  proclaimed  the 
empire,  and  upon  various  points  of  importance.  Mr.  Eomero  answered,  endeavoring  to 
make  himself  heard  by  all  the  gentlemen  present,  in  terms  which  showed  that  the  procla 
mation  of  the  empire  was  nothing  more  than  a  badly-managed  farce,  and  that  the  French 
were  in  a  difficult  position,  which  will  every  day  grow  worse. 

He  availed  himself  also  of  the  occasion  to  speak  upon  other  points  he  had  omitted  in  his 
address,  and  which  were  listened  to  by  all  with  demonstrations  of  the  most  intense  interest. 

Shortly  after  10  o'clock  Mr.  Eomero  arose  from  the  table,  and  thus  terminated  a  meet 
ing  in  which  all  were  highly  pleased  and  satisfied,  and  which,  owing  to  the  object  in  view, 
.as  well  as  the  gentlemen  who  composed  it,  cannot  be  less  than  of  great  importance  and 
political  transcendency,  as  well  as  of  great  interest  to  those  who  have  any  sympathy  for  a 
people  who  is  struggling  for  its  independence  against  a  European  tyrant,  disturber  of  the 
peace  of  the  world. 


Grtat  banquet  given  to  the  minister  from  the  Mexican  republic  by  several  of  the  most  diitinguithzd 
persons  of  the  city  of  New  York,  to  express  their  njmptlhy  for  the  cause  of  Mexico  mid  their 
opposition  to  French  intervention  in  that  republic. 

On  the  evening  of  the  29th  of  March  last  a  b.vnquet  was  given  in  this  city,  at  Delmonico's 
hotel,  corner  of  Fourteenth  street  and  Fifth  avenue,  in  honor  of  Senor  Don  Matias  Romero, 
minister  of  the  Mexican  republic,  by  very  distinguished  citizens  of  New  York,  with  the 
view  of  manifesting  their  sympathy^  towards  the  Mexican  nation  in  the  bloody  struggle 
they  are  now  carrying  on  against  their  invaders.  The  private  character  which  it 
was  considered  proper  to  give  to  this  demonstration,  notwithstanding  the  importance  with 
which  it  was  invested,  its  spontaneity,  and  a  thousand  other  circumstances,  have,  perhaps, 
been  partly  the  cause  that  there  has  been  so  little  comment  on  it  in  the  papers. 

We  are  going  to  supply  this  deficiency  by  referring  to  all  that  occurred  during  the  enter 
tainment  so  highly  expressive  at  a  time  when  the  Archduke  Maximilian  (as  it  is  asserted) 
is  about  preparing  his  voyage  to  go  and  sit  upon  a  silver  mountain,  as  Napoleon  said, 
instead  of  upon  a  throne.  Our  readers  will  not  think  it  strange  that  we  enter  into  so 
minute  a  description  of  a  dinner  if  they  think  that  we  are  not  only  treating  of  a  great 
culinary  triumpli  of  Delmonico's,  of  the  splendid  fine  taste  shown  by  those  accomplished 
Amphytrions,  but,  what  is  far  better,  of  a  frank  reproach  and  a  terrible  warning  given  to 
Europe  by  the  people  of  the  United  States,  represented  by  the  distinguished  individuals 
of  this  metropolis,  of  whom  we  shall  give  an  idea  afterwards.  Now  we  will  enter  into  the 
facts. 

About  a  month  ago  some  of  those  citizens  projected  a  demonstration  in  favor  of  the 
Mexican  cause,  that,  without  taking  cognizance  of  the  policy  which  circumstances  may 
liave  obliged  the  government  of  this  country  to  follow,  should  manifest  the  dominant 
feeling  in  regard  to  the  invasion  of  Mexico,  not  only  among  the  great  mass  of  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  but  among  those  classes  especially  favored  by  intelligence,  learning, 
position,  or  fortune.  They  soon  found  among  their  friends  the  same  disposition,  and  they 
would  have  collected  a  very  large  subscription  if  the  desire  they  had  of  carrying  out  at 
the  earliest  opportunity  their  intentions,  and  other  considerations  of  minor  importance,  had 
not  prevented  it.  So  that,  without  more  delay,  the  following  invitation  was  sent  to 
Washington  to  Seuor  Romero  : 


404  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

NEW  YORK,  February  1C,  1864. 

DEAR  SIR  :  The  undersigned,  in  common  with  many  loyal  citizens,  feel  much  interest  in 
the  present  condition  of  Mexico,  that  important  continental  state. 

We  cordially  sympathize  with  the  people  of  Mexico  in   their  unequal  struggle,  and, 
appreciating  their  bravery  and  sacrifices,  and  your  services  in  maintaining  the  integrity  of 
your  country,  we  tender  to  you,  as  the  faithful  representative  of  Mexico,  a  dinner  in  this 
city,  on  Tuesday,  March  20. 
Your  obedient  servants, 

Wm.  C.  Bryant.  W.  Butler  Duncan.  Alex.  Van  Reusselaer. 

Wm.  H.  Aspinwall.  Wm.  Curtis  Noyes.  Geo.  Folsom. 

Hamilton  Fish.  Henry  Clews.  Washington  Hunt. 

John  W.  Hamersley.  Fred.  C.  Gebhard.  Chas.  King. 

Jonathan  Sturgis.  Geo.  T.  Strong.  Willard  Parker. 

James  W.  Beekman.  Henry  Delafield.  Adrien  Iselin. 

J.  J.  Astor,  Jr.  Henry  E.  Pierrepont.  Robert  J.  Livingston. 

Smith  Clift.  George  Opdyke.  Samuel  B.  Ruggles. 

W.  E.  Dodge,  Jr.  David  Dudley  Field.  James  T.  Brady. 

David  Hoadley.  Geo.  Bancroft. 

Frederick  De  Peyster.  C.  A.  Bristed. 

His  Excellency  M.  ROMERO, 

Mexican  Minister,  Sfc.,  fyc. ,  &fc.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

For  any  one  who  is  acquainted  with  society  here,  these  names  will  suffice,  and  it  will  be 
seen  at  once  that  they  represent  the  most  distinguished,  choice,  eminent,  and  elite  people 
of  the  city  of  New  York,  embracing  every  profession,  every  employment,  and  every 
political  party  in  all  its  shades.  In  order,  however,  that  foreigners  and  particularly  the 
Spanish-Americans  may  have  some  idea  of  those  persons,  we  will  give  a  brief  description 
of  their  antecedents  in  the  order  in  which  they  have  signed  their  names. 

Mr.  William  Cullen  Bryant  is  a  most  respectable  elderly  person,  great  poet,  eminent 
literary  man,  and  one  of  the  first  editors  of  the  press  of  this  city.  As  a  poet  he  has  been 
a  perfect  prodigy  of  precocity  and  lengthened  genius,  to  be  compared  only  with  Lope 
de  Vega  and  Voltaire.  When  he  was  only  nine  years  old  he  published  his  first  verses,  and 
at  thirteen  a  regular  poem,  in  connexion  with  other  beautiful  compositions,  was  issued  to 
the  eyes  of  the  world.  He  is  now  over  seventy  years  of  age,  and  has  just  given  light  to  a 
new  poem  that  has  called  forth  the  eulogy  of  the  press,  and  in  which  his  robust  mental 
faculties  have  not  deteriorated  in  the  slightest  degree.  By  the  refined  taste  displayed  in 
his  compositions,  he  is  considered  as  a  poet  of  the  most  classical  taste  that  this  nation  has 
hitherto  produced.  To  the  golden  crown  that  girdles  his  venerable  head  may  be  added 
the  respectability  which  Mr.  Bryant  enjoys  for  his  knowledge,  his  well-tried  probity,  and 
his  constancy  in  defending  the  most  disinterested  political  opinions.  In  regard  to  these, 
Mr.  Bryant  belongs  to  the  extreme  portion  of  the  republican  party,  being  consequently  an 
abolitionist.  Septuagenary  as  he  is,  he  still  preserves  the  moral  and  physical  vigor  of 
youth,  and  is  ready  to  defend  any  cause  that  has  for  a  foundation  liberty  and  justice  ;  he 
has  also  all  the  necessary  activity  to  be  even  now  chief  editor  of  the  "  New  Yoik  Evening 
Post." 

Mr.  William  H.  Aspinwall  is  a  rich  merchant  of  the  highest  probity  and  possessing  the 
most  active  and  intelligent  spirit  of  enterprise.  The  inter-oceanic  communication  by 
Panama  is  entirely  owing  to  him.  There  he  has  founded  the  city  called  in  New  Granada 
<:  Colon,"  but  generally  known  as  "Aspinwall,"  a  name  that  will  hence  be  imperishable. 
He  belongs  to  the  firm  of  Howlaud,  Aspinwall  &  Co.  He  is  the  owner  of  one  of  the  best 
picture  galleries  in  New  York. 

Mr.  Hamilton  Fish,  a  gentleman  of  the  most  elevated  position  in  society  by  the 
antecedents  of  bis  family,  much  respected  in  this  city  as  well  for  his  personal  qualities  as 
for  many  other  reasons.  He  has  been  governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  senator  for 
the  same  in  the  United  States  Congress. 

Mr.  John  W.  Hamersley,  also  of  an  ancient  and  notable  family  of  this  city.  A  man  of 
great  wealth,  highly  educated,  and  distinguished  for  his  varied  learning  acquired  by  great 
reading  and  extensive  travelling.  By  his  exquisite  taste  and  very  fine  manners  he  holds  a 
place  among  the  aristocracy  which  is  obtained  by  those  qualities,  it  being  the  only  one 
that  can  possibly  exist  in  republics.  His  independent  position  has  hitherto  prevented  him 
from  being  enrolled  under  any  political  party  ;  but  his  heart  is  entirely  American,  and  he 
considers  that  the  absolute  independence  of  this  continent  from  the  old  is  (as  he  so 
eloquently  expresses  it)  "a  principle  filtered  in  the  veins  of  every  true  son  of  Washington 
by  the  milk  that  he  has  drawn  from  his  mother's  breast,  a  pass-woid  and  countersign,  and 
a  terrible  monition  to  Europe." 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  405 

Mr.  Jonathan  Sturgis,  a  distinguished  and  eminent  merchant,  an  enthusiastic  philan 
thropist,  who  has  already  dedicated  a  great  part  of  his  wealth  for  objects  of  beneficence, 
and  for  the  fine  arts,  his  delicate  taste  for  which  entitles  him  to  be  an  American  Mascenas. 
He  is  president  of  the  "  Union  League  Club,"  which,  as  it  is  well  known,  represents  the 
most  select  and  influential  portion  of  the  republican  party. 

Mr.  James  W.  Beekman,  a  descendant  from  one  of  the  first  Dutch  families,  founders  of 
the  city  of  New  York.  A  man  of  wealth,  highly  respected  for  his  honesty  and  philan 
thropic  sentiments,  no  less  than  for  the  elevated  criterion  revealed  in  all  his  actions.  His 
name  is  always  connected  in  every  useful  enterprise  or  in  any  charitable  undertaking 
wherein  the  moral  or  physical  sufferings  of  mankind  are  to  be  alleviated.  He  has  been 
one  of  the  most  eminent  senators  in  the  State  legislature. 

Mr.  John  Jacob  Astor,  jr.,  is  a  nephew  of  the  famous  philanthropic  millionaire,  his 
namesake,  who  lavished  enormous  sums  in  objects  of  public  benefit  and  instruction  that 
bear  his  name,  as  for  instance  the  Astor  library.  The  town  of  Astoria,  near  this  city,  was 
also  called  after  him.  The  person  of  whom  we  are  now  speaking,  besides  his  illus 
trious  name,  his  probity  and  other  personal  endowments,  is  the  possessor  of  a  fabulous 
fortune  consisting  principally  of  real  estate  in  New  York  city,  and  is  also  a  patriot  of  the 
purest  and  most  enthusiastic  kind,  as  the  fact  of  his  having  accepted  a  colonelship  in  the 
volunteer  army  of  the  United  States  and  having  suffered  all  the  privations  and  hazards  of 
the  campaign  clearly  indicate.  This  occasioned  a  malady  from  which  he  has  not  entirely 
recovered  yet. 

Mr.  Smith  Clift,  a  lawyer  of  celebrity  and  high  reputation  for  his  honesty  and  undeniable 
talents,  is  a  distinguished  member  of  the  republican  party. 

Mr.  William  E.  Dodge,  jr.,  is  one  of  the  heirs  to  the  great  fortune  and  virtues  of  his  father. 
He  is  a  prominent  merchant  in  this  city.  The  Dodge  family  have  distinguished  themselves 
by  their  unstained  morality  and  religious  piety.  He  has  spent  considerable  sums  in 
philanthropic  and  Christian  establishments,  having  subscribed  on  one  occasion  more  than 
$25,000  for  the  founding  of  a  college  in  Palestine.  Mr.  Dodge,  partner  of  the  house  of 
Phelps,  Dodge  &  Co.,  is  a  banker  of  high  standing  and  great  prospects. 

Mr.  David  Hoadley  is  also  a  person  of  the  highest  respectability  in  this  city,  accredited 
honesty  and  good  judgment.  He  is  the  president  of  the  Panama  Railroad  Company,  and 
has  contributed  largely  in  raising  it  to  the  height  it  now  occupies,  and  is  considered  as 
one  of  the  most  lucrative  and  best  managed  enterprises  in  this  country. 

Mr.  Frederick  De  Peyster  is  a  much  distinguished  and  respected  literary  man,  as  must 
be  seen  at  once  when  he  is  known  to  be  the  president  of  the  Historical  Society  of  New  York. 
He  descends  from  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  honorable  Dutch  families  of  this  city,  and  is 
held  as  a  prominent  member  of  the  democratic  party. 

Mr.  William  Butler  Duncan,  a  well-known  and  rich  banker  of  the  house  of  Duncan, 
Sherman  &  Co .  He  is  a  member  of  the  extreme  portion  of  the  democratic  party. 

Mr.  William  Curtis  Noyes,  a  prominent  lawyer  of  high  reputation,  is  considered  one  of 
the  luminaries  of  the  New  York  bar,  well  known  as  a  man  of  probity  and  judgment,  and 
is  one  of  the  principal  members  of  the  republican  party. 

Mr.  Henry  Clews  is  a  noted  merchant  of  the  firm  of  Livermore,  Clews  &  Co  ,  United  States 
bankers  for  the  sale  of  some  of  its  bonds. 

Mr.  Frederick  C.  Gebhard,  banker  of  high  reputation,  and  of  an  ancient  and  prominent 
family.  He  is  a  partner  of  the  house  of  Schusherd,  Gebhard  &  Co. 

Mr.  George  T.  Strong,  lawyer,  and  treasurer  of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission, 
a  post  of  great  trust.  He  is  a  learned  Greek  scholar,  of  fine  taste  and  exquisite  manners. 

Mr.  Henry  Delafield  is  a  rich  merchant,  retired  from  business,  and  brother  of  the  dis 
tinguished  colonel  of  engineers  of  the  same  name,  and  of  a  celebrated  physician  of  this 
city. 

Mr.  Henry  E.  Pierrepont  is  a  wealthy  gentleman  and  eminent  lawyer  of  Brooklyn,  a 
philanthropist,  and  protector  of  the  fine  arts,  and  belongs  to  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
respectable  Huguenot  families. 

Mr.  George  Opdyke  is  a  merchant  well  known  and  respected,  having  been  the  last  mayor 
of  the  city  of  New  York. 

Mr.  David  Dudley  Field,  eminent  lawyer,  and  one  of  the  authors  of  the  present  civil 
code  of  New  York ;  is  a  prominent  member  of  the  republican  party. 

Mr.  George  Bancroft,  ex-minister  from  this  country  to  England,  is  an  eminent  historian, 
and  is  now  publishing  a  large  history  of  the  United  States.  He  enjoys  a  well-deserved 
reputation  as  a  literary  man,  and  was  Secretary  of  the  Navy  in  a  former  administration. 

Mr.  Charles  Astor  Bristed,  a  near  relation  of  John  Jacob  Astor,  of  whom  we  have  already 
spoken,  is  a  man  well  versed  in  sciences  and  letters,  and  has  written  several  works  of  great 
merit  upon  political  matters. 

Mr.  Alexander  Van  Reusselaer.  son  of  the  founder  of  Albany,  wealthy  "  rentier."  He  is  a 
man  of  much  culture,  and  of  an  old  Dutch  family. 


406  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

Mr.  George  Folsom,  ex-minister  from  the  United  States  to  Holland  ;  native  of  the  State 
of  Maine;  connected  by  marriage  to  one  of  the  principal  families  of  this  city.  He  is  a 
person  of  wealth,  great  learning,  and  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Ethnological  Society 
of  New  York,  and  consequently  a  noted  philologist.  He  has  made  a  magnificent  transla 
tion  of  the  letters  addressed  by  Hernan  Cortes  to  Charles  V  upon  the  conquest  of  Mexico. 

Mr.  Washington  Hunt,  ex-governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  a  prominent  member 
of  the  democratic  party.  He  represents  tbe  interests  of  the  eastern  portion  of  the  same 
State,  of  which  he  is  a  native. 

Mr.  Charles  King  is  a  venerable,  elderly  gentleman,  the  Nestor  of  that  select  meeting, 
for  he  is  five  years  older  than  Mr.  Bryant,  and  consequently  seventy-five  years  of  age. 
Notwithstanding,  his  features,  his  deportment,  his  voice,  and,  above  all,  his  intelligent 
and  fiery  gaze,  reveal  an  extraordinary  vigor.  Educated  in  Paris  and  London,  where,  in 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  his  father  resided  as  minister  from  the  United  States, 
he  returned  to  his  country,  married  into  a  distinguished  and  rich  family,  and  was  for  some 
time  engaged  in  a  large  speculating  business  He  excelled  afterwards  as  a  journalist,  and 
having  been  appointed  many  years  ago  president  of  Columbia  College,  the  most  ancient 
and  renowned  institution  for  scientific  instruction  in  the  United  States,  has  made  great 
improvements  there,  and  contributed  effectively  to  establish  its  present  celebrity.  His  good 
humor,  that  does  not  detract  from  his  venerable  aspect,  gives  him  a  particular  attraction, 
and  on  approaching  him  one  does  not  know  which  is  the  most  predominent  feeling  c  f  the 
heart,  whether  it  be  the  affection  inspired  by  his  amiability,  or  the  veneration  with  which 
his  eminent  intelligent  qualities,  his  knowledge,  and  his  purified  morality  subdue  you. 

Mr.  Willard  Parker  is  an  eminent  physician  of  New  York — perhaps  the  most  eminent  in 
the  United  States,  after  the  octogenarian  Mott.  To  a  consummate  scientific  knowledge  that 
he  possesses  may  be  added  the  most  noble  character  and  the  best  qualities. 

Mr.  Adrien  Iselin  is  a  merchant  of  high  standing,  and  whose  name  is  advantageously 
known  in  the  New  York  market. 

Mr.  Robert  J.  Livingston  is  a  very  wealthy  man,  and  a  descendant  of  an  illustrious 
family  of  this  country,  as  one  of  his  ancestors  was  companion  to  Washington  in  the  revo 
lutionary  war,  and  another  one  was  Secretary  of  State  and  an  American  diplomat  in 
Europe. 

Mr.  Samuel  B.  Ruggles,  who  possessed  formerly  a  large  fortune,  is  a  very  intelligent  and 
educated  person  ;  he  has  been  a  delegate  from  the  United  States  to  the  international 
statistic  congress,  assembled  at  Berlin. 

Mr.  James  T.  Brady  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  lawyers  of  the  New  York  bar,  an  orator 
of  great  reputation,  and  eminent  among  the  democratic  party.  He  was  a  candidate  of  the 
same  State  for  governor  in  the  election  before  last. 

To  the  foregoing  invitation  Mr.  Romero  answered  as  follows  : 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  March  20,  1864. 

GENTLEMEN:  I  have  just  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  kind  letter  of  the  18th  ultimo, 
informing  me  that  you,  in  common  with  many  loyal  citizens,  feel  much  interest  in  the 
present  condition  of  Mexico,  cordially  sympathize  with  the  people  of  that  republic  in  their 
unequal  struggle,  and  appreciating  their  bravery  and  sacrifices,  as  well  as  my  services  (you 
kindly  add)  in  maintaining  the  integrity  of  my  country.  You  are  good  enough  to  tender 
to  me,  as  the  representative  of  Mexico,  a  dinner  in  your  city  on  the  29th  instant. 

Nothing  could  be  more  gratifying  to  myself  and  to  my  countrymen  than  seeing  that  we 
have  with  us  the  enlightened  and  uninterested  sympathy  of  so  many  of  the  most  distin 
guished  and  eminent  citizens,  whose  virtues,  learning,  and  persevering  enterprise  have 
made  of  the  city  of  New  York  the  great  metropolis  of  the  New  World. 

The  demonstration  with  which  you  intend  to  honor  the  noble  cause  for  which  my  country 
is  fighting  against  one  of  the  strongest  and  best  organized  military  powers  on  earth,  while 
it  shows  your  high  opinion  of  the  question,  and  your  great  sense  of  justice,  will  be  duly 
appreciated  and  thanked  for  by  my  government  and  countrymen,  as  well  as  by  all  unbiased 
and  disinterested  people  throughout  the  world,  who  have  some  regard  for  justice,  aud  can 
not  help  noticing  it  entirely  trampled  down  by  the  Emperor  of  the  French  in  the  policy 
he  is  pursuing  towards  Mexico. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

M.  ROMERO. 

Messrs.  WILLIAM  CULLEN  BRYANT,  £c.,  &c.,  and  all  the  other  gentlemen  who  signed  this 
invitation. 

Besides  the  above-copied  invitation,  Mr.  Romero  received  the  following  one  : 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  407 

NEW  YORK,  March  18,  1864. 

DEAR  SIR  :  In  behalf  of  the  undersigned,  who,  in  common  with  our  countrymen,  cor 
dially  sympathize  with  the  people  of  Mexico  in  their  unequal  struggle,  and  Avith  yon  as 
their  faithful  representative,  we  beg  your  acceptance  of  a  dinner  in  this  city  on  Tuesda)', 
March  29,  at  7  o'clock. 

WILLIAM  H.  ASPINWALL, 

Chairman  Invitation  Committee. 
Senor  ROMERO, 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico. 

Mr.  Romero's  answer  was  this  : 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  March  25,  1864. 

DEAR  SIR:  I  have  to-day  had  the  honor  of  receiving  the  polite  note  you  had  the  kindness 
to  address  to  me  under  date  of  the  18th  instant,  proposing  to  me  in  your  behalf,  and  in 
common  with  many  of  your  countrymen  cordially  sympathizing  with  the  people  of  Mexico 
in  their  unequal  struggle,  and  with  me  as  their  representative,  that  I  should  accept  a  din 
ner  in  your  city  on  Tuesday,  29th  instant,  at  7  o'clock  p.  m. 

Thanking  you  very  sincerely  for  the  kindness  of  yourself  and  your  distinguished  friends 
in  tendering  me  such  demonstration,  which,  on  account  of  the  very  high  social  standing 
and  eminent  qualities  of  the  gentlemen  from  whom  it  originates,  carries  with  it  a  great 
significance,  I  have  the  honor  to  state  to  you  that  I  have  already  accepted  said  dinner  in  a 
letter  dated  the  20th  instant,  which  I  had  the  pleasure  to  address  to  the  gentlemen  who 
have  honored  me  by  their  kindness  in  offering  it  to  me,  and  that  I  will  soon  leave  for  your 
city  with  a  view  to  be  there  on  the  day  appointed. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

M.  ROMERO. 
WILLIAM  H.  ASPINWALL.  Esq. , 

Chairman  Invitation  Cummittee,  Neio  York  city. 

The  feast  was  held  in  the  best  saloons  of  Delmonico's  hotel,  occupying  four  of  the  largest. 
Two  were  set  apart  for  the  reception  and  convenience  of  the  guests,  one  for  the  banquet 
itself,  and  the  fourth  for  the  orchestra  and  other  matters  indispensable  to  the  occasion. 
The  great  dining  saloon,  of  five  hundred  covers,  was  illuminated  for  the  purpose  of  receiving 
a  number  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  belonging  to  the  families  of  the  guests,  who  assembled 
to  see  the  table  and  its  ornaments  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  banquet.  Important  addi 
tions  had  been  made  to  the  usual  furniture  and  decorations  of  those  splendid  rooms  ;  and 
among  other  things  that  delighted  the  sight  there  was  a  profusion  of  exquisite  flowers,  arranged 
in  garlands,  branches,  twigs,  baskets,  flowerpots,  &c.,  distributed  over  the  doors,  tables, 
fireplaces,  at  the  sides  of  the  mirrors,  and  wherever  they  could  serve  as  graceful  ornaments. 
The  hall  in  which  the  banquet  was  set  out  displayed  a  most  magnificent  spectacle.  At  the 
head  the  national  flags  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  republic  of  Mexico  were  placed 
together.  On  the  table  itself  there  were,  besides  five  pyramids  formed  of  slender  branches 
of  flowers,  a  splendid  sugar  piece,  four  feet  high,  placed  in  the  centre,  representing  the 
arms  of  the  Mexican  republic — that  is,  the  eagle  standing  in  the  cactus,  the  whole  sup 
ported  by  a  rock,  which  seemed  to  rise  up  in  the  midst  of  waters.  The  elegant  table  was 
also  decorated  with  a  palm  and  various  kinds  of  cactus,  as  a  memorial  of  the  tropical  clime 
and  productions  of  Mexico.  There  was  also  a  piece  of  pastry  work  in  the  form  of  a  small 
temple,  on  which  were  distinctly  written  these  two  names  :  "  Juarez,"  "  Uraga,"  the  heroic 
President  and  gallant  general-in-chief  who  are  now  at  the  head  of  the  Mexican  patriots. 

A  touching  and  moving  picture  was  presented  by  those  illustrious  citizens  of  the  Ameri 
can  Union  vying  with  each  other  in  entertaining  and  welcoming  the  representative  of 
Mexico,  the  neighboring  republic,  in  an  hour  the  most  difficult  and  critical  that  has  ever 
dawned  upon  her.  The  generosity  of  the  ssntiment  which  inspires  certain  men  with  the 
desire  of  honoring  and  sustaining  with  demonstrations  of  affection  those  who  are  struggling 
with  misfortune  is  something  that  is  only  within  the  reach  of  noble  minds,  of  intelligent 
and  well- organized  hearts. 

But  we  must  come  back  to  the  prosaic  but  substantial  and  important  question  of  the 
dinner  itself,  without  going  into  particulars,  and  reserving  what  is  technically  termed  the 
"menu"  to  be  inserted  afterwards.  This  we  will  take  from  the  elegant  bills  of  fare,  printed 
on  blue  satin  with  golden  letters,  which  were  distributed  to  the  guests.  It  is  enough  to 
say  that  the  eatables  were  of  the  most  exquisite  and  delicate  kind,  only  adding  that  there 
was  an  abundance  of  excellent  wines,  and  we  will  have  said  all  that  is  necessary  on  this 
part  of  this  subject. 

The  orchestra,  which  was  magnificent,  played  a  number  of  operatic  selections,  intermin- 


408  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

gled  with  Mcxic.iii  airs,  alternating  with  ''Yankee  Doodle"  and  <:Hail  Columbia."  The 
sweet  accents  of  the  music,  reverberating  from  the  other  hall  without  any  noise  or  disturb 
ance,  did  not  prevent  conversation,  which  flowed  on  in  a  constant  and  animated  strain,  full 
of  friendship  and  cordiality. 

Some  of  those  who  subscribed  their  names  to  the  invitation  were  not  able  to  attend  the 
dinner  in  consequence  of  family  and  other  matters.  Mr.  Aspinwall,  for  instance,  lost  his 
mother-in-law  a  day  before  the  banquet ;  Mr.  Fish,  scarcely  a  week  before,  had  received 
information  of  the  death  of  a  daughter,  resident  in  France,  and  Mr.  Noyes,  only  four  days 
previously,  lost  his  old  and  venerable  mother.  Other  persons  had  unavoidable  business  to 
call  them  away,  as  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Brady  and  Mr.  Ruggles.  Some  of  them  expressed  to, 
the  stewards  their  regrets  at  not  being  able  to  attend  the  dinner,  as  Mr.  Brady  did  in 
the  following  letter  : 

WILLABDS'  HOTEL, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  March  25,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  am  detained  here  by  professional  business,  and  fear  that  I  will  not  be 
able  to  reach  New  York  in  time  for  the  dinner  to  Sefior  Romero  on  29th,  which  I  would 
be  so  happy  to  attend,  and  in  which  I  am  willing  in  every  way  to  participate.  If  I  be 
kept  away,  please  give  my  best  respects  to  the  sefior,  and  let  me  wish  you  all  the  pleasure 
you  expect  from  the  festivity. 
Yours,  truly, 

JAS.  T.  BRA.DY. 
J.  W.  HAMERSLEY,  Esq. 

Besides  Mr.  Romero,  Sefior  Don  Juan  N.  Navarro,  consul-general  of  the  Mexican  repub 
lic,  residing  in  New  York,  Sefior  Don  Ignacio  Mariscal,  a  lawyer,  highly  esteemed  and 

considered  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  who  is  now  secretary  of  the  Mexican  legation  in  the 
United  States,  and  Don  Fernando  de  laCuesta,  second  secretary  of  the  same  legation,  were 
also  invited  to  the  banquet. 

The  party  were  seated  at  table  in  the  following  order  : 

Mr.  Beekman. 

Sefior  Romero.  Mr.  Iselin. 

Mr.  Bryant.  Mr.  Gebhard.     • 

Mr.  Delafield.  Mr.  Hamersley. 

Mr.  Duncan.  Mr.  Clews. 

Mr.  Astor.  Mr.  Hunt. 

Sefior  Cuesta.  Mr.  Bancroft. 

Mr.  De  Peyster.  Mr.  Sturges. 

Mr.  Pierrepont.  Mr.  Folsom. 

Mr.  Clift.  Mr.  Bristed. 

Dr.  Navarro.  Mr.  Dodge. 

Dr.  Parker.  Mr.  Field 

Mr.  Opdyke.  Sefior  Mariscal. 
Mr.  King. 

Shortly  before  the  dessert,  Mr.  BEEKMAN,  the  president,  arose  and  said : 

44  GENTLEMEN  :  I  am  going  to  propose  to  you,  by  previous  arrangement  with  some  of  you, 
what  is,  I  know  it,  a  complete  departure  from  what  has  hitherto  been  customary  in  dinners 
of  this  kind,  and  which,  I  believe,  will  create  quite  a  complete  revolution  in  those  which 
may  be  given  hereafter,  and  that  is,  that  before  we  proceed  any  further  the  first  and  regular 
toast  should  be  made.  I  propose,  then,  gentlemen,  the  health  of  'The  President  of  the 
United  States,'  and  I  beg  our  distinguished  friend,  Mr.  Field,  to  respond." 

This  toast  was  received  with  general  enthusiasm,  the  whole  assemblage  rising. 

Mr.  DAVID  DUDLEY  FIELD  then  spoke  as  follows  : 

"  Mr.  CHAIRMAN  :  Why  I  should  be  called  upon  to  answer  this  toast  I  do  not  precisely 
know.  I  hold,  as  you  know,  sir,  no  official  position,  and  am  in  no  manner  entitled  to 
speak,  except  as  any  citizen  may,  for  the  President  or  any  member  of  his  cabinet.  So  far 
as  it  is  a  compliment  or  salutation  for  the  country  of  which  he  is  the  first  magistrate,  we 
who  arc  Americans  all  share,  both  in  the  giving  and  the  receiving  it  So  far  as  it  calls  for 
the  expression  of  any  opinion  or  intention  on  the  part  of  the  Executive,  I,  of  course,  can 
say  nothing.  There  is  one  respect,  however,  in  which  all  of  us,  private  citizens,  may  ven 
ture  to  speak  for  the  Chief  Magistrate,  and  that  is  when  we  interpret  or  express  the  judg 
ment  of  the  American  people — here,  more  than  anywhere  else,  the  executive  department 
of  the  popular  will. 

"When,  therefore,  we  utter  the  opinion  of  the  American  people,  we  answer,  in  a  grca 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  409 

measure,  for  the  President  ;  and  in  this  manner  any  private  citizen,  like  myself,  may  ven 
ture  to  speak.  So  doing,  I  assert,  without  hesitation,  that,  with  unexampled  unanimity, 
Americans  feel  a  profound  sympathy  for  the  Mexican  people  in  this  day  of  their  trial.  The 
sentiment  of  the  country  is  all  but  one  on  this  subject  We  do  not  stop  to  inquire  whether 
the  Mexicans  have  not  made  mistakes  in  the  management  of  their  affairs  That  is  possible  ; 
all  nations  have  done  as  much.  We  have  done  so  in  the  management  of  our  own  affairs, 
of  which  we  are  now  reaping  the  bitter  fruits.  But,  whatever  may  have  been  the  mistakes 
of  the  Mexicans,  they  give  no  sort  of  excuse  to  the  invasion  of  the  French,  or  the  attempt 
of  foreigners  to  impose  a  yoke  upon  their  country. 

"Though  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  American  people  are  chiefly  occupied  with  their  own 
long  and  bloody  struggle  against  an  unnatural  rebellion,  they  nevertheless  feel  deeply  the 
wrongs  of  Mexico,  and  they  will  express  this  feeling  on  every  proper  occasion.  We  express 
it  here  at  this  festive  gathering  ;  they  will  express  it  at  public  meetings,  in  State  legisla 
tures,  and  in  Congress  ;  and  they  expect  the  Executive,  the  organ  of  the  nation,  in  its  in 
tercourse  with  other  nations,  to  express  it  also  to  the  fullest  extent,  within  the  limits  of 
international  obligations. 

"  Not  only  do  we  give  the  Mexican  people  our  sincerest  sympathy,  but  we  offer  them  all 
the  encouragement  which  a  neutral  nation  can  offer.  We  bid  them  to  be  of  good  cheer ; 
to  hold  fast  by  their  integrity  ;  to  stand  firm  through  all  vicissitudes,  believing  in  the 
strength  of  nationality,  in  the  vitality  of  freedom,  and  in  that  overruling  and  all-wise 
Providence  which,  sooner  or  later,  chastises  wrong  and  casts  down  the  oppressor. 

"This  is  not  the  place  to  enter  upon  a  discussion  of  the  motives  which  prompted  this 
French  invasion,  nor  to  trace  the  history  of  the  parties  which  have  divided  Mexico,  and 
been  made  the  pretext  for  the  intrusion  of  foreigners  into  its  domestic  affairs.  Thus  much, 
however,  may  be  said,  that  whatever  may  be  the  incidental  questions  that  have  arisen, 
there  is  one  great  and  controlling  feature  in  the  controversy,  and  that  is  the  claim,  on  the 
one  hand,  of  the  church  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  the  state,  and  the  claim  of  the  state, 
on  the  other  hand,  to  be  freed  from  the  interference  of  the  church.  We  hear  constantly  of 
the  church  party  in  Mexico.  Why  should  there  be  a  church  party  ?  What  can  it  have 
legitimately  to  do  with  secular  affairs  ?  With  us,  it  ha*  been  a  fundamental  maxim  from 
the  formation  of  our  government,  imbedded  in  the  organic  law,  that  there  must  be  forever 
a  total  separation  of  church  and  state.  The  Mexican  people- -that  is  to  say,  the  true  and 
loyal  portion  of  them — are  struggling  for  the  Fame  end,  and  in  this  we  Americans,  of  all 
creeds  and  all  parties,  bid  them  God  speed.  Yes,  all  of  us,  excepting  only  the  rebel,  who 
raises  his  arms  against  his  country,  and  the  deceitful  renegade,  who,  not  daring  to  raise  an 
arm  against  it,  seeks  yet  to  betray  it — all  of  us,  I  say,  with  these  exceptions,  pray  for  and 
believe  in  the  deliverance  of  Mexico.  It  may  be  sooner  or  later  ;  it  may  come  through 
greater  misfortunes  than  any  which  she  has  yet  suffered,  but  come  it  will.  The  spirit  of 
freedom  is  stronger  than  the  lances  of  France. 

"  Maximilian  may  come  with  the  Austrian  eagle  and  the  French  tricolor  ;  he  may  come 
with  a  hundred  ships;  he  may  march  on  the  high  road  from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  capital,  under 
the  escort  of  French  squadrons ;  he  may  be  proclaimed  by  French  trumpets  in  all  the  squares 
of  the  chief  cities  ;  but  he  will  return,  at  some  earlier  or  later  day,  a  fugitive  from  the  New 
World  back  to  the  Old,  from  which  he  came;  his  followers  will  be  scattered  and  chased 
from  the  land  ;  the  titles  and  dignities  which  he  is  about  to  lavish  on  followers  and  apos 
tates  will  be  marks  of  derision  ;  the  flag  of  the  republic  will  wave  from  all  the  peaks  of  the 
Cordilleras,  and  be  answered  from  every  mountain  top,  east  and  west,  to  either  ocean  ; 
and  the  renewed  country,  purified  by  blood  and  fire,  will  resume  its  institutions,  and  be 
free. 

"  Such,  Mr.  Chairman,  are,  I  am  sure,  the  wishes  and  the  expectations  of  the  American 
people  ;  and  thus,  I  am  bound  to  presume,  would  be  the  answer,  if  he  were  free  to  speak, 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States." 

After  this  interesting  speech,  which  was  received  with  long  and  general  applause,  the 
dinner  continued,  in  the  manner  which  will  appear  in  the  bill  of  fare.  When  the  dessert 
was  served,  Mr.  BEEKMAN  arose  and  said  : 

"Gentlemen:  The  turn  of  the  second  regular  toast  has  come.  It  is  'To  Don  Benito 
Juarez,  constitutional  president  of  the  Mexican  republic.'  This  illustrious  personage  is, 
gentlemen,  as  you  are  awai-e,  of  pure  indigenous  race.  Of  humble  birth,  his  eminent 
virtues  and  exalted  qualities  elevated  him  by  the  votes  of  his  fellow- citizens  to  the  first 
magistracy  of  his  country,  and  he  has  discharged  his  duties  under  the  most  adverse  cir 
cumstances  that  have  ever  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  statesman.  It  can  be  said  of  him,  as 
of  B.iyard,  that  he  is — 

"  '  Without  fear  and  without  reproach.' 

"I  beg  the  illustrious  president  of  Columbia  college  to  respond  to  this  toast,  after  which 
I  tru:;t  we  will  have  the  pleasure  of  hearing  our  distinguished  guest." 


410  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

This  toast  was  drunk  with  the  greatest  demonstrations  of  enthusiasm  and  most  loudly 
applauded,  and,  at  the  request  of  one  of  the  gentlemen,  three  cheers  were  given  for  the 
President  of  Mexico,  after  which  Mr.  KING  spoke  in  the  following  manner  : 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  The  toast  you  have  just  drunk  to  the  President  of  the  Mexican  republic 
is  worthy  of  our  cheers,  for  he  is  the  chosen  representative  of  the  Mexican  people,  from 
whom  he  himself  sprang,  and  our  distinguished  guest  to  day  is  acct edited  to  our  govern 
ment  as  the  representative  of  the  government  of  which  President  Juarez  is  the  head  In 
honoring  the  name  of  President  Juarez,  we  are,  then,  acting  in  harmony  with  the  views 
and  policy  of  our  own  government  as  much  as  in  consonance  with  our  own  feelings  and 
convictions. 

"  For  certainly  to  us,  as  Americans,  there  is  much  in  the  character  and  antecedents  of 
Juarez  to  commend  him  to  our  regard.  He  is,  what  was  the  boast  of  the  Athenians  of 
old,  (that  noblest  race  of  men  that  ever  made  a  small  state  great,)  born  of  the  soil,  and  of 
the  people,  where  he  lives — one  of  those  autochthones  who,  having  no  progenitors  to  look 
back  to  but  mother  earth,  have  all  the  more  inducement  to  look  forward  to  ennobling,  as 
far  as  they  may,  and  dignifying,  that  mother  earth. 

"Thoroughly  trained  and  educated  in  all  good  knowledge,  Juarez  labors  to  see  his 
country  great,  prosperous,  and,  above  a'l,  free — free  individually  and  socially — free  politi 
cally,  and,  above  all,  spiritually  free  It  is  there  that  lies  the  danger  and  the  difficulty 
of  Mexico.  It  is  spiritual  bondage  even  more  than  partisan  and  factious  quarrels  that  has 
damaged  that  fine  country.  It  is  the  influence  of  a  class  of  religionists  as  a  power  in  the 
state  that  has  been  most  injurious  there,  as  it  must  be  everywhere  ;  and  I  say  this  in  the 
most  general  terms,  and  not  as  applicable  to  any  one  form  of  belief. 

"Juarez  is  the  avowed  and  bold  opponent  of  the  politico-ieligious  hierarchy  which  has 
so  largely  controlled  the  affairs  of  Mexico,  while  monopolizing  a  most  undue  share  of  its 
wealth. 

"He  is  proscribed  by  the  priesthood,  because  he  stands,  as  in  New  England  our  fore 
fathers  did,  for  liberty  of  conscience,  for  the  right  of  every  man  to  decide  for  himself  in 
matters  of  faith.  For  the  same  reason  he  is  proscribed  by  the  imperial  pro-consul  of 
France  ;  for  it  suits  the  present  interest  of  the  unfathomable  mystery  that  sits  upon  the 
throne  of  France  to  cultivate  the  Roman  Catholic  hierarchy — which  is  a  united  body  all 
over  the  world — wielding  a  sword,  and  that  not  the  sword  of  the  spirit,  of  which  '  the  hilt 
is  at  Rome,  and  the  point  everywhere.' 

"  We,  who  have  tried  and  known  how  much  safer  and  wiser  it  is  to  separate  the  church 
from  the  state — and  where  public  opinion,  and  sometimes  positive  law,  forbids  the  mingling 
of  priests  in  politics — we  can  well  sympathize  with  President  Juarez  in  his  brave  struggle 
in  Mexico  against  a  domineering  clergy  and  against  the  foreign  allies  whom  they  have  intro 
duced  into  the  country,  to  ruin  where  they  could  no  longer  rule. 

'•  In  the  midst  of  the  agony  of  our  own  civil  war  we  cannot  be  insensible  nor  indifferent 
to  the  cause  of  Mexico,  our  neighbor,  our  friend,  our  natural  ally  ia  every  difficulty  that 
shall  involve  the  point  of  American  nationality  and  American  interests,  as  opposed  to 
European  nationality  and  European  interests  Mexico  never  can,  with  the  assent  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  become  the  appendage  of  a  European  nation,  or  furnish  a 
peaceful  throne  to  any  scion  of  a  European  imperial  house.  The  opportunity,  so  auspiciously 
presented  by  the  visit  of  our  distinguished  guest,  is  eagerly  embraced  by  us — private  indi 
viduals,  indeed,  yet  not  unfair  representatives  of  the  popular  sentiments  of  our  fellow- 
citizens  of  all  classes — to  give  emphatic  expression  to  the  declaration  that,  '  biding  our 
time,'  vre  will,  at  all  hazards,  when  that  time  comes,  assert  and  uphold  the  doctrine  that 
on  this  continent  we  will  not  permit  the  interference  by  arms  of  any  European  nation  to 
overthrow  republican  institutions  and  to  establish  monarchy  Especially  as  respects  Mexico, 
(conterminous  with  us  for  so  many  degrees  of  longitude,  washed  on  its  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
shores  by  the  same  bays  and  seas,  and  anxious  to  model  its  institutions  after  those  which 
have  raised  these  United  States  to  such  power  arid  prosperity,)  with  icspect  to  Mexico,  I 
repeat,  we  cannot,  and  we  will  not,  consent  that  any  archduke  of  Austria,  be  he  puppet  or 
be  he  principal,  nor  any  other  monarchical  pretender,  shall  IK;  imposed  upon  the  Mexican 
people  by  foreign  bayonets. 

"True  it  is,  alas!  that,  through  the  gieat  crimes  of  slavery,  we  aie  at  this  moment 
unable  to  give  to  our  firm  purposes  in  this  regard  fitting  outward  manifestation  ;  but,  as  in 
the  inevitable  course  of  justice,  which  is  God,  our  civil  war  must  ere  long  close  by  the 
extirpation  of  its  accursed  cause,  and  in  the  restoration  of  our  national  unity  and  terri 
torial  integrity,  we  shall  then  have  disposable  such  a  force  on  sea  and  on  laud  as  will  impart 
unlimited  power  of  persuasion  to  the  diplomatic  declaration  we  shall  then  make  that  Mexico 
must  and  shall  be  Mexican,  that  Mexico  must  and  shall  be  American,  and  not  European." 
This  speech  was  much  applauded  and  interrupted  by  demonstrations  of  approval.  Then 
Mr.  Beekman,  the  chairman,  announced  that  Mr.  Romero  was  about  to  speak,  alluding  to 
him  in  the  most  honorable  manner  as  the  representative  of  Mexico,  to  whom  that  banquet 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  411 

was  dedicated.     Mr  HOMKRO,  being  saluted  by  enthusiastic  applause  and  three  cheers,  amid 
profound  silence,  spoke  as  follows  : 

MR.  CHAIRMAN — GENTLEMEN  :  I  feel  entirely  unable  to  express  to  you  in  a  sufficient 
manner  rny  sincere  thanks  for  the  great  honor  you  have  bestowed  upon  me  and  my  coun 
try  in  this'  refined  and  splendid  demonstration  of  your  sympathy  for  struggling  Mexico. 
It  is,  indeed,  particularly  gratifying  to  me  that  this  significant  demonstration  is  made  by 
so  many  of  the  most  distinguished  and  most  eminent  citizens,  who  are  an  ornament  to  this 
great  metropolis,  and  whose  virtues,  learning,  and  enterprise  have  contributed  so  much 
to  make  your  city  in  so  brief  a  period  the  first,  not  only  of  the  broad  United  States,  but  of 
the  whole  American  continent,  as  well  as  to  make  your  country  one  of  the  most  powerful, 
wealthy,  and  civilized  on  the  globe 

It  is,  indeed,  another  motive  which  greatly  adds  to  my  gratification,  and  for  which,  in  the. 
name  of  my  country,!  beg  to  express  to  you  my  gratitude  for  the  kind  words  with  which 
our  distinguished  friend  has  proposed  the"  health  of  Benito  Juarez,  the  constitutional  presi 
dent  of  the  republic  of  Mexico,  and  for  the  prompt  heartiness  and  cordiality  with  which 
that  toast  has  been  received.  I  perceive,  with  joy  and  gratitude,  gentlemen,  that  you 
appreciate  the  high  qualities  of  that  statesman  and  patriot,  and  hold  a  strong  and  pure 
sympathy  for  the  noble  cause  of  which  he  is  the  leader. 

I  am  rejoiced  that  I  have  the  opportunity  to  see  with  my  own  eyes  t'ue  proof  that  the 
eminent  French  statesman,  M.  Thiers;  was  somewhat  mistaken  when,  in  a  speech  he 
recently  delivered  before  the  Corps  Legislatif,  of  Paris,  against  the  policy  pursued  by 
Emperor  Napoleon  in  Mexican  affairs,  he  stated  that  the  United  States  would  not,  under 
present  circumstances,  object  in  any  way  to  that  policy;  and  that,  should  the  Archduke 
Maximilian  come  to  this  city  en  route  to  Mexico,  he  would  meet  with  a  cordial  reception  at 
your  bands.  .  It  could  scarcely  be  possible  to  have  a  more  distinguished,  complete,  and 
genuine  representation  of  the  patriotism,  intelligence,  and  wealth  of  the  great  city  of  New 
York— the  leading  city  of  the  Union — than  that  I  see  assembled  here  this  evening  ;  yet,  if 
I  can  trubt  my  senses,  gentlemen,  I  venture  to  assert  that  the  sympathies  of  your  great  city 
run  in  a  direction  very  different  from  that  imagined  by  M.  Thiers. 

I  am  very  happy  to  say  that  Ihe  kind  feeling  you  express  for  Mexico  is  fully  recipro 
cated.  In  Mexico  there  are  now  but  the  sentiments  of  regard  and  admiration  for  the 
United  States, and  the  desire  to  pursue  such  a  course  as  will  draw  more  closely  all  those 
powerful  ties  by  which  both  nations  should  be  united 

It  has  sometimes  appeared  to  me  that  the  gentlemen  who  controlled  the  government 
of  the  United  States  for  thirty-five  years  previous  to  1861  cared  for  nothing  so  much  as  for 
the  acquisition  of  territory.  Those  gentlemen  thus  caused  their  country  to  appear  in  the 
character  of  a  very  covetous  man,  who,  without  knowing  the  boundaries  of  his  own  estate 
or  endea  voting  to  improve  it,  constantly  exerts  himself  to  enlarge  his  limits,  without  being 
very  scrupulous  as  to  the  means  of  its  accomplishment. 

Just  before  the  war  with  Mexico  commenced,  the  United  States  had  a  boundary  ques 
tion  with  England,  which  threatened  a  rupture  between  the  two  countries,  and  I  have  been 
informe.i  that  the  same  documents  which  were  prepared  as  a  declaration  of  war  against 
Great  Britain  were  used  when  war  was  finally  declared  against  Mexico.  Thus,  while  the 
idea  of  acquiring  domain  from  Great  Britain  by  a  dubious  title,  to  say  the  least,  was  relin 
quished,  the  same,  scheme  was  carried  out  against  Mexico,  not  only  without  any  plausible 
reason,  but,  I  must  say,  in  violation  of  all  principles  of  justice. 

I  beg  of  you,  gentlemen,  to  excuse  me  if  I  have  referred  to  an  unpleasant  point  in  the 
history  of  late  events  But  I  wish  to  forcibly  present  to  your  minds  the  idea  that  the  unfair 
policy  I  have  alluded  to  led,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  troubles  and  complications  in  which  • 
you  are  now  involved,  and  one  of  the  consequences  of  which  is  French  intervention  in 
Mexico,  as  that  intervention  would  never  have  been  but  for  the  civil  war  in  the  United 
States. 

Those  who  have  pursued  this  policy  appear  to  have  been,  in  the  main,  under  the  influ 
ence  of  the  slave  power,  and  to  have  had  in  view  their  own  political  influence  and  personal 
aggrandizement,  rather  than  the  great  interests  of  their  country.  They  very  properly 
thought  that,  by  extending  the  area  of  slavery,  they  would  extend  in  proportion  their 
influence  and  strength.  For  that  reason  they  did  not  insist  on  increasing  the  territory  of 
the  United  States  in  the  far  northwest,  where  their  peculiar  institution  could  not  be  acclimated, 
but  rather  set  their  eyes  towards  the  sunny  regions  of  Mexico.  By  that  means  the  institu 
tion  of  human  slavery  had  so  large  an  increase,  that  a  short  time  afterwards  it  was  strong 
enough  to  commence  a  gigantic  war  against  the  government  of  the  United  States.  In  my 
opinion,  the  leaders  of  the  slavery  party  always  had  in  view  the  separation  of  their  own 
States  from  the  free  States  of  the  north,  and  to  make  up  for  the  loss  they  aspired  to  acquire 
territory  southward. 

I  will  not  conceal  from  you,  gentlemen,  the  fact  that  we  have  looked  with  deep  appre- 
henbion  upon  such  an  aggressive  policy,  which  threatened  to  deprive  ns  of  our  independ- 


412  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

cnce  and  nationality — the  highest  and  most  precious  rights  that  man  can  enjoy  on  earth. 
We  were,  of  course,  fully  determined  not  to  give  up  this  precious  inheritance,  and  we  had 
resolved  to  fight  to  the  last.  In  our  present  war  with  France  we  are  giving  a  proof  of 
our  determination.  It  may  appear  foolish  and  unavailing  for  Mexico,  that  has  been  so 
often  exhausted  in  her  struggles  to  obtain  true  liberty  during  the  last  forty  years,  to  accept 
war  with  the  greatest  military  power  in  Europe  ;  but  there  are  circumstances  in  the  life  of 
nations  which  cause  them  to  overlook  all  secondary  considerations,  and  determine  to  exert 
themselves  to  overcome  all  difficulties.  Besides,  our  situation  is  not  so  bad  as  many  think. 

Fortunately,  the  change  of  policy  towards  Mexico  operated  in  the  Unite  1  States  brought 
up  a  consequent  change  in  the  feelings  of  my  country  in  regard  to  yours.  We  do  not  wish 
now  to  have  any  interest  antagonistical  to  yours,  because  we  mean  to  keep  peace  with  you, 
-and  that  object  could  scarcely  be  accomplished  if  our  respective  interests  were  in  opposi 
tion.  For  that  reason,  among  other  very  material  ones  that  we  had,  we  established  a 
republican  form  of  government  and  democratic  institutions,  modelled  on  the  same  basis  as 
yours. 

'Jhe  Emperor  of  the  French  pretends  that  the  object  of  his  interference  in  Mexican 
affairs  is  to  prevent  the  annexation  of  Mexico  to  the  United  States  ;  and  yet  that  very 
result  would,  most  likely,  be  ultimately  accomplished  if  a  monarchy  were  established  in 
Mexico.  Fortunately  for  us,  that  scheme  is  by  no  means  a  feasible  one. 

Mexico  is  most  bountifully  blessed  by  nature.  She  can  produce  of  the  best  quality  and 
in  large  quantities  all  of  the  principal  agricultural  staples  of  the  world — cotton,  coffee, 
sugar,  tobacco,  vanilla,  wheat,  and  corn.  Her  mines  have  yielded  the  largest  portion  of 
all  the  silver  which  now  circulates  throughout  the  world,  and  there  still  remain  to  her 
mountains  of  that  precious  metal,  as  well  as  of  gold,  which  only  require  labor,  skill,  and 
capital  to  make  them  available  and  valuable.  The  wealth  of  California  is  nothing  when 
compared  with  what  still  remains  in  Mexico. 

My  country,  therefore,  opens  a  most  desirable  field  for  the  enterprise  of  a  commercial 
nation.  Farsighted  England  discovered  this  many  years  ago,  and  by  establishing  a  line  of 
mail  steamers  from  Southampton  to  Vera  Cruz  and  Tampico,  and  negotiating  advantageous 
treaties  of  commerce,  has,  beyond  all  other  nations,  enjoyed  the  best  of  the  Mexican  trade. 
France,  seeing  this,  and  wishing  to  vie  with  England,  has  undertaken  an  enterprise  which, 
besides  being  ruinous  to  her,  will  not  produce  the  desired  end,  as  the  means  adopted  must 
surely  cause  the  opposite  result.  The  United  States  are  the  best  situated  to  avail  of  the 
immense  wealth  of  Mexico.  Being  a  neighbor  nation,  they  have  more  advantages  than 
any  other  for  the  frontier  and  coasting  trade,  and,  furthermore,  being  a  nation  second  to 
none  in  wealth,  activity,  skill,  and  enterprise,  they  are  called  by  nature  to  speculate  and 
enjoy  the  resources  of  Mexico. 

We  are  willing  to  grant  to  the  United  States  every  commercial  facility  that  will  not  be 
derogatory  of  our  independence  and  sovereignty.  This  will  give  to  the  United  States  all 
possible  advantages  that  could  be  derived  from  annexation  without  any  of  its  inconve 
niences.  That  once  done,  our  common  interests,  political  as  well  as  commercial,  will  give 
us  a  common  whole  American  continental  policy  which  no  European  nation  would  dare 
disregard. 

The  bright  future  which  I  plainly  see  for  both  nations  had  made  me  forget  for  a  moment 
the  present  troubles  in  which  they  are  now  involved.  I  consider  these  troubles  of  so  transi 
tory  a  nature  as  not  to  interfere  materially  with  the  common  destiny  I  have  foreshadowed  ; 
but,  as  they  have  the  interest  of  actuality,  I  beg  to  be  allowed  to  make  a  few  remarks  in 
regard  to  them. 

'  Every  careful  observer  of  events  could  not  help  noticing,  when  the  expedition  against 
Mexico  was  organized  in  Europe,  that  it  would,  sooner  or  later,  draw  the  United  States  into 
the  most  serious  complications,  and  involve  them  in  the  difficulty.  The  object  of  that 
•expedition  being  no  less  than  a  direct  and  armed  interference  in  the  political  affairs  of  an 
American  nation,  with  a  view  to  overthrow  its  republican  institutions  and  establish  on  their 
ruins  a  monarchy,  with  a  European  prince  on  the  throne,  the  only  question  to  be  deter 
mined  by  the  United  States  and  the  qther  nations  concerned  was  as  to  the  time  when  they 
would  be  willing  or  ready  to  meet  the  issue  thus  boldly  and  openly  held  out  by  the  antag 
onistic  nations  of  Europe. 

The  United  States  could  not  be  indifferent  in  this  question  ;  just  as  a  man  who  sees  his 
neighbor's  house  eet  on  fire  by  an  incendiary  could  not  remain  an  unconcerned  spectator, 
while  his  own  house  contains  his  family  and  all  his  fortune,  and  combustible  matter  lies 
in  the  basement.  The  only  alternative  left  to  him  should  be  whether  it  would  be  more 
convenient  to  his  interests  to  help  his  neighbor  in  putting  out  the  fire  from  the  beginning, 
and  with  the  same  earnestness  as  if  his  own  house  were  already  caught  by  that  destructive 
-element,  or  to  wait  inactive  until  the  incendiary  has  succeeded  in  making  a  perfect  blaze 
of  his  neighbor's  property,  by  which  all  will  inevitably  be  involved  in  one  common  ruin. 

This,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  situation  in  which  the  United  States  are  placed  with  regard 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  413 

to  Mexico.  Taking  into  consideration  the  well-known  sagacity  of  American  statesmen,  the 
often-proved  devotion  of  the  American  people  to  republican  institutions,  and  the  patriotism 
and  zeal  of  the  administration  that  presides  over  the  destinies  of  the  country,  I  cannot  en 
tertain  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  United  States  will  act  in  this  emergency  as  will  conduce 
to  the  best  interests  they  and  mankind  at  large  have  at  stake  in  the  Mexican  question. 

In  the  mean  time,  however,  I  consider  it  of  the  highest  importance  that  the  delusion 
prevailing  throughout  Europe  that  the  United  States  do  not  oppose,  and  rather  favor,  the 
establishment  of  a  monarchy  in  Mexico,  by  French  bayonets,  should  be  dispelled.  The 
French  government  has  been  working  steadily  in  causing  that  delusion  to  prevail  on  the 
other  side  of  the  water,  and,  so  far,  has  succeeded  more  than  could  be  expected  considering 
the  absurdity  of  such  an  idea.  The  war  against  Mexico  would  be  ten  times  more  unpopular 
in  France  than  it  is  now— in  fact,  it  could  not  be  maintained  any  longer,  if  the  French  people 
wore  made  to  understand  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  will  never  tolerate,  much 
less  favor  or  encourage,  the  establishment,  by  force  of  arms,  of  a  European  monarchy  upon 
the  ruins  of  a  sister  neighboring  republic.  The  French  people  are  friendly  to  the  United 
States ;  old  traditions,  the  common  love  of  liberty,  and  the  absence  of  opposing  interests ,. 
make  them  friendly.  They  would,  therefore,  be  wholly  opposed  to  anything  that, 
without  bringing  them  any  real  benefit,  might,  sooner  or  later,  lead  to  a  war  with  this  coun 
try.  They  very  well  know  that  such  a  war  could  not  but  be  disastrous  to  France,  since 
France  would  have  everything  to  lose  and  nothing  to  gain  by  such  a  war,  whatever  may 
be  her  influence  and  power  in  the  European  continental  politics. 

The  United  States  may  find  that  they  are  brought  squarely  to  the  issue  on  the  Mexican 
question  sooner  than  they  expected,  should  the  report,  lately  reached  here,  of  any  under 
standing  between  Maximilian,  as  so-called  Emperor  of  Mexico,  and  the  insurgents  in  this 
country,  prove  correct.  The  archduke,  it  is  stated,  will  inaugurate  his  administration  by 
acknowledging  the  independence  of  the  south,  and  perhaps  he  will  go  further  ;  and  this, 
of  course,  by  the  advice,  consent,  and  support  of  the  French  government,  whose  satellite, 
and  nothing  else,  will  the  archduke  be  in  Mexico. 

The  French  official  and  seiri- official  papers  assure  us  that  Maximilian  will  soon  depart 
for  Mexico.  All  present  appearances  indicate  that  he  is  willing  to  change  his  high  position 
in  Europe  for  a  hazardous  one  in  Mexico.  He  cannot  stay  there  unless  supported  by  a 
French  army,  and  he  will  not,  therefore,  be  anything  more  than  the  shadow  of  the  French 
Emperor.  Should  he  ever  have  a  different  view  or  desire  from  the  French  government,  or 
even  the  French  general-in  chief,  he  will  be  obliged  to  submit  to  the  humiliating  condition 
of  forbearing  to  do  that  which  he  thinks  best  in  a  country  where  he  will  call  himself  Em 
peror.  As  far  as  the  personality  of  the  Austrian  duke  is  concerned  he  is  nothing.  If  he 
goes  to  Mexico  to  meddle  in  our  affairs  we  shall  consider  him  as  our  enemy,  and  deal  with 
him  accordingly.  We  hold  that  in  the  political  question  which  is  being  agitated  in  Mexico 
the  person  of  the  Austrian  duke  is  not  of  much  account ;  and  whether  he  does  or  does  not 
go  there,  that  question  can  ultimately  have  only  one  possible  solution — namely,  the  tri 
umph  and  maintenance  of  republican  institutions. 

As  far  as  I  am  concerned,  I  prefer  that  Maximilian  should  go  to  Mexico,  so  as  to  give  the 
European  dreamers  on  monarchies  a  fair  chance  to  realize  their  dreams  of  America.  As  for 
Mexico,  I  can  say  that  nothing  that  has  transpired  in  my  country  should  surprise  any  one 
who  is  familiar  with  our  affairs.  It  is  true  that  we  have  been  unfortunate  during  the  past 
year ;  we  have  lost  nearly  all  the  battles  we  have  fought  with  the  French  ;  they  have  occu 
pied  some  of  our  principal  cities  ;  they  have  blockaded  our  ports  ;  but  all  these  gains  on 
the  part  of  the  French  are  nothing  when  compared  with  the  elements  of  opposition  and 
endurance  which  remain  with  the  national  government  of  Mexico,  ruling  a  people  number 
ing  eight  millions,  determinedly  opposed  to  intervention,  ready  to  fight,  and  fighting  already,, 
for  their  independence  ;  a  country  that  will  require  half  a  million  of  soldiers  to  subdue  and 
possess  ;  naturally  strong  in  defences,  possessing  inaccessible  mountains,  impracticable  roads, 
where  the  patriots  will  be  able  to  make  a  perpetual  warfare  upon  the  invader,  until  he  is 
persuaded  of  the  impossibility  of  accomplishing  the  conquest  or  be  compelled  to  leave  for 
other  causes.  Such  is  the  prospect  before  us,  and  that  in  case  we  could  do  nothing  more 
than  make  a  passive  resistance.  But  we  can  do  better  than  this. 

Among  the  many  events  calculated  to  terminate  immediately  French  intervention  in 
Mexico,  the  European  complications  which  threaten  to  cause  a  general  war  on  that  conti 
nent  should  be  particularly  mentioned.  It  is  certainly  wonderful  that  whilst  Europe  is  in 
so  insecure  and  agitated  a  condition,  menaced  by  revolutions  everywhere,  and  wrestling  to 
recover  its  own  existence  and  independence,  the  French  Emperor  should  be  thinking  about 
arranging  other  people's  affairs,  as  if  his  own  did  not  require  his  immediate  and  most  par 
ticular  attention. 

The  only  serious  support  the  French  intervention  had  among  the  Mexicans  was  that 
afforded  by  the  church  party,  which  was,  in  fact,  the  promoter  and  supporter  of  the  inter 
vention.  The  generals  of  the  church  party  have,  with  the  aid  of  the  French  army,  been, 


414  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

conscripting  Mexican  citizens  to  make  them  fight  with  the  foreign  invader  against  their 
brothers  and  the  independence  of  their  country.  The  church  party  expected,  of  course,  as 
a  small  compensation  for  the  services  rendered  to  the  intervention,  that  as  soon  as  the 
French  should  take  the  city  of  Mexico  they  would  restore  the  church  property  confiscated 
by  the  national  government,  and  the  fueros  of  the  clergy,  of  which  they  had  been  deprived. 
But  the  French  have  thus  far  failed  to  do  this.  They  discovered  that  the  church  party  was 
the  weakest,  and  that  with  that  party  they  had  no  chance  of  subduing  the  country.  The 
French  now  wish  to  conciliate  the  liberal  party  by  sustaining  and  enforcing  all  the  impor 
tant  measures  and  laws  decreed  by  the  national  government  But  the  liberals  of  Mexico 
are  true  patriots  before  partisans,  and  will  not  be  conciliated  so  long  as  the  foot  of  the  in 
vader  i«j  on  Mexican  soil.  The  policy  of  the  French  so  incensed  the  church  party  that  they 
broke  altogether  with  the  French.  The  archbishop  of  Mexico,  who  WHS  a  member  of  the 
so  called  regency,  withdrew  at  once,  and  was  afterwards  dismissed  by  General  Bazaine.  The 
so-called  supreme  tribunal  protested  against  those  measures,  and  shared  the  fate  of  the 
archbishop.  All  the  archbishops  and  bishops  in  the  republic  then  joined  in  signing  a  pro 
test,  in  which  they  declared  the  condition  of  the  church  to  be  far  worse  than  it  ever  was 
under  the  rule  of  the  liberal  government ;  that  now  they  are  not  allowed  even  to  issue  their 
pastorals,  a  right  never  denied  to  them  while  the  liberals  were  in  power  in  the  city  of  Mex 
ico.  The  protest  concluded  by  excommunicating  the  French  government,  the  French  army 
in  Mexico,  all  Mexicans  who  take  sides  with  the  French,  and  everybody  who  supports  the 
French  cause  in  any  way.  These  proceedings  have  left  the  French  without  the  support  of 
the  only  part  of  the  native  population  they  ever  had  in  their  favor,  and  has  combined 
against  them  all  the  elements  of  the  country. 

I  fear  that  I  have  already  imposed  too  much  upon  your  kindness,  and,  in  concluding  my 
remarks,  1  beg  to  express  my  earnest  and  sincere  desire  that  this  demonstration  may  be 
the  beginning  of  a  new  era  of  perpetual  peace  and  cordiality  in  the  relations  between  the 
United  States  and  Mexico.  [Cheers.] 

Mr.  Romero's  speech  being  concluded,  which  was  also  often  interrupted  by  prolonged 
and  enthusiastic  applause,  Mr.  Beekman  proposed  the  third  regular  toast  as  follows  : 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  There  have  not  been  wanting  people  who  think  there  are  no  statesmen  in 
Mexico.  Such  a  thing  can  only  happen  to  those  who  are  unacquainted  with  the  history  of 
that  country.  Both  during  her  conquest,  as  during  her  independence,  and  more  recently 
during  her  regeneration,  Mexico  has  had  distinguished  heroes  as  well  as  good  statesmen  : 
Guatimotzin,  Hidalgo,  and  Morelos,  Ocampo,  Lerdo.  and  Dogollado,  r.re  names  venerated 
in  that  country.  I  propose,  then,  gentlemen,  that  we  drink  to  the  statesmen  of  the  United 
States  and  Mexico,  and  I  beg  our  distinguished  fiiend,  the  illustrious  historian  of  our  coun 
try,  that  he  do  us  the  favor  of  responding  to  the  toast  " 

We  have  been  unable  to  procure  any  authentic  memorandum  of  the  speech  of  Mr.  Ban 
croft,  as  we  have  done  with  the  three  preceding  ones,  and  although  we  will  inevitably  be 
obliged  to  make  some  alterations  in  his  words,  we  aiv  sure  that  we  are  faithful  in  giving  his 
ideas.  Mr.  BANCROFT  expressed  himself  substantially  thus  : 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  Although  I  am  not  prepared  to  deliver  an  address  worthy  of  this  auditory, 
I  cannot  refrain  from  replying  and  expressing  my  sentiments,  as  I  have  been  called  to 
reply  to  the  toast  which  our  president  has  just  proposed  to  the  statesmen  of  the  two  neigh- 
boiing  sister  republics  The  struggle  which  for  many  long  years  the  Mexican  people  have 
sustained  against  their  interior  tyrants  has  been  a  heroic  struggle,  worthy  of  a  civilized  and 
cultivated  people,  and  in  which  the  sympathies  of  the  whole  civilized  world— of  all  the 
friends  of  political  and  religious  liberty— ought  to  have  been  manifested  in  a  frank  and 
decided  manner  in  behalf  of  the  Mexican  people,  directed  by  the  liberal  party.  I  believe, 
gentlemen,  that  the  cause  of  civil  wars,  not  only  in  Mexico,  but  throughout  all  Spanish 
America,  has  been  the  clergy  alone,  who,  when  they  come  to  acquire  power  in  the  state, 
ahv;i)S  strive  to  overturn  the  government  and  to  subordinate  the  temporal  interests  of 
society  to  their  own.  This  attribute  seems  to  belong  principally  to  the  Catholic  clergy. 

"The  struggle,  then,  in  which  up  to  this  time  the  patriotic  Mexicans  have  been  engaged, 
w;ih  a  holy  struggle,  and  the  sympathy  of  the  whole  people  of  the  United  States  was  with 
them  -  a  people  who,  whatever  may  be  their  religious  creeds,  adopts  as  a  fundamental 
principle  the  most  complete  religious  liberty,  and  the  absolute  independence  of  the  church 
from  the  state. 

"  But  now  the  sympathy  of  the  United  States  is  increased  for  the  Mexican  people,  when, 
in  addition  to  the  facts  already  mentioned,  we  find  this  people  struggling  for  their  inde 
pendence  and  nationality  against  a  European  nation,  which,  taking  advantage  of  the  civil 
strife  in  which  we  are  engaged,  has  sought  to  establish  before  our  eyes  a  form  of  govern 
ment  in  open  antagonism  to  our  own.  We  cannot  do  less  than  receive  this  project  in  the 
same  way  as  Europe  would  receive  it  were  we  to  foment  revolutions  and  establish  republics 
on  that  continent. 

"Thus  it  is  that  those  statesmen  in  the  United  States  who  aid  us  to  emerge  from  our 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  415 

/ 

present  difficulties,  and  to  restore  our  power  and  legitimate  influence,  and  those  who  ia 
Mexico  not  only  consummate  the  great  work  of  establishing  religious  liberty  on  a  solid 
basis,  but  who  succeed  in  driving  from  their  country  the  foreign  invader,  or  at  least  keep 
the  sacred  tire  of  patriotism  and  of  resistance  to  the  invader  burning,  while  we  disembar 
rass  ourselves  of  our  complications,  deserve,  in  the  highest  degree,  our  sincere  and  ardent 
homage. 

"Gentlemen,  the  Egyptians  used  to  place  a  burning  lamp  at  the  feet  of  their  royal 
corpses  On  descending  to  the  deep  vaults  in  which  the  corpses  were  deposited,  the  lamp 
was  naturally  extinguished. 

"  Let  Europe  place  at  Maximilian's  feet  the  weak  lamp  of  monarchical  power.  It  will 
not  burn  in  the  free  atmosphere  of  our  continent." 

This  speech  was  listened  to  with  great  attention  and  applauded  with  enthusiasm. 
Mr.  BEEKMAN  then  arose  arid  said  : 

"  GENTLEMBN  :  Mexico  has  had  illustrious  poets  of  whom  I  cannot  give  the  eulogy  they 
deserve,  but  whose  memory  I  am  desirous  you  should  honor,  remembering  the  names  of 
some  of  them,  such  as  Atarcon,  Heredia.  Gorosteza,  Carpio,  Calderon,  and  many  others.  I 
should  like  our  illustrious  and  venerable  friend,  Mr.  Bryant,  as  a  worthy  representative 
of  the  poets  of  our  country,  to  respond  to  this  toast." 

This  toast  having  been  loudly  applauded,  Mr.  BRYANT,  after  some  allusion  to  the  compli 
mentary  manner  in  which  he  had  been  called  up,  remarked  that  there  were  topics  of 
greater  importance  on  which  he  desired  to  say  a  few  words,  and  proceeded  thus : 

"  We  of  the  United  States  have  constituted  ourselves  a  sort  of  police  of  this  New  World. 
Again  and  again  have  we  warned  off  the  highwaymen  and  burglars  of  the  Old  World  who 
stand  at  the  head  of  its  governments,  styling  themselves  conquerors.  We  have  said  to 
them  that  if  they  attempted  to  pursue  their  infamous  profession  here  they  did  it  at  their 
peril.  But  now,  when  this  police  is  engaged  in  a  deadly  conflict  with  a  band  of  ruffians, 
comes  this  Frenchman,  knocks  down  an  undefendinj;  bystander,  takes  his  watch  and  purse, 
strips  him  of  his  clothing,  and  makes  off  with  the  booty.  This  act  of  the  French  monarch 
is  as  base,  cowardly,  and  unmanly  as  it  is  criminal  arid  cruel.  There  is  no  person  acquainted 
even  in  the  slightest  degree  with  the  political  history  of  the  times  who  does  not  know  that 
it  would  never  have  been  perpetrated  had  not  the  United  States  been  engaged  ia  an  expen 
sive  and  bloody  war  within  their  own  borders. 

•*  There  is  a  proverbial  phrase  used  by  lawyers,  who  say  of  a  purchaser  of  land  who  does 
not  obtain  a  clear  and  undisputed  title,  that  he  has  bought  a  lawsuit — paid  out  his  money 
for  a  controversy  in  the  courts.  We  may  say  of  this  Maximilian  of  Austria,  that  in  accept 
ing  the  crown  of  Mexico  from  the  hands  of  Napoleon,  he  has  accepted,  not  an  empire,  but 
a  quarrel — a  present  quarrel  with  the  people  of  Mexico,  and  a  prospective  quarrel  with  the 
people  of  the  United  States.  The  rule  of  a  branch  of  the  Austrian  family  will  be  no  less 
hateful  to  the  Mexicans  than  that  of  the  Austrian  monarch  is  to  the  inhabitants  of  Venice. 
Its  yoke  will  be  hated  because  it  is  a  foreign  yoke,  laid  upon  their  necks  by  strangers  ;  it 
will  be  hated  because  it  is  imposed  by  violence  ;  it  will  be  hated  because  that  violence  was 
accompanied  by  fraud  ;  for  never  was  there  a  more  shallow  and  transparent  deception  than 
that  of  the  convocation  of  notables,  from  whom  Napoleon  pretended  to  receive  the  supreme 
•dominion  over  Mexico. 

"Then,  as  to  the  relations  of  this  new  emperor  with  the  United  States,  does  any  one 
suppose  that  they  can  possibly  be  amicable?  Does  any  one  suppose  that,  after  our  civil 
war  is  ended,  as  it  soon  will  be,  the  numerous  class  whom,  it  has  trained  to  adventure,  and 
made  fond  of  a  military  life,  will  all  remain  quietly  at  home  when  the  cause  of  liberty  and 
independence  in  Mexico  demands  their  aid  ?  Does  any  man  doubt  that,  whatever  may  be 
the  course  taken  by  our  government,  they  will  cross  the  Mexican  frontier  by  thousands,  to 
take  part  in  favor  of  the  people  of  that  country?  The  party  of  liberty  in  Mexico  will  then 
have  its  auxiliaries  close  at  hand,  in  a  contiguous  region,  while  the  succorg  which  the 
despot  will  need  to  protect  his  usurped  dominion  will  be  far  away  beyond  the  Atlantic. 

"  Yet  I  wonder  not  that  Maximilian  should  covet  the  possession  of  so  noble  a  princi 
pality  as  Mexico,  provided  he  weie  allowed  to  govern  it  in  peace.  I  remember  that,  a 
iew  years  since,  in  making  a  voyage  to  Europe  in  one  of  our  steamers,  there  was  a  passenger 
on  board  to  whom  we  gave  the  name  of  the  Knight  of  the  '  Woful  Countenance.'  He 
was  a  thin,  dark  man,  dressed  in  black,  with  a  very  broad-brimmed  hat,  long  features,  and 
a  most  sorrowful  aspect.  I  learned  that  he  was  a  Mexican,  and  entered  into  conversation 
with  bfcrn.  He  described  the  natural  advantages  and  resources  of  his  country  with  much 
of  that  eloquence  which  I  believe  is  the  natural  inheritance  of  the  Latin  race.  He  spoke  of 
its  mountains,  pregnant  with  ores  of  the  precious  and  useful  metals  ;  its  vast  plains  and 
valleys  of  exhaustless  fertility  ;  its  variety  of  climates — in  some  regions  possessing  the 
temperature  of  perpetual  spring,  in  which  were  reared  all  the  productions  of  the  temperate 
zone,  and  in  the  other  places  basking  under  a  torrid  sun,  which  ripens  all  the  fruits  of 
the  tropics  to  their  most  perfect  maturity.  Yet  these  rich  mines  were  unwrought,  these 


416  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

fertile  fields  untilled,  these  regions  with  the  climate  of  Paradise  thinly  peopled  by  a 
race  without  enterprise,  almost  without  arts,  and  living  almost  from  hand  to  mouth.  This 
unhappy  state  of  the  country  he  attributed  to  tlie  want  of  a  permanent,  enlightened,  and 
liberal  government,  which,  while  maintaining  peace  and  order,  and  securing  to  every  man 
his  individual  rights  as  a  freeman,  left  open  every  path  of  lawful  enterprise. 

"We  thought  that  we  saw  the  dawn  of  this  era  of  enlightened  government  in  the 
administration  of  Juarez.  That  dawn  has  been  overcast  by  the  clouds  of  a  tempest  wafted 
hither  from  Europe.  May  the  darkness  which  has  gathered  over  it  be  of  short  continuance  ; 
may  these  clouds  be  soon  dispelled  by  the  sunshine  of  liberty  and  peace,  and  Mexico, 
assured  in  her  independence,  take  the  high  place  which  belongs  to  her  in  the  family  of 
nations  " 

After  the  termination  of  this  interesting  speech,  which,  like  the  others,  was  repeatedly 
interrupted  by  prolonged  applause, 

Mr.  BEEKMAN,  rising  again,  said: 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  There  is  now  among  us  a  distinguished  lawyer  of  Mexico,  whose  knowl 
edge,  probity  and  patriotism  are  acknowledged  and  duly  appreciated  in  that  city,  the 
dwelling-place  of  so  many  men  of  culture  and  privileged  minds.  This  lawyer  is  Senor  Don 
Ignacio  Mariscal,  secretary  of  the  Mexican  legation,  and  one  of  our  guests.  I  propose, 
gentlemen,  that  we  drink  his  health,  as  well  as  that  of  his  fellow  lawyers  of  Mexico." 

The  preceding  toast  Avas  received  by  acclamations  and  great  enthusiasm,  after  which  Mr. 
Mariscal  said : 

"GENTLEMEN:  I  never  was  more  sorry  than  now  for  not  having  the  control  of  your  ex 
pressive  language,  that  I  might  give  a  full  utterance  to  my  sentiments.  Yet  I  cannot  help 
saying  a  few  words  to  thank  you  very  warmly  for  the  kind  and  splendjd  manner  in  which 
you  are  complimenting  the  representative  of  my  country,  as  well  as  for  the  enthusiastic 
allusions  you  have  made  and  applauded  in  honor  of  its  leading  patriots  and  distinguished 
men.  Finally,  gentlemen,  the  toast  you  have  just  dedicated  to  me,  and  the  too  benevolent 
terms  in  which  it  was  proposed,  are  things  which  I  am  not  able  to  be  thankful  for  in  a  suffi 
cient  way.  I  am  perfectly  aware  that  the  general  feeling  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
is  most  favorable  to  Mexico  in  her  present  struggle  to  resist  conquest.  But  when  I  see  that 
feeling  shared  by  such  prominent  and  enlightened  citizens  as  you  are,  gentlemen,  I  consider 
it  is  not  a  blind  sentiment,  but  rather  a  conviction,  a  deep  sense  of  right  and  justice,  as  well 
as  the  knowledge  of  a  danger  common  to  both  republics.  I  cherish  the  idea  that  while  this 
unanimous  sympathy  for  Mexico  exists,  my  country  Avill  not  be  subjugated  for  a  long  time 
by  the  brutal  force  of  a  European  army.  The  day  will  soon  come,  I  trust,  in  which  the 
sympathies  of  this  great  people  will  be  no  longer  disregarded  by  any  power  in  the  world. 
You  know,  better  than  I  do,  which  are  the  clouds  now  darkening  your  political  horizon  and 
preventing  the  break  of  that  promising  day.  May  they  be  soon  dispelled !  The  sun  of 
America  will  then  shine  triumphant  upon  the  end  of  your  national  disturbances  and  the  dire 
ful  sufferings  of  Mexico." 

These  remarks  were  much  applauded  and  approved  by  demonstrations  of  assent. 

The  PRESIDENT  then  said  : 

"GENTLEMEN:  We  have  drank  to  the  President  of  Mexico,  to  the  statesmen,  poets,  and 
lawyers  of  that  republic;  it  is  now  time  we  should  devote  a  toast  to  Mexican  diplomats. 
Among  them  you  will  find  an  illustrious  citizen  who  now  occupies  an  elevated  position  in 
the  army  of  his  country.  His  name  as  a  general  and  a  diplomat  is  well  known  in  Europe. 
It  is  General  Don  Jose  Lopez  Uraga,  who,  not  long  ago,  represented  his  country  at  Berlin. 
I  hope,  gentlemen,  that  a  toast  for  General  Uraga  will  be  well  received,  and  I  beg  our  dis 
tinguished  friend,  who  formerly  represented  our  country  at  the  Hague,  will  respond  in  the 
name  of  the  diplomatic  corps." 

This  toast,  like  the  rest,  was  well  received,  all  those  present  partaking  of  the  same ;  after 
which  Mr.  Folsorn  expressed  himself  substantially  as  follows,  it  being  impossible  for  us  to 
obtain  from  the  orator  any  notes : 

"  SIR  :  Being  at  this  moment  invited  to  speak  to  this  toast,  and  without  preparation  of  any 
kind,  it  will  be  difficult  for  me  to  say  anything  worthy  of  my  hearers.  Nevertheless,  although 
without  regularity  or  good  order,  I  will  say  a  few  words,  for  I  cannot  do  less  than  accede  to 
the  request  of  our  worthy  president,  Mr.  Beekman — a  gentleman  who  is  worthy  of  all  my 
appreciation  from  his  antecedents  in  the  senate  of  New  York,  as  the  representative  of  our 
rich  and  powerful  city.  I  have  always  been  attached  to  the  beautiful  Castilian  language — 
to  that  language  so  robust  and  manly,  yet  so  soft  and  insinuating,  which  is  capable  of  the 
highest  flights  of  eloquence,  as  well  as  of  the  sweetest  sentiments  of  love.  Its  study  has 
occupied  a  part  of  my  life,  and  I  declare  that  it  would  have  been  difficult  for  me  to  have 
found  a  more  delightful  task.  This  love  of  the  Spanish  language  could  not  but  extend  to 
the  generous  people  who  speak  it,  and  more  especially  to  the  people  of  Spanish  America. 
among  whom  Mexico  occupies  the  first  place,  for  its  extent,  resources,  the  beauty  of  its 
climate,  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and,  above  all,  from  the  very  essential  circumstance  of  being 
our  neighbor,  and  having,  since  her  emancipation,  adopted  republican  institutions  similar  to 
those  winch  have. made  our  happiness.  Guided  by  these  sentiments,  I  undertook  years  ago 
tv  translation  of  the  letters  which  Hernan  Cortex  addressed  to  the  Emperor  Charles  the  Filth, 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  417 

giving'  an  account  of  the  conquest  of  New  Spain — letters  \vLicli  contain  very  important  his 
torical  data,  and  which  were  then  entirely  unknown  to  us  until  Mr.  Prescott,  our  immortal 
historian,  published  his  history  of  the  conquest  of  Mexico.  I  say  all  this  that  it  may  be 
seen  that  niy  sympathy  for  the  affairs  of  Mexico  is  of  long  standing.  And  is  it  possible  that 
it  could  cease  to  exist  now  that  her  sons  are  gloriously  fighting  to  preserve  an  independence 
which  it  cost  them  so  many  sacrifices  to  achieve?  No  ;  certainly  no.  It  exists  in  me  now 
more  actively  than  ever,  as  it  does  in  the  heart  of  every  true  American;  for  on  this  point,  as 
some  of  the  gentlemen  have  already  well  said,  the  opinion  of  our  people  is  unanimous. 
Every  one  knows  that  on  the  Mexican  soil  a  struggle  is  going  on  for  a  principle  left  us  as  an 
inheritance  by  one  of  our  great  statesmen,  and  without  whose  strict  observance  our  institu 
tions  and  political  institutions  run  great  danger.  I  wish,  then,  that  Mexico  will  sustain, 
without  rest,  the  struggle  to  which  she  has  been  so  unjustly  provoked,  and  I  do  not  fear  that 
I  deceive  myself  in  saying,  in  the  name  of  the  American  people,  that,  as  soon  as  our  civil 
war  is  ended,  our  aid  to  Mexico  will  not  be  limited  to  barren  sympathy." 

The  applause  which  followed  this  speech  being  ended,  Mr.  BEEKMAN  arose  and  said : 

"GENTLEMEN  :  I  nave  the  pleasure  to  present  to  you  Dr.  Navarro,  one  of  our  guests,  and 
chief  of  the  medical  staff  of  the  Mexican  army  during  the  heroical  defence  of  the  city  of 
Puebla,  when  attacked  by  the  French.  At  the  end  of  the  siege,  Dr.  Navarro  delivered  up 
all  the  French  wounded  who  had  been  amputated  and  attended  to  by  him  in  the  best  possible 
condition,  and  offering  every  hope  of  a  complete  cure,  many  of  them  being  already  in  a 
convalescent  state,  as  was  fully  testified  by  the  surgeon  in  chief  of  the  besieging  army. 
At  most  none  of  those  amputated  had  died,  whilst  at  the  French  camp  nearly  every  amputa 
tion  made  upon  either  French  or  Mexican  had  had  an  unfavorable  result.  Judge,  then,  gen 
tlemen,  of  the  skill  of  Dr.  Navarro  in  his  difficult  art  by  that  fact ;  and  when  you  know  that 
those  services  were  given  by  him,  on  the  occasion  to  which  I  allude,  entirely  gratis,  and 
guided  only  by  his  patriotic  feelings,  you  will  be  pleased  to  drink  to  his  honor." 

The  toast  was  received  with  enthusiasm,  and  Dr.  Navarro  was  saluted  with  cheers.  Dr. 
PARKER  being  called  upon  by  the  president  to  respond,  he  expressed  himself  more  or  less 
as  follows : 

"GENTLEMEN:  Dr.  Navarro  does  not  only  deserve  our  consideration  as  a  distinguished 
surgeon  and  professor  of  medical  science,  but  he  is  still  more  worthy  of  our  appreciation  and 
our  homage  as  a  man  loyal  to  his  country — as  a  true  patriot.  I  will  add  an  important  fact 
to  what  the  president  said,  which  will  doubtless  attract  your  attention.  When  the  general- 
in-chief  of  the  French  army  w^as  persuaded  of  the  ability  and  skill  of  Dr.  Navarro,  and  of 
the  kindness  and  attention  he  had  shown  to  the  wrounded  Frenchmen,  he  made  various  offers 
of  the  most  advantageous  kind,  through  trustworthy  sources,  to  transfer  his  services  to  the 
medical  corps  of  the  expeditionary  army,  fixing  himself  the  remuneration  and  advantages 
which  he  should  enjoy.  Then,  gentlemen,  Dr.  Navarro,  like  a  true  member  of  my  profes 
sion — like  a  loyal  son  of  Hippocrates — energetically  repelled  these  seductive  offers.  I  cannot 
help  but  remember  in  connexion  with  this  act  the  sublime  action  of  the  venerable  father  of 
medicine,  who,  when  solicited,  implored,  by  the  conqueror  Alexander  to  give  him  his  services 
in  exchange  for  immense  treasures,  replied  with  sublime  abnegation :  '  My  talent,  my  art, 
my  existence,  all  belong  to  Greece,  and  never  can  they  be  employed  against  my  country.' 
Such,  gentlemen,  was  the  conduct  of  Dr.  Navarro  under  circumstances  analogous  to  those 
of  Hippocrates.  We  offer  him,  then,  the  homage  which  he  deserves ;  and  in  doing  so  we 
do  not  forget  that  in  his  country  they  are  now  contending,  as  in  Greece  in  former  days,  with 
an  invader  who  is  aided  in  nothing  except  force  and  treason  to  carry  out  his  ominous  inten 
tions.  We  hope,  however,  that  the  sous  of  Mexico,  each  one,  and  in  the  place  belonging  to 
him,  will  imitate  the  patriotism  and  undoubted  loyalty  of  Dr.  Navarro.  [Applause.]  In 
this  way  there  is  no  doubt  that  that  republic,  our  sister,  will  be  saved  from  the  crisis  which 
now  threatens  her,  and,  animated  by  our  sympathies,  will  succeed  in  carrying  forward  her 
interests  and  safety  to  the  success  her  immense  elements  demand  for  her. 

The  president  then  announced  that  Dr.  NAVARRO  was  about  to  speak.  He  spoke  as  fol 
lows  : 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  I  regret  very  much  that  my  slight  knowledge  of  your  beautiful  language 
does  not  permit  me  to  duly  express  my  feelings.  1  feel  the  greatest  satisfaction  in  being  a 
witness  to  the  ardent  sympathy  manifested  towards  my  dear  country  by  persons  of  such  a 
high  social  position  and  so  respected  for  their  scientific  and  literary  knowledge.  I  have  no 
words  to  express  my  gratitude  for  the  toast  and  for  the  kind  allusions  which  you  have  been 
pleased  to  make  concerning  me.  Mexico,  in  defending  her  independence,  has  been  straggling 
for  a  long  time  past  with  one  of  the  most  powerful  monarchs  of  Europe,  and  she  will  struggle 
year  after  year,  proving  in  this  way  the  patriotic  sentiments  of  her  sons,  and  that  she  is 
worthy  of  that  sympathy  which  all  over  the  world  every  friend  of  justice  and  right  share 
with  you  in  extending  towards  her.  Please  to  receive,  gentlemen,  niy  most  sincere  prayers 
for  the  ending  of  your  civil  war — of  the  bloody  struggle  which  has  shaken  this  great  republic 
and  given  to  European  tyrants  the  opportunity  of  audaciously  treading  on  the  American 
continent — this  sacred  ground  on  which  liberty  only  reigns,  and  in  which  thrones  are  but 
the  sorrowful  remembrances  of  times  which  will  never  return  again.  The  time  will  come, 
and  perhaps  it  is  not  very  far  off,  when  we  shall  see  our  republic  free  of  all  foreign  interven 
tion  and  your  glorious  Union  happily  restored — being  once  more,  as  it  always  has  been,  the 
astonishment  of  the  civilized  world  and  the  fear  of  the  despots  of  the  Old  World." 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 27 


418  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

His  discourse  being  loudly  applauded,  Mr.  BEEKMAN  then  said  ; 

''GENTLEMAN:  There  is  among  our  invited  guests  a  gentleman,  who,  having  done  com 
mercial  bitsiuess  for  some  years  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  we  will  consider  as  the  Mexican 
representative  of  that  hardworking  and  intelligent  profession.  This  gentleman  is  Senor 
Fernando  de  la  Cuesta,  a  member  of  the  Mexican  legation,  who  is  at  present  here,  and  whom, 
I  hope,  we  will  have  the  pleasure  of  hearing  to-night.  I  request  of  our  friend,  the  ex-mayor 
of  this  city,  who  represents  New  York  commerce,  that  lie  will  be  pleased  to  respond  to  this 
toast,  after  which  I  promise  myself  that  Senor  Cuesta  will  favor  us  with  a  speech." 

Mr.  OPDYKE  said : 

"GENTLEMEN:  In  the  name  of  the  merchants  of  this  city,  to  whose  society  I  have  the 
honor  to  belong,  and  of  the  city  itself,  whose  mandate  and  representative  I  had  the  honor  to 
be  for  the  last  two  years,  although  it  is  no  longer  permitted  me  to  speak  officially  in  its  name, 
I  have  the  pleasure  of  expressing  my  profound  sympathy  for  the  cause  which  the  people  of  the 
neighboring  republic  are  sustaining  against  European  invasion.  My  attention  could  not  but 
have  been  most  strongly  called  to  the  fact  which  our  distinguished  guest  referred  to  concern 
ing  what  M.  Thiers  said  in  the  corps  legislatifof  France  on  the  niawncr  in  which,  in  his 
judgment,  the  Archduke  Maximilian  would  be  received  in  this  city.  So  far  would  we  be  from 
making  him  demonstrations  of  regard  and  sympathy  that,  as  you  know,  and  I  think  it  right 
to  remark  on  this  occasion,  we  have  made  such  demonstrations  precisely  to  those  powers  that 
are  least  the  friends  of  France.  When  the  Russian  squadron  arrived  at  this  port  the  whole 
city,  as  you  will  remember,  received  it  with  enthusiasm,  and  the  most  distinguished  mem 
bers  of  our  society  gave  it  welcome  and  honored  it,  as  it  was  right  to  do  with  the  noble  sailors 
of  a  great  nation,  which  has  given  us  so  many  proofs  of  sympathy  and  consideration  under 
circumstances  the  most  difficult  that  our  country  has  ever  passed  through,  and  which,  far  from 
desiring  to  draw  any  advantage  whatever  from  our  misfortunes,  magnanimously  desires  their 
speedy  termination.  When  latterly  a  French  squadron  arrived  at  our  port  there  were  not 
wanting  those  who  would  desire  that  similar  demonstrations  to  those  offered  to  the  Russians 
should  be  made  to  the  French.  I,  as  chief  magistrate  of  the  city,  opposed  myself  to  any  such 
act,  and,  in  proceeding  thus,  I  am  sure  of  it,  and  you  know  it  well,  I  was  only  the  faithful 
interpreter  of  the  will  and  desire  of  the  city  which  honored  me  with  its  confidence.  If,  during 
the  time  in  which  I  was  mayor,  the  Archduke  Maximilian  should  have  passed  through  here, 
and  if  there  had  been  any  one  who  would  pretend  to  offer  him  a  public  demonstration  of  sym 
pathy,  I  would  not  have  permitted  it ;  and  I  believe  that  no  citizen  who  has  self-respect  will 
permit  it  if,  by  accident,  Napoleon  should  think  of  sending  him  through  here  to  try  the  sen 
timents  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  reference  to  the  enterprise  which  he  is  endeavoring 
to  carry  out  in  the  Mexican  republic.  The  sentiment  of  all  our  classes  and  all  our  parties  is 
only  one  in  this  matter,  as  has  been  said  with  much  justice.  It  is,  then,  entirely  hostile  to 
any  armed  intervention  of  Europe  on  this  continent,  and  more  especially  to  that  which  seeks 
to  overthrow  a  republic  to  erect  a  monarchy." 

After  the  applause  brought  forth  by  the  preceding  speech,  Mr.  L)E  LA  CUESTA  said : 

"GENTLEMEN:  It  would  be  superfluous,  perhaps  presumptuous  in  me,  to  add  one  more 
word  to  what  has  been  already  said ;  yet  I  cannot  help  tendering  you  my  most  sincere  and 
heartfelt  thanks  for  the  beautiful  manner  in  which  you  have  been  pleased  to  express  your 
good  wishes  and  warm  sympathy  for  the  land  where  I  first  saw  the  light  and  breathed  the 
sweet  air  of  life.  As  the  last  draught  of  water  to  the  camel  in  the  desert  cheers  and  comforts 
him  through  the  dreary  path  that  lies  before  him,  so  will  the  remembrance  of  this  night  cheer 
and  comfort  me,  whatever  may  be  my  path  in  life,  to  sustain  the  liberty,  independence,  and 
integrity  of  our  national  soil.  I  cannot  answer  better  the  allusion  made  by  the  gentleman 
who  so  worthily  occupies  the  chair  as  to  my  representing  the  commerce  of  Mexico,  having 
once  followed  its  pursuits,  than  by  proposing  the  following  toast : 

"  The  city  of  New  York — first  in  sciences,  arts,  commerce,  wealth;  in  fact,  in  all.  First, 
also,  let  me  add,  in  extending  to  us  her  noble  sympathies  for  our  holy  cause.  May  she  al 
ways  prosper  as  she  has  hitherto  prospered ;  and  may  she  not  only  be  the  metropolis  of  the 
United  States,  but  the  metropolis  of  the  whole  world." 

This  toast  was  saluted  with  loud  applause. 

Mr.  BEEKMAN  then  said : 

"GENTLEMEN:  There  has  been  in  Mexico  great  advancement  in  the  fine  arts.  A  proof  of 
this  we  find  in  the  San  Carlos  Academy,  where  painters  and  sculptors  of  undeniable  merit 
have  been  educated.  We  find  a  proof,  also,  in  the  paintings  of  Cabrera,  Cordero,  Mata  and 
several  others,  as  well  as  in  the  admirable  buildings  constructed  by  such  Mexican  architects 
as  Tolsa,  to  whom  Mexico  owes  her  mining  college.  I  propose  a  toast  to  Mexican  fine  arts. 
and  let  us  hear  what  our  learned  friend  Mr.  Sturges  will  say  about  this." 

This  toast  having  renewed  great  applause,  Mr.  STURGES  said : 

"Mr.  CHAIRMAN  :  I  am  taken  quite  by  surprise  in  being  called  upon  by  you  to  respond  to 
your  allusion  to  the  fine  arts  and  architecture  of  Mexico.  On  some  other  occasion  I  should 
be  most  happy  to  speak  upon  such  a  theme ;  at  present  I  prefer  to  speak  a  few  words  of  en 
couragement  to  our  distinguished  guest,  in  the  hope  that  his  noble  country  may  soon  be  free 
from  her  foreign  and  domestic  enemies.  When  that  is  accomplished,  w<>  snail  see  everything 
that  is  beautiful,  noble,  and  useful  springing  to  life  with  new  vigor,  and  that  glorious  country 
will  become  all  that  God  intended  she  should  be.  AVe  know  what  it  is,  sir,  to  have  foreign  and 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  419 

domestic  enemies,  although  we  have  no  foreign  enemy  on  our  soil.  It  is  not  from  any  love 
which  the  enemy  of  Mexico  bears  us  that  his  armies  are  not  in  Texas  and  Louisiana.  It  is 
the  fear  of  his  o\vn  people  that  restrains  him.  I  have  the  word  of  a  French  gentleman  '  who 
knows  whereof  he  speaks'  to  support  this  statement.  He  said  to  me,  'Rest  assured,  sir,  the 
Emperor  will  withdraw  from  Mexico  the  moment  he  can  do  so  with  any  kind  of  credit  to 
himself.  The  French  people  are  against  him  in  his  Mexican  movement,  as  they  are  against 
any  interference  in  your  affairs.'  I  do  not  think,  sir,  that  our  honored  guest  can  have  failed 
to  discover  that  the  determination  is  as  firmly  fixed  in  the  hearts  of  our  people  that  no  foreign 
government  shall  be  established  in  Mexico,  as  it  is  that  no  separation  shall  take  place  between 
the  States  of  this  Union.  Our  own  affairs  settled,  and  it  would  not  be  sixty  days  before  our 
armies  would  be  in  Mexico  if  her  people  desired  it.  My  prayer  to  God  is  that  she  may  hold 
out  until  we  are  ready  for  this.  I  respond  most  fully  to  the  closing  sentiment  of  my  honorable 
friend,  Mr.  Bancroft:  'Let  the  Austrian  lamp  burn  in  the  grave  of  Austria;  it  will  not  burn 
in  the  free  atmosphere  of  America.'  " 

After  this,  Mr.  BEEKMAN  spoke  as  follows  : 

GENTLEMEN  :  M<*xico  too  has  had  her  illustrious  governors,  who  have  advanced  the  people 
over  whom  they  have  commanded,  and  who  are  well  worthy  of  our  homage.  The  actual 
President  of  the  republic,  before  reaching  that  high  position,  was  governor  of  the  state  of 
Oaxaca,  and  during  the  eight  years  that  his  administration  lasted  he  accomplished  so  much 
good,  and  developed  so  well  the  resources  of  that  rich  state,  that  he  succeeded  in  placing  it  in 
the  first  rank  of  the  various  states  composing  the  Mexican  confederation.  General  Doblado 
is  another  model  governor,  whose  beneficent  administration,  even  during  a  period  of  terrible 
intestine  commotions,  caused  the  state  of  Guanajuato  to  prosper  to  such  a  degree  that  it  has 
been  the  astonishment  of  the  other  Mexican  states.  Let  us  drink,  then,  gentlemen,  to  the 
governors  of  Mexico,  and  we  hope  that  our  illustrious  friend,  who  formerly  was  governor  of 
tins  state,  will  be  pleased  to  answer  to  this  toast. 

The  toast  having  been  received  with  general  approbation,  Mr.  Washington  Hunt  responded 
to  it  in  a  lengthy  speech,  which  we  cannot  give  here,  trusting  to  memory  alone,  for  fear  of 
not  doing  justice  to  it.  With  the  object  that  there  should  be  the  greatest  accuracy  possible 
in  the  report  of  the  speeches  we  have  made,  Mr.  Romero  requested  the  gentlemen  who  had 
delivered  them  to  give  him  a  memorandum,  as  far  as  they  could  recollect,  of  what  they  had 
said.  Mr.  Hunt,  in  reply,  wrote  the  following  letter: 

ALBEMARLE  HOTEL,  NEW  YORK,  March  3],  18G4. 

DEAR  SIR  :  It  would  afford  me  pleasure  to  comply  with  the  request  contained  in  your  note 
of  yesterday,  but  as  my  remarks  were  desultory  and  unprepared,  instead  of  attempting  an 
accurate  sketch,  I  will  confine  myself  to  two  leading  points,  which  I  deem  of  the  most  essen 
tial  import  at  the  present  juncture. 

1.  I  intended  to  utter  an  earnest  and  emphatic  protest  against  the  French  invasion  of 
Mexico,  and  the  audacious  efforts  to  overthrow  the  republic  and  erect  upon  its  ruins  a  mon 
archy,  to  be  upheld  by  a  foreign  force,  acting  in  conjunction  with  a  small  faction  of  domestic 
traitors.     I  denounced  it  as  a  wanton  offence  against  republican  liberty  and  the  independence 
of  nations. 

2.  I  intended  to  express  the  opinion  that  the  United  States  will  not  permit,  for  any  long 
period,  the  armed  occupation  of  Mexico  by  a  foreign  power. 

Our  domestic  conflict  will  terminate  in  the  re-establishment  of  the  national  authority  over 
all  the  States  of  the  Union.  The  attainment  of  this  result  is  not,  I  trust,  very  far  distant. 

Then  the  people  of  this  country  will  manifest  their  sympathy  for  the  people  of  Mexico  in 
active  and  efficient  co-operation,  and  if  need  be  they  will  rally  to  your  aid  in  a  resolute  and 
manly  struggle  for  the  rec9\-ery  of  your  national  liberty  and  independence. 

The  time  approaches  when  our  government  will  reassert  and  maintain  its  well-defined  pol 
icy,  which  is,  that  no  European  power  shall  be  allowed  to  subjugate  the  people  or  destroy 
republican  institutions  on  any  part  of  the  American  continent. 
I  remain,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

WASHINGTON  HUNT. 

Hon.  M  ATI  AS  ROMERO,  fa.,  Sfc.,  Sfc. 

Mr.  BEEKMAN  then  said:  "Gentlemen,  you  must  know  that  in  Mexico  there  have  not 
been  wanting  historians  of  great  merit.  The  names  of  Mora,  Zavala,  and  Bustamente 
must  be  familiar  to  some  of  you.  WTe  will  drink,  then,  to  the  historians  of  «Mexico,  and  we 
hope  that  our  illustrious  friend,  the  president  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  will  say  a 
few  words  on  this  matter." 

Mi-. De  PEYSTER,  rising,  said:  "I  yield,  sir,  to  your  request,  merely  in  the  private  char 
acter  I  am  here  this  evening.  I  came  to  express,  by  my  presence,  the  sympathy  which  I  feel 
towards  a  sister  republic,  torn  by  intestine  strife,  brought  upon  her  by  a  party  that  should 
have  soothed,  not  inflicted,  a  national  wound.  I  am  reminded  of  the  sad  position  of  Mexico 
by  the  like  sad  realities  which  press  upon  my  country.  I  know  full  well  what  would  be  the 
intensity  of  my  feelings  Avere  my  native  land  invaded  by  foreign  bayonets,  to  compel  her  to 
change  her  free  government  for  one  obnoxious  to  her  people.  I  came  here  with  a  further 
view,  to  testify  towards  our  distinguished  guest  my  deep  interest  in  the  cause  which  he 


420  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

represents — not  by  words — for  I  came  to  listen,  not  to  speak  ;  and  therefore  took  no  thought 
with  reference  to  the  latter. 

"But,  Mr.  Chairman,  being  up,  I  have  ideas  furnished  by  the  suggestive,  remarks  just  made 
by  Scfior  Romero.  I  well  remember  the  points  presented  by  him  in  December  last  in  a 
speech  made  on  an  occasion  similar  to  the  present.  He  considered  the  church  party  in 
Mexico  as  the  direct  cause  of  the  civil  war  there,  as  slavery  is  of  the  rebellion  here.  He 
alleged  that  this  church  party  sought  foreign  intervention  to  re-establish  its  power,  as  tin- 
slave  power  here  sought  the  like  intervention,  in  order  to  build  up  a  confederacy  based  on 
the  perpetual  sacrifice  of  certain  human  rights,  and  designed  to  be  destructive  of  our  na 
tional  sovereignty. 

"Thus  far,  this  parallel  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico  truly  extends.  But,  sir, 
there  is  a  difference  in  the  analogy  of  these  cases  not  to  be  overlooked.  Were  foreign  inter 
vention  to  take  here  the  course  it  has  pursued  in  Mexico,  the  result  in  this  country  would  be 
as  a  tornado  is  to  the  storm  now  sweeping  over  our  laud.  England  and  France  know  this  ! 
It  is  not  their  good  will  that  stays  their  further  interference,  but  the  danger  of  the  risk  from 
the  blows  which  a  free  people,  aroused  to  do  their  utmost  at  any  sacrifice,  could  and  would 
inflict  in  return. 

"Educated  in  the  school  of  democracy,  I  have,  sir,  adhered  to  the  principles  learned  there. 
When  our  civil  war  broke  out,  I  had  doubts,  on  constitutional  grounds,  regarding  the  rights 
of  slave-owners.  But  when  I  observed  how  slaves  were  made  instruments  to  defend  free 
men  striving  to  preserve  the  Union,  I  deemed,  in  a  military  point  of  view,  that  it  was  in 
dispensable  to  strike  from  the  hands  of  rebels  their  main  prop  ;  and  all  my  constitutional 
scruples  vanished  before  this  military  necessity.  I  believe,  sir,  all  loyal  men — loyal  without 
mental  reservations — deem  it  right  to  remove  any  obstacle  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union ! 
Therefore,  I  have  no  affinity  with  traitors,  either  south  or  in  disguise  among  us,  who  keep 
'  the  promise  to  the  ear  ;'  or  with  'peace  democrats,"  in  my  judgment  more  alive  to  party 
interest  than  to  our  national  struggle. 

"What,  sir,  is  the  result  thus  far  in  our  civil  war?  Why,  as  slavery  proved  itself  to  have 
been  the  source  of  all  our  evils,  loyal  men  gave  it  its  death  blow.  Like  all  monsters  of  great 
strength,  determined  purpose,  and  defiant  resistance,  it  will  die  hard  ;  but  despite  its  strug 
gles,  die  it  will. 

"Now,  from  our  conflict  let  me  for  a  few  moments  turn  to  our  sister  republic  and  to  her 
accumulated  ills,  and  contrast  her  purposes  with  our  own.  Mexico,  with  a  fertile  soil,  genial 
climate,  and  unbounded  mineral  wealth,  is  divided  into  various  conflicting  parties.  Her 
church  party  is  the  predominant  class,  intent  in  maintaining  its  present  influence  and  re 
covering  its  lost  power.  There  are  the  patriots,  struggling  for  the,  government  of  their 
choice  ;  and,  if  I  am  rightly  informed,  there  is  a  class,  influenced  by  the  ecclesiastics,  either 
hostile  to  or  indifferent  towards  the  present  republican  form  of  government.  It  is  said  that 
the  church  party  now  wavers  in  their  appreciation  of  French  intervention.  If  this  be  so, 
and  Mexicans  would  unitedly  rally  as  the  people  of  our  loyal  States  have  rallied,  the  ills 
which  Mexico  is  now  experiencing  would  be  in  the  condition  of  the  monster  evil  that  we 
have  mortally  wounded.  The  form  of  domestic  treason  in  Mexico  we  know.  The  motives 
of  the  French  Emperor  are  too  patent  to  be  disguised.  Seiior  Romero  has  thrown  ample 
light  on  both  these  subjects. 

"Whether  a  recently  published  mention  of  a  leave-taking  between  the  Emperor  and  his 
Austrian  protegi  be  true,  or  a  jeu  d'csprit,  it  is  suggestive  of  probable  ground  of  belief. 
'You  go,'  said  the  former,  'to  embrace  a  rock  of  silver' — a  figure  of  speech  Avhich  sym 
bolized  the  mineral  wealth,  of  which  bars  of  silver  and  Mexican  dollars  had  proved  to  be  in 
Europe  the  best  of  advertisements. 

"The  church  party  in  Mexico  had  long  suffered  under  a  disease  of  very  great  prevalence  at 
all  times  and  everywhere.  The  Emperor  caught  it  through  this  party  contact,  and  he  gave 
it  to  his  Austrian  favorite.  This  disease  in  ancient  Rome  was  called  auri  sucra  fames. 
There,  where  the  central  word  (sacra)  was  connected  with  offering  to  the  infernal  deities,  or 
with  impious  or  unholy  purposes,  it  meant  the  reverse  of  its  proper  definition — namely, 
accursed.  The  tripartite  association  just  alluded  to,  under  the  hallucination  created  by  this 
disease,  have  this  'accursed  desire  of  wealth,'  and  think  to  overthrow  the  Mexican  repub 
lic,  to  buildup  in  its  stead  a  monarchy,  and  thus  possess  this  'rock  of  silver.' 

"Sir,  the  snake  is  the  emblem  of  evil.  We  took  the  reptile  up  when  feeble  and  warmed  it  in 
the  national  bosom.  When  it  gained  strength  it  turned  and  stung  us.  It  has  its  reward. 
If  Mexicans  wilf  rally  round  their  national  standard,  and  imitate  the  gallant  bird  on  their 
national  arms,  who  has  in  his  beak  a  malignant  snake,  and  with  his  determined  courage  and 
undaunted  decision  extinguish,  like  him,  the  reptile's  ability  to  do  further  mischief,  all  will 
yet  go  well  in  their  beautiful  land.  In  due  season  our  rebels  will  have  to  '  succumb  '  to  the 
loyal  will.  Then  the  republics  of  North  America  will  shake  hands  in  brotherly  sentiment 
and  alliance,  and  unitedly  maintain,  inviolate,  'the  Monroe  doctrine.' 

The  chairman  then  said :  "We  have  among  us,  gentlemen,  a  very  distinguished  gentle 
man  from  Brooklyn — that  sister  and  neighbor  of  ours.  We  would  like  to  hear  what,  in  her 
name,  he  will  tell  us  in  relation  to  a  matter  that  has  been  the  theme  of  so  many  speakers." 

Mr.  Henry  E.  Tierrepont  then  spoke,  and  in  short  and  eloquent  phrases  said  that  he  was 
sure  that  the  feelings  of  the  citizens  of  Brooklyn,  with  respect  to  the  French  policy  in  Mex- 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS,  421 

ico,  were  identical  with  those  of  the  citizens  of  New  York  and  of  the  entire  country ;  that 
on  that  account,  and  fearing  to  tire  the  audience,  he  would  not  speak  at  length  on  the  sub 
ject.  Ho  concluded  by  showing  that  the  people  of  all  classes  and  parties  in  the  United  States 
sympathized  greatly  with  those  Mexicans  who  were  resisting  the  French  invasion,  and 
saying  that  he  would  act  according  to  that  feeling  on  the  first  opportunity  offered  to  him. 

The  president  again  aro.se  and  solicited  Mr.  Clift,  in  tho  name  of  the  lawyers  of  Xcw 
York,  to  express  his  feelings. 

Mr.  CLIFT  said  that  his  voice  being  hoarse  on  account  of  a  cold,  lie  could-  only  say  a  few 
words.  That  he,  as  well  as  all  of  his  profession,  and  the  entire  American  people,  sympathized 
greatly  with  the  holy  cause  that  the  Mexican  people  were  defending  at  present.  That  he 
had  the  firm  conviction  that  the  Mexicans  alone  would  conquer  their  European  invaders  ; 
and  in  case  of  this  not  happening,  they  should  have  the  powerful  help  of  this  nation,  which 
never  will  allow  the  establishment  of  a  European  monarchy  on  the  American  continent. 
And  lastly,  that  he  coincided  in  the  opinions  of  the  distinguished  persons  who  had  preceded 
him,  and  especially  with  those  of  the  venerable  Mr.  Bryant. 

The  president  said  that,  according  to  his  views,  all  the  persons  there  present  would  have 
great  pleasure  in  hearing  some  words  from  Mr.  Charles  A.  Bristed,  who,  rising,  said  : 


"Once  upon  a  time  the  Saracens — then  a  mighty  people — took  it  into  their  heads  that  it 
would  be  a  nice  thing  to  conquer  Old  Spain,  and  they  did  conquer  Spain  so  effectually  that 
it  took  eight  hundred  years  to  drive  them  out.  But  they  were  driven  out,  and  none  of  them 


are  there  at  this  day.  I  believe  that,  in  like  manner,  the  French  will  be  driven  out  of  Mex 
ico,  if  it  takes  eight  hundred  years  to  do  so." 

A  gentleman  exclaimed,  "We  do  things  faster  now-a-days.     Say  eight  years." 

The  chairman,  pointing  to  Mr.  Dodge,  said :  "I  think  that  our  young  and  esteemed  friend 
will  have  something  to  tell  us,  in  the  name  of  Young  America,  which  he  so  well  represents." 

Mr.  DODGE  spoke  as  follows:  "As  perhaps  the  youngest,  Mr.  Chairman,  who  has  been 
honored  by  an  invitation  on  this  most  interesting  and  delightful  occasion,  it  is  my  right  and 
privilege  to  speak  for  that  large  and  influential  class  in  our  country  known  as  'Young 
America  '  and  I  can  assure  our  honored  guest  that  the  full  and  entire  sympathy  of  the  young 
men  of  the  land  is  with  him  and  with  his  oppressed  country.  The  tread  of  a  French  inva 
sion  on  this  continent  is  to  them  a  direct  insult ;  and  were  our  own  sad  war  over,  I  believe 
there  is  not  a  town,  or  village,  or  hamlet,  where  a  full  company  would  not  spring  to  arms  to 
aid  our  sister  republic  in  her  glorious  struggle.  I  give,  sir,  as  a  sentiment,  in  which  I  know 
all  will  heartily  join — The  Monroe  doctrine  ;  Americans  can  never  allow  the  heel  of  European 
despotism  to  place  its  imprint  upon  the  soil  of  our  western  continent." 

This  toast  was  loudly  applauded,  after  which  Mr.  Beekman  proposed  one  in  honor  of  the 
committee  of  stewards  who  had  so  splendidly  discharged  their  duties,  begging  Mr.  Hamersley 
to  speak  in  behalf  of  the  committee. 

This  toast  was  much  applauded,  and  three  cheers  were  given  for  the  stewards. 

Mr.  JOHN  AV.  HAMERSLEY,  in  the  name  of  the  stewards,  (himself,  Mr.  Astor,  and  Mr. 
Cliros, )  said : 

"Sir,  it  is  hardly  fair  to  call  on  us  while  your  hearts  are  beating  with  fervid  thoughts, 
and  your  ears  ringing  with  burning  words.  Had  this  toast  been  on  the  programme,  one  of 
my  coadjutors  would  have  prepared  an  address  worthy  of  the  compliment  and  the  occasion. 
This  committee,  sir,  was  not  chosen  for  their  gifts  of  utterance,  but  for  those  humbler  tastes 
which  only  lend  a  grace  to  eloquence.  Our  duties  are  aesthetic,  industrial,  and  artistic.  We 
have  compassed  the  ends  of  the  earth,  the  depths  of  the  sea.  We  have  levied  contributions 
on  the  four  winds  of  heaven,  to  cluster  here  all  that  can  tempt  the  appetite  or  fascinate  the 
ear  and  eye,  and  we  fancied  our  mission  accomplished.  However,  there  is  the  post  prandial 
law,  the  despotism  of  the  wine  cup,  to  which  we  owe  allegiance — the  only  despotism,  sir, 
which  the  descendants  of  the  Huguenots  or  pilgrim  fathers  will  ever  tolerate  on  the  conti 
nent  of  North  America.  We  are  here,  sir,  in  menace  to  none,  but  firmly  and  respectfully 
in  the  majesty  of  manhood  and  in  consciousness  of  power  to  reassert  a  principle  imbibed  with 
our  mother's  milk,  a  household  word,  a  dogma  of  American  faith ;  but  while  we  cordially 
grasp  the  hand  of  a  sister  republic  in  the  darkest  hour  of  her  trial,  that  grasp  has  due  empha 
sis  and  significance.  With  her,  sir,  we  have  kindred  traditions.  Each  of  us  has  hewn  an 
empire  from  the  wilderness ;  each  of  us  has  expelled  the  oppressor;  and  both  of  us,  with 
tattered  banners  drenched  in  the  gore  of  hero  martyrs,  are  now  appealing  from  treachery  to 
the  God  of  Battles.  We  have  a  common  future ;  for  who  can  doubt  that  our  successes,  (and 
the  death  knell  of  treason  has  already  rung) — who  can  doubt  that  the  triumph  of  our  arms 
will  be  the  signal  for  the  eagles  of  Austerlitz  '  to  change  their  base'  from  the  pyramids  of 
Puebla  for  their  perch  on  the  towers  of  Notre  Dame  ?  Permit  me  here,  sir,  to  express  a  hope, 
suggested  by  the  season,  (God  grant  it  may  be  a  prophecy,)  that  the  Easter  chimes  of 
Mexico  of  the  coming  year,  with  the  glad  tidings  of  a  Saviour  risen,  shall  peal  from  sierra  to 
sierra,  from  ocean  to  ocean,  with  the  glad  tidings  of  a  nation  risen,  a  nation  born  again. 
(Cheers.) 

"  Sir,  I  wrould  offer  a  toast  seldom  forgotten  in  this  Eden  of  women.  It  is  wise  to  fling  the 
garland  of  chivalry  over  the  stern  realities  of  life,  nay,  over  the  carnage  of  the  battle-field. 
It  is  graceful  in  our  honored  guests  to  seek  in  the  bright  eyes  and  warm  hearts  of  those  they 
love,  in  their  sunset  home,  a  solace  for  hope  deferred.  It  is  meet  in  us  all,  revelling  amid 


422  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

those  symbols  of  hope  arid  joy,  of  passion  and  power,  our  twin  standards  nest  lino-  in  each 
other's  folds  in  sweet  communion  of  the  starried  past  and  gushing  hopes,  (these  roses  and 
violets  breathing  incense  to  the  throne  of  grace,  their  Easter  liymn  of  thanks  and  praise,)  to 
remember  who  it  is  that  scatters  these  jewels  of  Paradise  over  our  thorny  path,  who  it  is  that 
smoothes  the  pillow  of  affliction.  And  when  our  statesman  soldier  shall  send  these  our 
greetings  to  his  fatherland,  let  him  say  that  these  are  sons  of  sires  who  wielded  the  destinies 
of  our  country,  whose  names  are  carved  on  her  escutcheon,  like  the  name  of  Phidias  on  tin1 
shield  of  Minerva.  Here  are  her  merchant  princes,  whose  argosies  girdle  the  globe  ;  here  are 
her  gifted  men,  whose  thoughts  touch  the  hearts  or  nerve  the  souls  of  the  iiomad  in  his 
desert  and  the  prince  upon  his  throne.  Say,  sir,  that  here  is  our  western  lark,  who  lends  to 
devotion  the  muses'  wings.  Say,  sir,  that  the  author  of  'Thanatopsis,'  and  these  sons, 
worthy  of  their  sires,  send  a  brother's  blessing  to  sisters  bowed  in  grief.  Fire  their  souls 
with  the  thrilling  words  of  the  Spartan  matron  giving  a  shield  to  her  son:  'Return  with  this 
or  upon  this.'  Tell  them  of  the  mother  of  the  Gracchi,  whose  only  jewels  were  her  sons. 
Tell  them  of  the  death  dirge  of  our  red  man,  with  'back  to  the  field  and  feet  to  the  foe.' 
Tell  them  that  the  spirit  of  your  own  Guatimozin  hovers  around  your  war-path,  and  exhort, 
nay,  adjure  them  to  swear  their  brothers  over  the  fresh  graves  of  their  comrades  never  to 
bury  the  tomahawk  while  the  iron  heel  of  Europe  treads  your  soil.  Sir,  it  is  fitting,  while 
the  accents  of  sweet  music  recall  tender  and  happy  memories,  (man  imaged  by  that  armed 
cactus,  woman  by  that  graceful  palm,)  it  is  holy  to  consecrate  the  hour  to  her  who  was  last 
at  the  cross  and  first  at  the  sepulchre.  Sir,  I  propose  a  toast,  to  which  your  heart's  pulse 
will  echo : 

"THE  DAUGHTERS  OF  MEXICO — Fair  as  her  sons  are  brave." 

After  the  very  enthusiastic  and  prolonged  applause  wrhich  Mr.  Hamersley's  beautiful  toast 
brought  forth,  the  chairman  said  that  the  audience  were  anxious  to  hear  the  other  member 
of  the  committee  of  stewards  then  present,  (Mr.  CLIROS,  )  who,  after  having  remarked  that 
he  had  not  at  all  been  prepared  to  speak,  said  as  follows : 

"  MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  Enough  has  been  said  in  the  speeches  already  made 
this  evening  to  indicate  most  conclusively  the  sympathy  which  prevails  in  our  midst  in  behalf 
of  our  sister  republic,  all  of  which  I  heartily  indorse.  The  unanimous  and  vociferous  voices 
show  unhesitatingly  the  determination  to  oppose  all  encroachments  of  foreign  powers  upon 
any  portion  of  this  continent.  Mexico,  in  her  present  struggle,  needs  assistance,  and  soon 
we  shall  be  in  a  position  to  afford  it.  The  principles  of  republican  rule  are  so  strongly 
imbedded  in  the  minds  of  the  people  of  both  Mexico  and  .America  as  to  secure,  for  all  time, 
that  as  the  mode  of  government,  and  to  cause  both  countries  to  stand  in  sympathy  by  each 
other." 

These  remarks  were  received  with  applause.  It  was  12  o'clock,  and  the  enthusiasm  of 
that  interesting  party  had  not  diminished.  At  that  time  the  audience  took  leave  of  Seiior 
Romero  and  the  Mexican  gentlemen  who  accompanied  him,  expressing  in  earnest  words  the 
sincerity  of  their  sentiments  in  favor  of  Mexico. 

Thus  ended  this  demonstration  made  by  persons  who  undoubtedly  represent  the  most 
select  portion  of  society  in  this  country,  whilst  at  almost  the  same  time  the  real  representatives 
of  the  people,  that  is  to  say,  the  House  of  Representatives  itself  declared  "unanimously" 
that  the  United  States  would  never  consent  to  the  establishment  of  a  monarchy  which 
would  arise,  under  tha  auspices  of  Europe,  upon  the  ruins  of  a  republic  on  the  American 
continent. 

After  all  this,  can  Maximilian  ever  sit  quietly  upon  the  Mexican  throne,  when  he  beholds 
at  his  feet  a  precipice?  Can  he  enjoy  the  possession  of  his  imperial  crown,  when  it  can  only 
be  a  crown  of  thorns  ?  A  sad  reign,  indeed,  awaits  him  ;  nay,  more  than  sad,  it  will  be  but 
transient. 

MENU. 
Lt  rnardi  29  Mars,  ]864. 

HUITRES. 
POTAGES. 

A  la  Salvator.     Consomme  de  volaille. 

Hous  D'CEUVKES. 

Varies.     Varies.     IJoudins  de  gibier  &  la  Richelieu. 

RELEVES. 

Saumon  dc  Kenuebeck  a"  la  Regence.  Aloses,  sauce  bearnaise.  Filet  de  boeuf  &  1'Anda- 
louse. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  423 


ENTREES. 

Chapons  6  la  Perigord.  Trimbalo  £  la  Parisiennc.  Salmi  de  becassines  aux  traffes. 
Pate  de  foie  gras  en  bellevue.  Chaufroid  de  pluviers. 

SORBET. 

Cardinal   an  via  du  Ellin. 

ROTIS. 

Paous  t ruffes.     Canvas-back  ducks. 

ENTREMETS. 

Petits  poits.     Flageolets.     Artichauts  farcis.     Asperges. 

ENTREMETS  SUCRES. 

Trimbale  a  la  don  Bazan.  Pouding  <1  la  Dalbertos.  Gelee  muscat.  Patzo  di  Borgo, 
Pain  de  fraise  aguado.  Gateau  portugais.  Biscuit  d'Espagne.  Charlotte  Doria.  Pieces 
mexicaines.  Sultane  aux  marrons.  Bombo  Spongada.  Napolitaine. 

FRUITS  ET  DESSERT. 

DELMONICO. 


Mr.  Scward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  June  2,  1864. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  28th 
ultimo,  covering  a  translation  into  the  English  language  of  the  documents  pre 
viously  enclosed  to  me  in  your  unofficial  note  of  the  26th  ultimo. 
I  avail,  &c. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Sefior  M.  ROMERO,  $c.,  Sp.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seivard. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES' OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  May  31,  1864. 

Mr.  SECRETARY:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  to  you,  for  the  information 
of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  extracts  of  two  discussions,  translated 
into  English,  relating  to  the  affairs  of  Mexico,  which  took  place  about  the  mid 
dle  of  the  month  ending  this  day,  in  the  legislative  assembly  of  Paris,  in  rela- 
lation  to  the  budget  of  the  French  empire.  The  first  extract,  which  is  translated 
from  No.  132  of  "Le  Moniteur  Universel,"  of  Paris,  (page  164,)  under  date 
of  the  11  tli  of  May  referred  to,  contains  the  portion  of  the  speech  which  the 
deputy,  Mr.  Berryer,  made  during  the  session  of  the  10th,  in  reference  to  the 
resources  which  the  French  government  expects  to  obtain  from  what  it  terms 
"  the  Mexican  indemnity."  From  this  speech  it  appears  that  the  loan  which  the 
Archduke  Ferdinand  Maximilian  of  Austria,  now  called  the  Emperor  of  Mexico, 
has  attempted  to  negotiate  in  Europe,  would  yield  him,  supposing  the  whole 
amount  of  it  were  negotiated,  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  millions  of 
francs,  so  that  the  pecuniary  responsibilities  which  he  has  accepted  thus  far 
would  compel  him  to  disburse  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  millions 
of  francs.  From  this  alone,  it  can  readily  be  seen  that,  even  should  the  Arch- 


424  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

duke  Maximilian  meet  with  no  other  difficulties  in  the  Mexican  republic  than  the 
pecuniary  ones,  he  would  find  himself  unable  to  establish,  and  even  still  more 
so  to  consolidate,  the  monarchical  government  which  the  Emperor  of  the  French 
has  sent  him  to  set  up  on  this  continent. 

The  pecuniary  responsibilities  which  the  Emperor  of  the  French  has  caused 
the  said  archduke  to  accept,  and  the  amounts  which  he  would  have  to  pay  for 
the  support  of  an  army  and  navy  required  to  keep  some  of  our  cities  subject  to 
his  control,  and  to  blockade  some  of  our  ports,  cannot  be  less  than  from  forty 
to  fifty  millions  of  dollars  per  annum ;  while  ail  the  resources  of  the  Mexican 
republic,  supposing  that  lie  could  control  them  all,  cannot  produce,  under  the 
present  circumstances,  more  than  fifteen  millions  of  dollars. 

The  second  extract,  among  those  enclosed,  contains  those  passages  referring 
to  Mexico,  in  the  speeches  delivered  in  the  same  assembly  during  the  session 
of  the  12th  of  May,  by  the  deputy,  Mr.  Jules  Favre,  and  the  minister  of  state, 
Mr.  Rouher. 

In  the  first  of  these  speeches  you  will  find  very  judicious  reflections  upon  the 
versatility  and  deep  cunning  of  the  policy  adopted  by  the  Emperor  Napoleon 
in  reference  to  my  country, 

In  the  second,  will  be  noted,  besides  the  arguments  already  known,  and 
which  are  founded  upon  the  misrepresentation  of  facts,  artfully  prepared  and 
sustained  by  all  the  imperial  agents,  sundry  allusions  to  the  policy  of  the  United 
States,  and  a  circular  from  the  department  for  foreign  affairs  addressed  to  the 
French  diplomatic  agents,  which  was  read  by  Mr.  Rouker,  and  in  which  an 
account  is  given  of  the  interview  between  Mr.  Dayton  and  Mr.  Drouyn  de 
1'Huys,  respecting  the  resolution  adopted  by  the  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States,  on  the  4th  of  April  last,  in  reference  to  the  French  interven 
tion  in  Mexico,  in  a  manner  somewhat  different  from  that  given  to  you  by  Mr. 
Dayton  himself,  as  appears  from  the  correspondence  recently  sent  by  the  Pres 
ident  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  on  this  subject. 

I  therefore  omit  the  remarks  to  which  these  speeches  give  rise,  because  they 
cannot  escape  the  observation  of  the  government  of  the  United  States. 

These  last-mentioned  speeches  are  taken  from  the  No.  134,  of  the  "Mon- 
iteur  Umversel,"  (pages  669  and  670,)  dated  the  13th  of  the  said  month  of  May. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
most  distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  II.  SEWARD,  &fc.,  fyc.,  Sfc. 


CORPS  LEGISLATIF. 

SESSION  OF  TUESDAY,  May  10,  18G4. 
M.  DE  MORNY,  president,  in  the  chair. 

After  the  reading  of  the  journal  and  some  preliminary  proceedings,  the  discussion  of  the 
budget  was  resumed,  and  M.  BERRYER  addressed  the  body.  The  part  of  his  speech  relating 
to  Mexican  affairs  was  as  follows : 

M.  BERRYER.  The  second  resource  will  give  us  an  occasion  for 

more  sad  and  more  pointed  observations.  This  second  resource  is  the  Mexican  indemnity. 

What  is  the  state  of  things  in  this  respect?  We  have  regulated  the  indemnity  fur  the 
war — for  the  war  which  really  began  in  a  costly  manner  only  from  the  time  of  the  departure 
of  General  Forey,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  in  the  commencement  of  1862.  For  two  years  past 
we  have  fixed  the  indemnity  due  by  Mexico  at  a  sum  of  two  hundred  and  seventy  millions. 
That  is  the  figure  set  down  in  the  convention. 

Two  hundred  and  seventy  millions !  Pardon  me  if  I  insist  upon  an  assertion  which  I 
believe  I  did  not  make  without  due  consideration,  at  the  beginning  of  this  year,  when  I  said 
that  the  annual  expense  of  our  Mexican  expedition  could  be  estimated  for  1864,  as  for  the 
other  years,  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions.  Now  we  are  told,  "See,  we  have  reached 
only  two  hundred  and  seventy  millions." 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  425 

You  have  made  an  estimate  on  terms  extremely  favorable  to  the  government  which  you 
have  established  in  Mexico;  you  have  made  an  estimate  of  two  hundred  and  seventy  mil 
lions.  That,  for  two  years,  is  very  near  the  sum  of  three  hundred  millions,  to  which  I 
foresaw  the  expenses  would  amount — a  sum  to  which  I  believe  they  have  in  fact  amounted. 
"We  shall  see  afterwards. 

However  that  may  be,  we  have  fixed  our  indemnity  at  two  hundred  and  seventy  millions. 
Out  of  these  two  hundred  and  seventy  millions  a  loan  has  been  contracted  for  and  a  creation 
of  rentes  decided  on.  By  a  decree  issued  at  Miramar,  on  the  llth  of  Apr' 1  last,  two  sections 
of  rente  have  been  established;  one  of  twelve  millions  for  the  wants  of  the  new  government 
at  Mexico,  and  one  of  six  million  six  hundred  thousand  francs  on  account  of  the  two  hun 
dred  and  seventy  millions  due  to  France  as  an  indemnity  for  the  war ;  that  is  to  say,  we  are 
assured  of  a  sum  of  sixty  or  sixty-six  millions. 

Such  is  one  of  the  provisions  of  the  decree.  A  loan  is  effected ;  the  negotiators  of  the 
loan  are  the  English  firm  of  Glynn  &  Company.  I  know  not  who  has  entered  to  participate 
in  their  enterprise,  in  their  speculation,  or  at  least  into  the  commission  which  they  receive. 
The  negotiators  announce  to  the  public  that  they  are  going  to  borrow  eighteen  million  six 
hundred  thousand  livres  of  rente.  Pardon  me,  and  attribute  it  only  to  the  too  intimate 
knowledge  which  I  have  of  the  jurisprudence  of  the  courts  that  decide  on  the  means  of  raising 
an  imaginary  credit ;  pardon  me  if  my  experience  exerts  too  great  an  influence  upon  the 
estimate  which  I  make  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Mexican  loan  has  been  announced.  I 
have  here  in  my  hand  the  prospectus  of  the  negotiators.  It  announces  an  English  and 
French  loan.  What  does  that  mean  ?  Has  England,  has  France,  borrowed  ?  That  England 
and  France  should  contribute  to  the  loan  which  is  made  for  Mexico  I  can  understand,  and 
AVC  will  presently  see  to  what  extent.  But  such  an  announcement  would  seem  to  indicate 
to  unreflecting  minds  that  England  and  France  are  to  a  certain  extent  guarantors  of  the 
loan  which  is  about  to  be  issued. 

This  loan  is  announced  by  the  negotiators  as  yielding  a  net  interest  of  ten  per  cent.  It  is 
moreover  announced  that  it  is  going  to  be  issued  at  63,  and  they  promise  a  reimbursement 
of  the  intermediate  sum  of  eighty  francs  for  every  six  francs  of  rente.  Finally,  it  is  announced 
that  there  is  a  financial  committee;  that  this  financial  committee  is  established  at  Paris ;  that 
it  is  composed  of  a  Mexican  commissioner,  an  English  commissioner,  and  a  French  com 
missioner;  and  that  this  financial  committee,  sitting  at  Paris,  has  the  honor  of  being  presided 
over  by  one  of  the  most  important  men  in  our  financial  affairs — a  senator  and  former  governor 
of  the  bank — the  Count  de  Germin}^.  With  all  this  show  and  parade  it  is  that  the  loan  is 
placed  before  the  public.  I  may  say  even  that  it  amounts  to  an  abuse  to  employ  all  this 
superfluity  of  announcements. 

However  that  be,  what  has  become  of  the  loan?  That  is  a  question  which  I  address  to 
the  representatives  of  the  government.  It  is  important  for  us  to  know,  on  various  accounts. 
There  are  two  sections  in  the  loan.  There  is,  first,  that  of  twelve  millions  of  rente  for  the 
account  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian;  then  there  is  a  second  division  of  6,600,000  francs  of 
rente  for  the  account  of  the  French  government,  to  which  this  amount  of  rente  is  remitted  in 
place  of  the  indemnity  of  two  hundred  and  seventy  millions  which  is  acknowledged  to  be 
due  to  it.  What  has  become  of  the  loan?  Is  it  negotiated  ?  We  need  some  information  on 
the  subject.  It  is  not  from  the  point  of  view  of  our  6,600,000  francs  of  rente  that  I  spoke 
just  now.  It  is  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  real  resources  tkat  are  going  to  be  placed  at 
the  disposal  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  and  which  are  the  pledge  for  us  for  several  recoveries, 
of  which  it  will  also  be  necessary  to  speak. 

In  regard  to  these  recoveries,  what  have  we  to  do  ?  This  is  a  very  important  subject. 
The  government  cannot  refuse  to  give  us  some  information  on  the  state  of  the  negotiation  of 
this  loan,  so  important  to  the  finances  of  France,  in  consideration  of  what  we  are  to  be  paid 
hereafter.  I  have  the  honor  to  be  in  communication  with  some  persons  who  are  very  well 
posted  in  affairs,  who  would  not  seek  to  mislead  me,  who  would  be  indulgent  towards  me, 
and  Avho  would  not  expose  me  to  the  disgrace  of  asserting,  in  an  assembly  as  respectable  as 
this,  and  consequently  before  the  whole  country,  a  thing  that  would  not  be  true.  However 
ill,  therefore,  I  may  be  informed,  I  can  say  that  the  loan  is  not  negotiated,  or  at  least  that  it 
is  very  far  from  being  negotiated  for  twelve  millions.  Is  it  for  eight  millions  ?  I  have  reason 
to  think  that  it  is  not.  The  precise  figure  will  be  given  us  by  the  government,  which  is 
under  the  obligation  of  placing  us  right  on  this  subject. 

In  the  present  state  of  things,  I  believe  that  we  have  reason  to  fear  that  in  the  resources 
which  are  to  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian  we  will  not  find  all  the 
security  on  which  our  treaty  would  give  us  the  right  to  count. 

Now,  how  is  it  with  our  rentes '.'  The  Glynn  firm  announced  in  its  prospectus  that  it 
would  negotiate  18,600,000  francs  of  rentes;  that  it  would  open  subscriptions  in  France  and 
in  England;  that  is  to  say,  that  it  was  commissioned  to  make  at  the  same  time  a  loan  of 
twelve;  millions  of  rentes  for  Mexico,  and  a  loan  of  6,600,000  francs  of  rentes  for  France. 
Such  was  the  announcement  of  the  firm  of  Glynn  &  Company. 

In  the  secret  committee  I  asked  if  we  could  know  on  what  conditions  the  English  com 
pany  undertook  the  negotiation  of  our  6,600,000  livres  of  rentes.  The  minister  of  state  told 
me  on  that  day  that  he  had  not  in  his  possession  any  treaty  that  might  have  existed  betAveen 
the  French  treasury  and  the  English  coaipany.  He  had  it  riot  in  his  possession,  but  he 


426  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

promised  to  make  it  known  to  us  afterwards.  Now  I  believe  be  will  not  have  to  make  it 
known  to  us,  for  110  treaty  any  longer  exists. 

If  these  tbings  arc  true,  we  offered  to  Mr.  Glynn  to  intrust  him  with  bonds  at  tbe  rate  of 
60  francs,  which  be  was  to  negotiate  with  tbe  public  at  63  francs,  and  be  has  thought  proper 
to  decline  the  bargain.  Yet  it  was  a  very  fine  commission  that  we  allowed  him — a  commis 
sion  of  three  per  cent.,  as  we  yielded  to  him  at  60  francs  what  he  was  to  negotiate  in  public 
at  63  francs  ;  and  still  be  has  been  unwilling  to, accept. 

What  is  the  consequence,  gentlemen?  It  these  things — this  is  a  question  which  I  address 
to  the  government — if  these  tbings  are  in  the  state  which  1  have  just  indicated  ;  that  is  to 
say,  if  Mr.  Glynn  has  refused  to  undertake  tbe  negotiation  of  our  6,600,000  livres  of  rentes; 
if,  even  with  a  commission  of  three  per  cent.,  he  has  been  unwilling  to  undertake  to  become 
the  holder  of  them — well,  what  will  become  of  tbese  bonds  ? 

They  remain  in  the  portfolio  of  the  treasury.  That  is  true ;  we  have  in  the  portfolio  of 
the  treasury  6,600,000  livres  in  Mexican  bonds.  Tbese  bonds  will  be  negotiated  hereafter 
as  the  Italian  bonds  have  been  negotiated. 

You  have  not  forgotten,  gentlemen,  that,  after  the  treaty  of  Zurich,  the  government  of 
Turin,  which,  perhaps,  has  never  attached  sufficient  importance  to  that  treaty,  was  to  reim 
burse  us  for  the  sum  of  100  millions  which  AVC  had  advanced  for  it  to  the  Austrian  govern 
ment.  How  have  these  100  millions  been  reimbursed?  By  the  remittance  of  Italian  bonds. 
We  have  had  Italian  bonds  remitted  to  us  at  tbe  rate  of  80  francs  35  centimes.  This 
amount  in  bonds  represented  a  capital  of  75  millions  and  some  fraction — the  exact  figure  does 
not  matter. 

We  have  negotiated  these  Italian  bonds  as  we  may  be  able  to  negotiate  hereafter,  I  know 
not  when,  the  Mexican  bonds  which  will  remain  in  our  portfolio.  But  at  what  price  have  we 
negotiated  these  Italian  bonds  ?  We  have  negotiated  them  at  such  a  price  that  we  have  lost 
11,800,000  francs  on  the  75  millions — that  is,  from  15  to  16  per  cent.  If  we  are  to  negotiate 
our  Mexican  bonds  on  the  same  conditions,  you  will  easily  understand  how,  when  we  very 
•exactly  set  down  in  our  two  budgets  a  certain  sum  of  66,900,000  francs,  we  shall  have  sadly 
miscalculated,  and  we  shall  be  very  far  from  an  adjustment  of  balances. 

What,  in  fact,  is  tbe  condition  of  these  Mexican  bonds  ?  I  do  not  now  consider  tbe  political 
question ;  I  only  consider  tbe  financial  aspect  of  the  case.  In  my  opinion  it  is  less  favorable 
even  than  that  of  the  Italian  bonds.  If  we  have  lost  from  15  to  16  per  cent,  on  the  Italian 
bonds  we  will  lose  still  more  on  the  Mexican  bonds,  when  we  shall  have  need  of  negotiating 
them  in  order  to  supply  a  deficit  of  35  millions  in  the  budget  of  1864,  and  a  deficit  of 
13,900,000  francs  in  the  budget  of  1865..  We  will  therefore  lose  much  ;  that  is  incontestable. 
I  fear  so  much  the  more  that  we  may  lose  heavily,  as  I  cannot  indulge  any  hopes.  Yet  I 
•would  gladly  pray  for  the  success  of  the  negotiation  of  the  Mexican  bonds ;  for  1  assure  you 
that  if  the  66  millions  could  be  considered  as  ready  money,  if  they  cotild  be  considered  as 
likely  to  restore  order  in  our  finances,  I  should  be  perfectly  satisfied,  although  I  bold  here 
the  language  of  a  member  of  tbe  opposition. 

Much  has  been  said  of  the  financial  feature  of  the  new  Mexican  government ;  our  very 
honorable  and  very  eminent  friend  Mr.  O'Quinn,  the  author  of  the  report,  has  told  us  that  he 
•does  not  share  the  apprehensions  which  some  entertain  on  the  financial  destiny  of  the 
Mexican  government. 

Gentlemen,  I  have  in  my  hands  a  document  which  does  not  allow  me  to  share  those  hopes, 
or  rather  which  does  not  permit  me  to  abandon  myself  or  to  urge  my  honorable  colleagues  to 
-abandon  themselves  to  such  illusions.  This  document,  which  I  have  in  my  hands,  is  the 
report  which  M.  de  Araniuez,  formerly  minister  of  finance  in  Mexico  before  the  presidency 
of  Juarez,  has  made  to  the  Emperor  Maximilian  in  regard  to  the  state  of  affairs  in  Mexico. 
This  report  has  been  copied  for  me  most  faithfully,  and  yesterday,  by  order  of  tbe  Emperor 
Maximilian,  it  has  been  published  in  the  Morning  Post,  of  which  a  copy  has  been  sent  to 
me,  which  I  have  compared  with  the  transcript  previously  communicated  to  me,  of  which  1 
could  therefore  recognize  the  perfect  correctness. 

Now,  what  said  the  Mexican  minister  of  finances  ?  He  said  that,  in  the  actual  state  of 
the  revenues  of  Mexico,  which  amounted  to  a  very  low  sum,  10  or  11  millions  of  piastres, 
that  is,  50  or  55  millions  of  francs,  it  was  indispensable  with  tbese  revenues,  in  comparing 
them  with  the  amount  of  the  internal  debt,  the  amount  of  the  external  debt,  the  amount  of 
the  debt  due  to  France — and  this  debt  he  estimated  only  at  200  millions  or  40  millions  of 
piastres — it  was  indispensable  to  effect  a  loan  of  750  millions. 

It  is  for  a  country  for  which  such  resources  are  recognized  as  necessary  by  a  man  who  was 
its  minister  of  finance  a  few  years  ago,  and  who  now  makes  a  very  complete,  very  cle»ir, 
very  methodical  report  to  the  Mexican  Emperor;  it  is  for  a  country  which  lias  need  of  ?">!) 
millions,  that  it  is  sought  to  effect  a  loan  of  120  millions  nearly,  a  loan  represented  by  these 
12  millions  of  bonds  which  it  is  sought  to  negotiate  in  the  interest  of  tbe  new  government. 

Such  is  the  state  of  the  case  ;  I  derive  no  hope  from  it  to  see  the  speedy  reali/ation  of  all 
those  financial  resources  which  Mexico,  according  to  the  fancy  or  the  reasoning  of  some  of 
our  colleagues,  should  very  soon  produce. 

I  am  so  much  the  less  disposed  to  entertain  such  a  hope,  as  in  the  s«nie  report  I  have  read, 
and  I  now  read,  that  the  new  Emperor  will  require  at  least  two  years  to  re-establish  civil 
order  in  the  country,  to  assess  the  taxes,  to  organize  its  financial  government,  and  to  restore 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  427 

the  ulculas  or  duties  which  have  been  suppressed,  iu  order  to  replace  them  with  monopolies 
which  can  no  longer  exist  in  a  government  imbued  with  principles  of  liberty,  as  the  estab 
lishment  of  this  new  empire  in  Mexico  ought  to  be,  those  monopolies  which  constituted  the 
principal  source  of  revenue  for  the  Spanish  government  when  it  possessed  and  administered 
that  country  in  1820. 

Such  are  the  observations  made;  by  the  Mexican  minister.  Well,  gentlemen,  to  these  obser 
vations  I  add  mine  also,  such  as  have  been  suggested  by  the  document  which  I  have 
studied,  a  document  which  is  well  knoAvn  to  the  government ;  for  the  copy  of  this  report  of 
M.  de  Aranjuez  was  transmitted  to  the  French  government  before  it  was  made  known  in 
London. 

I  have  already  said,  gentlemen,  that  we  must  use  the  66  millions  that  should  proceed  from 
the  negotiation  of  the  Mexican  bonds  ;  we  must  negotiate  those  bonds,  I  know  not  when, 
nor  at  what  price ;  but  first  or  last,  at  any  price  whatever,  it  can  only  be  done  with  heavy 
loss.  How  could  we  be  covered  by  what  is  due  to  us  from  the  Emperor  Maximilian  ?  I 
have  already  said  it  too,  and  I  will  be  corrected  if,  in  my  position  as  a  stranger  to  the 
management  of  internal  affairs,  I  am  not  rigorously  exact  in  my  knowledge  ot  things ;  I 
have  already  said,  the  loan  wras  not  entirely  subscribed  for  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  and  it 
was  very  doubtful  whether  he  would  succeed  in  getting  the  120  millions  which  lie  hoped  to 
obtain  from  the  negotiation  of  his  6  per  cent,  bonds. 

But  suppose  that  this  loan,  which  has  not  been  subscribed  to  either  in  England  or  in 
Holland,  and  which  has  scarcely  been  taken  anywhere  else  than  in  France,  suppose  that 
this  loan  is  entirely  taken ;  suppose  that  it  will  be  negotiated  without  any  loss,  without  any 
commission  prejudicial  to  the  interests  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian's  finances  ;  suppose  that 
in  consequence  the  Emperor  Maximilian  raises  120  millions.  I  make  a  very  large  concession 
here.  Well,  permit  me  nowr  to  see  what  the  obligations  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian  are, 
according  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  Miramar. 

According  to  that  treaty  the  Emperor  Maximilian  should  immediately  deposit,  through 
the  agency  of  the  committee  of  finance,  presided  over  by  M.  de  (jerminy,  four  instalments  of 
our  rente  of  6,600,000  francs  in  the  bureau  of  deposits  and  consignments.  He  should, 
likewise,  deposit  four  instalments  of  the  rente  negotiated  in  France  for  the  1*2  millions  ;  that 
is  to  say,  he  should  deposit  four  instalments  of  an  annual  rente  of  18,600,000  francs.  Now, 
if  I  am  not  mistaken,  four  instalments  represent  about  37,200,000  francs.  This  seems  to 
me  incontestable.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  that  he  should  pay  them  down  immediately,  and 
that  he  should  take  them  out  of  the  12ft  millions  which  he  is  to  obtain  from  the  very  doubtful 
realization  of  his  loan. 

Independently  of  the  thirty-seven  millions  of  francs  which  he  should  deposit  immediately, 
according  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  in  the  French  bureau  of  deposits  and  consignments, 
he  should  also  arrange  with  England,  for  England  has  an  English  commissioner  a  member  of 
the  Mexican  committee  of  finance,  established  in  Paris,  and  this  commissioner  assuredly 
watches  over  the  interests  of  his  country. 

What  has  the  Emperor  Maximilian  done  for  England  ? 

There  existed  a  debt  of  English  bonds  to  the  amount  of  fifty-one  millions  of  piastres,  that 
is,  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  francs.  Well,  the  Emperor  Maximilian  has  consolidated 
this  amount  of  English  bonds  into  3  per  cent,  rentes,  at  a  less  figure ;  and  then,  in  the 
quality  of  a  sovereign  entering  the  country  as  a  man  able  to  pay  his  debts  and  the  debts  of 
the  country  of  which  he  is  going  to  be  the  sovereign,  he  has  declared  that  there  were  twenty 
coupons  of  these  English  bonds  which  had  not  been  discharged  for  a  certain  number  of 
years,  and  that  consequently  he  established  a  3  per  cent,  rente  similar  to  that  in  consolida 
tion  of  the  English  bonds,  that  he  established  in  favor  of  English  creditors  a  rente  of  3  per 
cent.,  which  would  amount  to  3,800,000  francs. 

He  has,  therefore,  in  regard  to  England,  created  a  rente  of  3  per  cent.,  of  which  the  two 
sections,  the  one  a  consolidation  of  the  capital  of  fifty-one  millions  of  piastres,  the  other  a 
consolidation,  reduced,  it  is  true,  but  still  a  consolidation,  of  the  amount  of  twenty  coupons, 
amount  in  all  to  a  rente  of  twelve  millions  and  some  fraction. 

What  is  the  English  commissioner  going  to  do  ?  What  he  has  done,  and  what  he  ought 
to  do,  most  undoubtedly.  He  is  going  to  demand  the  preliminary  deposit  of  the  interest  for 
two  years,  as  it  has  been  demanded  for  the  18,600,000  francs. 

The  Emperor  Maximilian  must,  therefore,  add  twenty-two  or  twenty-four  millions  for  two 
years'  interest  of  this  rente  which  he  has  established  in  favor  of  England.  Here,  then,  are 
twenty-two  or  twenty-four  millions  for  England  that  must  also  be  added  immediately  by  a 
deposit  as  instantaneous  as  the  deposit  of  thirty-seven  millions  of  French  interest. 

Independently  of  these  engagements,  there  is  one  other  made  with  you,  and  upon  Avhich 
we  count  in  our  estimate  of  receipts  for  1864,  as  well  as  for  1865.  So  we  were  told  yester 
day.  I  do  not  speak  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian's  engagement  to  pay  us  1,000  francs  for 
each  soldier  that  may  be  left  in  his  territory ;  I  do  not  speak  of  that.  The  Emperor  Maxi 
milian  has  made  an  engagement,  embracing  several  matters,  to  pay  us  twenty-five  millions. 
These  twenty-five  millions  we  have  to  apply  to  the  budgets  of  1864  and  1865. 

Here,  then,  is  a  sum  of  twenty-five  millions,  or,  taking  in  the  semi-annual  instalment  of 
12,500,000  francs  for  1864,  37,500,000  francs  in  all,  which  the  Emperor  Maximilian  must  ex 
pend  in  order  to  discharge  his  obligation  to  pay  us  tAventy-fivc  millions  a  year ;  and  we  count 


428  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

so  confidently  upou  this,  that,  having1  in  the  amount  of  the  Mexican  rente  only  fifty-four 
millions  of  which  we  could  dispose,  we  dispose  of  .sixty-six  millions  of  this  s'ime  rente,  and 
we  appropriate  fifty-three  millions  of  it  in  the  budget  of  18  >4,  and  thirteen  millions  in  the 
budget  of  1865;  we  count  with  entire  assurance  upon  tluu  money.  Here,  then,  are  twenty- 
five  millions  for  186'>,  and  1^,500, (Ml)  francs,  for  the  half  of  this  year,  on  which  we  count; 
they  are  our  eventual  resources.  Thus  it  is  37,50i),ouo  francs  that  the  Emperor  Maximilian 
must  expend  out  of  the  money  which  is  to  b  •  raised  for  him  by  the  loan  in  the  condition  in 
which  we  know  that  to  be.  (Murmurs.) 

There  is  yet  another  engagement  made  by  the  Emperor  Maximilian.  While  we  remain 
'here,  he  ought  to  relieve  us  immediately,  dating  from  the  first  of  July,  from  the  enormous 
expense  of  maintaining  the  Mexican  army.  The  Mexican  army,  if  1  refer  to  the  figures  that 
are  given  us  in  the  budget,  is  for  us  a  charge  of  18,600,000  francs  i  for  I  have  seen  in  the 
corrected  estimate,  and  in  the  report  of  our  honorable  colleague,  that  it.  was  for  one-half 
year  i>,  300, 000  francs.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  that,  for  eighteen  months,  the  Emperor 
Maximilian  should  remain  charged,  in  our  place,  with  this  expense  of  18,600,000  francs,  or 
else  he  will  not  pay  his  army. 

The  sum  of  18,60J,Oi)0  francs  a  ye.ir,  makes,  for  eighteen  months,  twenty-seven  millions 
and  some  hundreds  of  thousands  of  francs  which  the  Emperor  Maximilian  will  have  to  spend. 
Please  add  up — and  all  these  figures  are  incontestable — add  up  all  that,  in  accordance  with 
these  decrees,  with  treaties,  and  with  agreements,  the;  Emperov  Maximilian  is  obliged  to 
spend  immediately,  before  entering  his  empire,  before  being  able  to  establish  his  government 
there,  before  being  able  to  introduce  there  the  necessary  means  for  the  establishment  of  order, 
peace,  and  security,  and  the  creation  of  interests  around  him;  he  has  to  pay  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  millions  out  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  millions  which  he  will  have 
borrowed.  [Laughter  on  several  benches.] 

M.  GLAIS-BIZOIN.  Very  good  ;  very  good.     [Murmurs  of  disapprobation.] 

M.  BERRYER.  Pardon  me,  gentlemen,  for  these  long  developements  with  which  I  fatigue 
you,  [No,  no.  Go  on.]  But  I  consider  it  only  my  duty  as  a  good  citizen  to  dispel  from 
your  minds  the  illusions  that  would  induce  you  to  accept  as  realities  what  in  fact  are  only 
chimeras,  and  nothing  but  chimeras. 

Independently  of  all  these  external  obligations  which  must  be  fulfilled  in  the  interval  of 
eighteen  months,  and  the  greatest  part  immediately,  there  is  an  internal  debt.  Is  this  new 
Emperor,  who  goes  to  restore  peace,  order,  confidence  in  his  states,  to  commence  by  bank 
ruptcy  as  to  the  internal  debt?  Is  he  not  going-  to  b*  obliged  to  acknowledge  and  provide 
for  it  ?  What  would  be  the  condition  of  a  new  government  that  would  commence  by  say 
ing  :  "  There  are  debts  :  I  will  not  pay  them"  ? 

All  these  considerations  should  be  weighed  by  you.  They  are  true  ;  they  are  of  serious 
importance;  they  demand  to  be  received  as  reasons  determining  us  to  recognize  the  impossi 
bility  of  hoping  for  an  equilibrium  in  the  budget  through  the  means  of  the  income  which 
we  presume  to  be  derivable  from  the  Mexican  indebtedness.  This  seems  to  me  established 
by  the  fullest  evidence.  The  budget  is  very  far  from  finding  the  thirty-seven  millions  which 
Mexico  owes  us  for  eighteen  months,  and  the  66,000,000  francs  which  are  allotted  to  us,  and 
of  which  we  dispose  as  available  assets.  We  are  so  far  from  being  able  with  any  certainty 
or  reason  to  count  upon  that,  that  we  must  acknowledge  that  there  will  be  a  deficit,  and  a 
very  considerable  deficit,  in  our  budget. 

Most  unfortunately,  there  will  be  a  deficit  for  other  reasons  also,  and  this  is  still  more  sad; 
for  all  that  I  have  said  is  only  in  relation  to  our  finances  abroad.  As  to  position,  attended 
with  more  or  less  risk,  of  the  Archduke  become  Emperor,  we  have  made  the  expenditure,  we 
have  balanced  it ;  we  await  sufficient  indemnities  to  cover  the  balance.  Will  those  indemni 
ties  fail  us?  That  will  be  a  transitory  misfortune;  but  it  is  riot  a  misfortune  attributable  to 
ourselves.  It  is  the  weakness,  the  poverty,  the  chimerical  illusions  of  other  parties,  that 
have  brought  us  to  it.  We  will  pass  over  this  subject.  But  there  are  other  illusions  which, 
although  they  do  not  result  in  figures  so  important,  appear  to  me  worthy  to  be  the  object  of 
most  serious  reflections  on  the  part  of  the  government.  These  are  the  estimates  which  we 
make  of  the  revenue  derivable  from  taxes,  and  especially  from  indirect  taxes,  as  available 
resources.  As  to  these  estimates,  we  are  told  in  the  report  of  the  committee,  "We  need 
estimate  for  1864  a  deficit,  a  falling  off,  a  diminution,  of  three  millions  in  the  receipt  of  in 
direct  taxes." 

In  view  of  this  hope,  of  this  estimate  of  the  committee,  I  look  at  the  figures  of  the 
returns,  in  the  Moniteur,  of  the  revenue  from  our  indirect  taxation  during  the  first  half  of 
the  year  1864,  and  I  see  that  there  is  a  falling  off  of  receipts,  compared  with  186:3,  of 
6,673,000  francs.  Now,  Avhen  the  first  half  of  the  year  presents  a  deficiency  of  receipts  to 
the  sum  of  6,673,000  francs,  I  ask  on  what  grounds  does  the  committee  assert  that,  in  the 
course  of  the  whole  year,  there  will  be  a  diminution  of  receipts  only  of  three  millions  ? 

It  is  a  bad  beginning,  whereon  to  predict  that  there  will  be,  only  a  deficit  of  three  millions 
during  the  whole  year,  when  the  first  half  alone  presents  a  deficit  of  6,673.000  francs. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  429 


CORPS  LEGISLATIF. 

SESSION  OF  THURSDAY,  May  12, 1864. 
His  excellency  tlie  DUKE  DE  MOUSY,  president,  in  the  chair. 

After  the  reading  of  the  journal,  in  which  some  corrections  were  made,  and  the  presenta 
tion  of  various  reports,  the  order  of  the  day  came  up,  being-  the  consideration  of  the  budget 
for  1865.  M.  JULES  FAVRE  claimed  and  obtained  the  floor.  The  opening  of  his  speech  and 
the  part  relating  to  Mexican  affairs  were  as  follows  : 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  Gentlemen,  when  in  the  session  of  yesterday  our  honorable  president 
advised  us  not  to  overload  the  discussion  of  the  budget  with  irrelevant  debates,  it  was  not 
certainly  and  it  could  not  have  been  his  idea  to  debar  us  from  the  serious  examination  of 
those  affairs  that  are  involved  in  the  regulation  of  finances. 

In  fact,  gentlemen,  if  it  is  important  to  know  the  amount  of  our  expenses  and  of  our  receipts, 
it  is  not  less  so  to  know  how  these  expenses  are  incurred,  and  if  the  sacrifices  which  they  im 
pose  upon  the  country  turn  to  its  welfare  and  its  prosperity  internally,  to  its  securiy,  to 
its  repose,  to  its  honor,  to  its  alliances  externally. 

It  is,  therefore,  gentlemen,  useful  to  examine  the  condition  in  which  our  diplomacy  has 
placed  us,  and  I  ask  your  permission  to  make  this  examination  in  your  presence,  throwing 
-aside,  as  far  as  it  will  be  possible  for  me,  alUncidental  questions,  and  occupying  myself  only 
with  those  which  should  principally  claim  your  attention.  And  if  it  is  impossible  for  me, 
speaking  in  the  name  of  the  opposition,  to  intimate  my  approval  of  the  domestic  and  internal 
policy  of  the  government,  it  is  no  less  impossible  for  me  to  show  any  satisfaction  with  its 
external  policy,  and  this,  gentlemen,  for  a  reason  which  applies  to  both.  In  fact,  we  reproach 
both  alike  with  appearing  to  be  what  they  are  not.  with  exciting  without  satisfying,  and  with 
thus  creating  everjAvhcre  a  condition  of  things  full  of  doubt,  uncertainty,  and  danger.  [In 
terruption.] 

In  order  to  justify  this  opinion,  gentlemen,  I  must  go  through  with  you  the  principal  ques 
tions  to  which  I  alluded  just  now;  not  that  I  make  the  rash  pretension  to  present  here  the 
diplomatic  history  of  the  government  which  directs  us;  I  desire  to  confine  myself  to  a  brief 
review  of  the  events  that  have  transpired  and  that  are  now  transpiring  since  the  corps  legis- 
latif  has  met.  And  it  is  precisely,  gentlemen,  in  examining  these  events  that  I  shall  find  the 
justification  of  the  opinion  which  I  have  had  the  honor  of  enunciating  before  the  chamber. 
And  in  the  very  beginning,  gentlemen,  permit  me  to  tell  you  that  it  would  be  a  grave  error 
to  suppose  that  diplomacy  should  restrict  itself  to  the  surveillance  of  facts  that  are  being 
accomplished,  and  to  the  consideration  of  the  transitory  interest  that  might  arise  from  them. 
Assuredly,  gentlemen,  it  cannot  despise  either  the  one  or  the  other,  but  in  order  to  be  really 
strong,  it  is  necessary  that,  as  for  internal  policy,  it  should  have  a  fixed  principle,  a  reason  to 
direct  it,  a  reason  to  serve  as  a  lamp  and  guide  on  all  important  occasions  whereon  it  may 
find  itself  engaged.  Now,  gentlemen,  what  cannot  be  disputed  by  any  one  that  does  me  the 
honor  of  listening  to  mo  is,  that  in  the  contest  now  waged  in  Europe,  and  which,  unfortu 
nately,  does  not  yet  draw  near  its  end,  France,  by  her  external  action  as  well  as  by  her 
internal  policy,  should,  under  pain  of  degenerating  from  her  high  station,  represent  the  new 
spirit.  And  what  must  we  understand  by  this  expression  ?  In  my  mind,  here  is  what  it  means 
— the  ancient  spirit  having  its  source  in  theocracy,  Avhich  is  the  representation  of  the  most 
elevated  of  despotism,  has  taken  the  name  of  divine  right  in  order  to  be  the  more  feared  and 
the  more  submitted  to  by  the  people.  This  is  the  name  which  it  has  assumed  in  order  to  be 
able  to  reign  without  limitation,  and  to  make  all  understandings  be  silent  in  its  presence. 
But  in  opposition  to  this  right  to  which  I  must  restore  a  more  logical  name  by  calling  it  the 
imposed  right,  there  appears  the  right  which  I  name  consented  right,  and  it  is  this,  gentle 
men,  which  is  the  personification  of  the  new  spirit,  that  is,  the  liberty  of  the  human  soul 
which  takes  possession  of  the  world,  and  which  desires,  through  the  power  of  the  collective 
individualities  called  to  govern  their  OAvn  affairs  by  themselves,  to  reveal  itself  and  assume 
its  proper  place. 

SEVERAL  MEMBERS.  Good. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  Now,  it  is  not  doubtful,  and  I  Avas  right  in  saying  that  upon  this  point 
I  Avould  have  no  person  to  contradict  me  among  you,  that  France  is  the  champion  of  this 
latter  principle.  Undoubtedly,  and  here  again  we  are  all  of  one  accord,  her  policy  ought  to 
have  a  fixed  rule.  It  ought  also  to  avoid  showing  itself  adventurous,  Utopian,  and  especially 
propagandist.  It  should  rely  for  support  on  that  Avhich  constitutes  its  proper  force,  but  should 
not  seek  to  impose  itself  abroad.  It  should  respect  the  principle  on  Avhich  it  rests,  and  protect 
that  principle  on  all  occasions  Avhen  that  protection  is  allied  Avith  possibility  and  the  interests 
of  the  nation. 

Well,  gentlemen,  has  France  been  faithful  to  her  commission  in  the  events  which  have 
been  unfolded  before  you?  Has  she  respected  these  rules  of  conduct  ?  Has  she  shown  herself 

prudent,  reserved,  and  logical?     Unfortunatelv  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  giA'e  her  this  credit. 
*  *  *          °*  *  *  *  *  ^  %  *  * 

Italy  is  not  the  only  or  the  most  serious  embarrassment  iu  which  France  finds  herself  in 
voked;  she  carries  a  still  heavier  chain  :  it  is  that  of  Mexico,  [exclamations,]  and  AVO  Avould 


430  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

be  wofully  wanting  in  our  duty  it'  we  did  not  .seek  to  know  the  truth  us  to  our  political 
condition  on  this  question. 

Do  not  fear,  gentlemen,  that  I  shall  abuse  your  patience,  which  I  huve  already,  perhaps, 
taxed  too  much,  but  the  details  so  clear,  so  authoritative,  that  have  been  given  you  by  my 
illustrious  colleague  [M.  Berryer]  on  the  financial  question,  seem  to  me  to  have  been  lei't 
unanswered.  [Cries  of  no,  no.] 

A  VOICE.  Read  the  Mouitenr ! 

M.  .JlTLES  FAVRE.  It  is  certain,  to  my'eyes  at  least,  that  the  lOmperor  Maximilian,  in  tak 
ing  possession  of  his  new  empire,  assumes  charges  under  the  weight  of  which  he  will  have 
great  difficulty  in  establishing  his  government. 

But  here,  gentlemen,  I  meet  with  an  objection  that  has  several  times  been  urged  in  this  de 
bate,  and  to  which  I  cannot  fail  to  reply.  Whenever  a  member  rises  here  within  these 
precincts  in  order  to  call  your  attention  to  this  question,  you  know  that  he  is  treated  as  a. 
disloyal  citizen. 

A  VOICE.  Yes,  and  very  justly. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  And  you  have  heard  it  asserted,  in  one  of  your  recent  sessions,  that  in 
the  English  Parliament  such  discussions  would  not  be  possible.  [That  is  true,  that  is  true  !] 

M.  ULAIS  BizoiN.  No:  for  no  English  Parliament  would  have  ever  tolerated  such  an 
expedition.  [Murmurs  of  disapprobation.] 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  There  may  be  a  reason  for  this,  gentlemen;  it  is  because  the  English 
nation  is  not  under  guardianship;  [cries  of  disapprobation;]  it  is  because  in  demanding 
peace  it  is  not  likely  to  expose  itself  to  war  ;  it  is  because  it  can  manage  its  affairs,  and  it  is 
for  this  reason,  gentlemen,  that  it  sometimes  abstains  from  criticising  them. 

As  to  us,  we  are  for  the  most  part  of  the  time  called  to  control  events  that  have  been  accom 
plished.  And  then  it  would  be  a  very  singular  and  very  humiliating  condition  in  which  we 
would  be  placed,  were  we  always  to  approve  under  pain  of  being  wanting  in  patriotism. 
[Murmurs  of  disapprobation.] 

And  permit  me,  since  the  minister  has  touched  upon  English  history,  to  remind  you  that 
his  recollections  in  this  respect  have  rather  failed  him;  and  when  I  revert  to  the  end  of  the 
last  century  and  to  the  commencement  of  the  present,  oh !  then,  gentlemen,  I  perceive  a 
tremendous  struggle  in  progress.  France  stands  at  the  head  of  the  new  ideas.  IShe  is  her 
self  engaged  in  terrible  convulsions  that  might  terrify  Europe.  Yet  not  the  less  for  all  that 
does  she  pronounce  words  of  emancipation  and  of  liberty ;  and  then  the  coalition  of  all  the 
old  despots  is  formed  against  her,  and  by  their  side  is  England  found,  England  directed  by 
a  great  man,  by  an  eminent  minister,  but  one  who,  in  my  opinion,  was  blinded  by  the  con 
tracted  views  of  national  hatred.  He  struggled  against  us  and  thus  dragged  his  country 
into  incalculable  evils. 

Yes,  I  acknowledge,  he  had  an  inflamed  public  opinion  on  his  side,  and  in  a  parliament 
like  this,  one  day  when  those  irritating  questions  were  in  debate,  a  man  arose  in  opposition 
to  the  common  opinion,  in  spite  of  the  murmurs  that  would  have  drowned  his  voice,  and 
although  he  was  forced  to  renounce  illustrious  friendships,  he  maintained  the  cause  of  liberty 
and  of  France.  That  man  was  Fox,  and  it  is  impossible  to  say  what  might  have  been  the 
result  if  his  wise  counsels  had  been  followed.  But  that  which  all  sensible  men  can  affirm 
is,  that  if  England,  instead  of  combating  the  French  revolution,  had  sought  to  moderate 
and  direct  it,  there  would  have  been  fifty  years  less  of  struggles,  fatal  struggles,  battles,  woe 
and  blood,  perhaps  somewhat  less  of  glory,  but  certainly  more  civilization  and  liberty. 
[Applause  around  the  speaker.] 

You  see,  then,  that  it  sometimes  happens  that  English  statesmen  have  courageously 
resisted  the  impulse  of  popular  opinion,  believing  thereby  that  they  performed  their  duty, 
and  in  fact  thus  performing  it.  As  to  us,  what  have  we  said?  I  do  not  wish  to  repeat  it  here. 

The  minister  has  had  reason  to  tell  you  that  these  great  events  had  entered  upon  a  new- 
phase;  only,  perhaps,  he  has  forgotten  those  different  phases.  The  minister  has  traced  for 
you  a  brilliant  picture  of  the  splendor  reserved  for  America,  thanks  to  our  devotedness,  to 
our  courage,  to  our  civilizing  spirit.  It  is  to  accomplish  this  gigantic  work  that  we  have 
landed  on  the  shores  of  Mexico ! 

Gentlemen,  let  the  minister  permit  me  to  remind  him  that  all  this  is  but  a  poetic  after- 
stroke;  it  is  a  grand  programme  that  has  been  traced  out  by  the  victorious  hand  of  France, 
but  which  the  hand  of  her  policy  had  not  prepared.  [Divers  interruptions.] 

If  I  refer  back  to  the  origin  itself  of  the  enterprise,  I  find  that  all  this  grandeur  is  in 
singular  contrast  with  the  2,500  men  that  formed  the  first  contingent  of  France,  and  Avith 
the  pacific  declarations  which  she  circulated  among  all  the  cabinets  of  Europe! 

I  acknowledge  it,  time  and  events  have  progressed  and  have  imposed  imperious  obligations 
upon  us.  Yet  once  more,  I  say  I  will  not  retrace  the  past,  I  will  take  tilings  as  they  exist. 
Only,  the  minister  will  permit  me  to  say  to  him:  if  Prince  Maxamilian  is  traversing  the 
ocean,  and  if,  to  use  his  magnificant  language,  the  waves  seem  to  be  obedient  to  him,  if  the 
shores  shake  with  joy  at  his  approach,  if  he  is  soon  to  be  received  with  unanimous  accla 
mations,  [murmurs,]  ah!  let  them  burst  forth,  but  it  is  his  cruellest  enemies  who  prepare 
these  ovations  for  him.  [Cries  of  no!  no!]  And,  as  for  me,  I  highly  admire,  indeed,  a 
people  that  would  place  their  patriotism,  after  their  defeat,  in  wreathing  crowns  of  glory  for 
a  foreign  prince  that  is  sent  to  them  by  a  victorious  enemy.  [Murmurs  of  disapprobation.] 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  431 

In  fine,  let  us  look  into  the  reality  to  find  out  the  true  aspect  of  the  question.  If  the 
Emperor  Maximilian  could  realize  all  the  wonders  which  you  have  heard  in  the  eloquent 
speech  of  the  minister  of  state,  we  also,  gentlemen,  in  spite  of  the  greatness  of  the  sacri 
fices  that  have  been  imposed  upon  France,  we  also  would  applaud  him ;  but  the  difference 
between  the  minister  and  ourselves  consists  in  the  confidence  entertained  as  to  the  success 
of  such  an  enterprise. 

NUMEROUS  VOICES.     Wait  a  while. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  But  this  is  not  what  we  have  now  to  discuss.  That  the  Emperor 
Maximilian,  intrusted  with  these  new  destinies,  may  conduct  his  empire  to  the  highest  sum 
mit  of  glory,  is  my  sincere  desire.  I  place  no  obstacle  in  his  way ;  but  I  ask  if  all  this  is 
not  romance,  and  if  the  reality  is  not  otherwise :  if,  in  reality,  this  great  prince  is  no  more 
than  a  lieutenant  of  France  ?  [Interruption.  ] 

This  is  the  only  true  question,  and  it  is  in  this  way  that  it  affects  our  interests,  our  honor, 
and  bur  policy. 

When  the  session  was  opened,  what  was  the  language  held  forth  by  the  government?  I 
take  it  from  an  official  document,  of  which  I  ask  your  permission  to  quote  some  lines.  The 
feeling  was  unanimous,  I  shall  not  say  to  blame,  but  at  least  to  regret,  distant  enterprises. 
[Interruptions.] 

If  these  enterprises  were  necessary,  they  were  accepted,  but  the  necessity  Avas  deplored 
which  required  them,  and  an  evident  desire  was  manifested  that  they  should  be  brought  to 
a  speedy  conclusion.  This  conclusion  was  very  precisely  indicated  for  the  government; 
for  here,  gentlemen,  is  what  I  read  in  the  report  made  by  the  honorable  M.  Larrabure : 

"At  this  time,  the  Emperor's  government  declares  that  it  has  entered  into  no  engagement 
with  any  one,  either  to  leave  a  force  of  French  troops  in  Mexico,  or  to  guarantee  any  loan 
whatever.  It  declares  that  there  is  no  reason  whatever  to  suppose  that  it  is  necessary  to  in 
crease  the  French  forces  now  actually  serving  in  Mexico ;  and  that  any  movements  that 
may  take  place  up  to  the  time  of  their  withdrawal  will  have  for  their  only  object  to  replace 
the  sick  or  those  whose  term  of  service  may  have  expired.  According  to  present  estimates, 
the  government  hopes  that  the  end  of  the  year  1864  will  mark  the  conclusion  of  the  expedi 
tion.  ' ' 

There  are  things  to  be  remarked  in  this  paragraph:  a  hope  that  the  expedition  may  end 
with  the  year  1 8(54 ;  a  double  engagement — the  one  that  no  troops  will  be  left  in  Mexico  and 
that  no  obligation  has  been  incurred  in  this  respect ;  the  second,  that  no  support  will  be 
given  to  any  loan. 

SEVERAL  VOICES.     That  no  guarantee  will  be  given. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  Now,  you  know  Avhat  has  become  of  this  double  engagement ;  you 
know  how  we  have  been  repaid  for  the  expenses  of  the  war.  It  is  a  new  proceeding,  and 
one  which  I  recommend  to  the  statesmen  of  our  day,  to  make  the  victorious  power  pay  the 
expenses  of  the  Avar;  for  it  is  France  that  issues  66  millions  of  bonds,  Avhich  become  in  her 
hands  accommodation  notes  furnished  with  her  signature.  [Murmur.] 

As  to  the  engagement  not  to  leave  any  troops  in  Mexico,  IIOAV  will  it  be  compatible  Avith 
the  declarations  which  I  read  in  the  official  journals  ? 

We  have  sent  the  Emperor  Maximilian  across  the  seas  Ave  have  pointed  out  Mexico  to 
him  as  a  point  toAvards  which  he  should  proceed,  because  he  would  be  received  there  with 
unanimous  acclamation ;  such  is  the  pompous  language  of  eloquence.  But  noAV  here  is  the 
reality  of  the  case. 

In  the  treaty,  which  is  published  in  the  Moniteur  of  the  17th  of  April,  I  see  that  "  the  gov 
ernment  of  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  the  French  and  that  of  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of 
Mexico,  animated  by  an  equal  desire  to  secure  the  restoration  of  order  in  Mexico  and  to 
consolidate  the  neAv  empire,  haA-e  resolved  to  regulate  by  mutual  agreement  the  conditions  of 
the  sojourn  of  the  French  troops  in  that  country." 

So  Ave  are  Arery  far  from  the  declarations  of  the  honorable  Mr.  Larrabure,  as  contained  for 
in  his  report. 

Hope  has  vanished ;  as  to  engagements,  it  has  been  deemed  possible  to  set  them  totally 
aside.  Our  troops  will  remain  in  Mexico,  IIOAV  long  ?  They  Avill  remain  there  until  the  Em 
peror  Maximilian  is  firmly  established,  for  that  is  the  Avork  undertaken  by  France  ;  and  Avhen 
she  is  told  that  the  Mexican  expedition  is  finished  she  is  deceived  ;  she  should  know  this  ; 
the  Mexican  expedition  is  scarcely  commenced.  [Cries  of  disapprobation.]  It  is  necessary 
to  establish  the  new  empire  firmly,  in  the  midst  of  difficulties  of  all  kinds,  of  parties  and  fac 
tions.  Such  is  the  Avork  prepared  for  France. 

And  for  this,  gentlemen,  what  are  the  sacrifices  demanded  of  her  1  They  ask  her  to  leave 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian  a  corps  d'armte  of  25,000  men,  and  there  is  no 
determinate  period  for  its  recall ;  circumstances  must  decide  as  to  the  time  of  its  withdrawal, 
and  you  know  how  much  elasticity  there  is  in  such  propositions  as  that.  It  is  therefore  for 
an  indeterminate  time  that  AVC  keep  25,000  men  in  Mexico. 

They  tell  us,  gentlemen,  that  they  Avill  be  paid  by  the  Mexican  government.  Permit  me 
to  say  that  I  consider  it  a  deplorable  condition  for  France  to  have  herself  paid  thus.  [Mur 
murs  and  marks  of  disapprobation.] 

No,  France  should  not  sell  the  blood  of  her  children  in  order  to  establish  a  foreign  empire. 
[ReneAvcd  murmurs.] 


432  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

I  find  in  this  enterprise  undertaken  to  Mexico  detestable  ideas,  dynastic  ideas,  which  I  op 
pose  with  all  my  strength,  for  they  arc  contrary  to  the  new  spirit  on  Avhich  t lie  policy  of  France 
reposes.  [Various  manifestations  of  disorder.] 

There  is,  therefore,  a  force  of  25,001)  men  of  which  you  are  deprived  for  an  indeterminate 
period  ;  a  force  of  25,000  men  is  placed  in  the  pay  of  a  foreign  prince  ;  it  will  be  commanded 
by  a  French  officer,  but  it  will  not  be  the  less,  for  all  that,  subject  to  the  inspirations  of  a 
foreign  policy.  Now  this  foreign  policy  will  gradually  diverge  from  you  in  proportion  as  this 
new  empire  of  Mexico  will  develop  itself;  it  will  become  national,  and  less  like  to  yours,  and 
then  it  may  involve  you  in  enterprises,  in  adventures,  and  in  dangers  that  we  cannot  now 
calculate.  [Renewed  interruption  ] 

Is  that  which  1  say,  gentlemen,  a  simple  supposition?  The  minister  lias  spoken  to  us  of  a 
fact,  in  regard  to  which  it  is  impossible  to  maintain  silence;  I  refer  to  the  declaration  of  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States.  [Sensation.] 

M.  ERNEST  PICARD.    That  is  a  very  serious  matter! 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  That  this  act  has  no  diplomatic  value,  I  am  aware  ;  it  is  not  the  less 
for  that  the  manifestation  of  an  opinion  of  which  we  must  take  notice.  Ijut  what  the  min 
ister  knows  as  well  as  I  do  is,  that  this  manifestation  is  not  an  isolated  fact ;  that  it  has  assumed 
an  official  character;  that  the  United  States  have  entered  into  regular  and  categorical  ex 
planations  ;  and  I  request  your  permission  to  lay  before  you  some  lines  of  a  despatch. 

SOME  MEMBERS.   No,  no. 

OTHER  MEMBERS.    Yes,  yes.     Goon;  speak 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  Here  is  the  despatch  from  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  of  the 
United  States  to  Mr.  Dayton,  their  minister  resident  at  Paris,  and  which  has  been  communi 
cated  to  the  French  minister  of  foreign  affairs.  It  is  of  the  date  of  the  26th  of  September, 
1863,  and  here  is  what  I  read  in  it.  After  some  expressions  of  politeness  and  regard  for 
France,  the  American  minister  subjoins : 

"  This  reserve  does  not  prevent  the  government  from  acknowledging  and  declaring  that 
the  real  opinion  in  Mexico  is  in  favor  of  a  domestic  and  republican  government — "  (Ah !  ah! ) 

SEVERAL  MEMBERS.   Now  we  have  it ! 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  — "in  preference  to  any  monarchical  institution  whatever  that  might 
be  imposed  upon  it  from  without." 

The  expression  used  here  may  seem  to  you  to  be  in  bad  taste ;  but,  as  to  the  thing,  it  is 
excellent,  and  for  my  part  I  believe  that  princes  are  so  much  the  more  firmly  established  as 
they  are  the  more  national,  and  I  would  never  advise  any  state  to  go  out  of  its  own  limits 
to  choose  one. 

"Our  government,"  adds  the  minister  of  the  United  States,  "also  acknowledges  that 
this  real  opinion  of  the  Mexican  people  is  due  in  a  great  measure  to  the  influence  of  the 
popular  opinion  in  our  own  country,  and  that  it  continually  receives  a  uew  impulse  there 
from. 

"The  United  States  do  not  conceal  that,  in  their  opinion,  their  own  safety,  no  less  than 
the  manifest  and  brilliant  destiny  to  which  they  aspire,  are  intimately  connected  with  the 
maintenance  of  free  republican  institutions  throughout  the  whole  of  America.  They  have 
submitted  this  opinion  to  the  Emperor  of  the  French,  at  a  proper  time,  and  as  one  worthy  of 
his  serious  attention,  in  order  that  he  may  determine  in  what  manner  he  should  conduct  and 
terminate  happily  the  war  in  Mexico. 

"  It  is  not  any  further  necessary  to  maintain  a  strict  reserve  on  that  other  point ;  if  France, 
after  mature  consideration,  believed  it  her  duty  to  adopt  in  regard  to  Mexico  a  policy  in 
opposition  to  the  sentiments  and  the  opinions  of  which  I  have  spoken,  this  policy  may  sow 
the  seed  of  jealousies  which,  in  their  development,  may  bring  on  a  conflict  between  France, 
the  United  States,  and  the  other  American  republics."  (Oh  !  oh!) 

That,  gentlemen,  is  a  diplomatic  document ;  and  unless  you  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  these 
declarations  are  of  no  importance,  and  that  sovereign  wisdom  consists  in  the  greatest  igno 
rance  arid  in  supreme  delusion,  we  must  take  these  facts  into  careful  consideration. 

Here  is  another  despatch,  under  date  of  October  23,  1863,  containing  the  following  para 
graphs  : 

"  In  consideration  of  these  facts,  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  intimates  that  a  prompt  acknowl 
edgment  by  the  United  States  of  the  projected  empire  would  be  agreeable  to  France,  and 
would  free  her,  .sooner  than  could  otherwise  be  hoped  for  under  present  circumstances,  from 
her  embarrassing  complications  with  Mexico. 

"Fortunately,  we  have  never  concealed  the  fact  from  the  French  government  that,  in  tin- 
opinion  of  the  United  States,  the  establishment  of  a  foreign  and  monarchical  government 
would  be  neither  easy  nor  desirable.  You  will  inform  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  that  our  opin 
ion  in  this  respect  has  not  changed." 

And  further  on  it  says  :  "  It  is,  however,  useful  that  you  should  inform  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys 
that  the  United  States  regard  Mexico  as  the  theatre  of  a  war  which  has  not  yet  resulted  in 
the  overthrow  of  the  government  which  has  for  a  considerable  time  existed  in  that  country, 
and  with  which  the  United  States  continue  to  maintain  relations  of  peace  and  sincere  friend 
ship.  Consequently  the  United  States  are  not  free  to  take  into  consideration  the  question  of 
the  acknowledgment  of  a  government  which,  in  consequence  of  the  future  eventualities  of 
this  war,  might  be  called  to  replace  the  present  government." 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  433 

You  see,  gentlemen,  unless  you  close  your  eyes  to  the  light,  that  we  must  recognize  that 
the  seeds  of  distrust  and  hostility  have  been  sown  between  two  countries,  the  union  of  which 
is  so  necessary  to  the  grandeur  and  prosperity  of  both.  These  seeds  are  so  much  the  more 
to  be  feared  as  the  condition  of  the  United  States  is  the  more  threatened,  as  they  are  passing 
at  the  present  moment  through  a  terrible  and  bloody  crisis,  which,  whatever  may  be  the  issue 
of  it,  will  leave  on  the  deserted  theatres  of  strife  numerous  bands  of  adventurers  who,  sooner 
or  later,  will  proceed  to  find  work  for  their  swords  in  a  country  to  which  their  passion  will 
impel  them.  [Various  exclamations.] 

Now,  in  view  of  these  events,  has  France  been  sufficiently  prudent  ?  I  do  not  wish  to 
examine  the  course  that  she  might  have  pursued,  and  should,  perhaps,  have  pursued,  in 
reference  to  the  great  fact  of  the  secession.  It  is  incontestible  that,  if  her  voice  had  made 
itself  heard,  if  she  had  been  able  to  manifest  those  secret  sympathies  which,  I  doubt  not, 
exist  in  her  heart  for  the  triumph  of  human  liberty  and  the  final  suppression  of  slavery,  it 
would  have  been  a  very  useful  aid  to  the  United  States. 

I  add  that  our  naval  power  and  our  commerce  would  have  profited  thereby ;  for,  in  exam 
ining  the  state  of  our  relations  with  the  New  World,  here  is  what  we  find  and  what  is  known 
to  every  one.  The  New  World  is  our  principal  furnisher  of  that  indispensable  staple,  for 
which  we  are  at  this  moment  making  sacrifices  that  are  becoming  more  and  more  trouble 
some  to  our  monetary  affairs. 

In  fact,  in  the  last  session,  mention  was  made  of  the  Bank  of  France.  [Renewed  excla- 
tions.  ] 

On  this  point,  gentlemen,  I  wish  to  say  nothing  but  this — it  is  well  understood  that  it  is 
not  a  subject  which  I  desire  to  draw  into  discussion — you  know  that  in  the  years  pre 
ceding  1859,  Europe  bought  about  five  million  bales — more  exactly  4,872,000  bales — of 
cotton,  of  which  three-quarters  were  furnished  by  America.  At  present,  gentlemen,  Europe 
is  under  the  necessity  not  only  of  restricting  its  consumption  considerably,  but  of  looking 
for  almost  the  whole  of  that  raw  staple  in  countries  which  do  not  return  her  remittances  in 
specie ;  and  whilst  America  operated  with  her  by  means  of  exchange,  India  and  Egypt 
retain  her  silver  and  gold,  the  former  to  make  idols,  and  the  latter  to  bury  it  in  her  vaults. 

It  is  thus,  gentlemen,  that  the  deposits  in  the  Bank  of  France  go  on  continually  dimin 
ishing. 

It  has  been  announced  to  you  that  at  the  present  time  the  deposits  have  increased  to  240 
millions.  But  if  you  choose  to  look  at  preceding  years,  you  will  see  that  in  1859  the  mini 
mum  amount  was  508  millions  and  the  maximum  644  millions  ;  that,  in  1860,  the  deposits 
varied  from  514  to  551  millions ;  a  fact  which  should  claim  the  serious  attention  of  all 
financiers,  and  which  should  not  be  neglected  by  politicians,  who  are  well  aware  that  the 
great  resolutions  taken  by  prudent  nations  have  a  direct  influence  on  their  commercial  rela 
tions,  and  that  it  behooves,  if  it  be  possible,  to  put  'an  end,  and  that  at  the  earliest  moment, 
to  the  war  now  waged  in  America  between  the  northern  and  the  southern  States. 

Now,  a  circumstance  has  occurred  to  which,  in  conclusion,  I  desire  permission  to  call 
your  attention,  and  to  provoke  a  reply  from  the  government. 

I  said  that  I  did  not  wish  to  examine  its  conduct  in  the  general  management  of  this  affair; 
but  I  remember  that,  in  the  month  of  June,  1861,  an  official  declaration  was  made,  in  pres 
ence  of  the  world,  by  which  France  bound  herself  to  preserve  the  strictest  neutrality  between 
the  two  belligerents. 

You  know,  however,  that  in  the  commencement  of  the  year  1862  France  endeavored  to 
influence  the  cabinet  of  Washington  so  far  as  to  make  it  accept  an  armistice.  But  what  is 
more  significant  is,  that  quite  recently  public  opinion  has  been  very  justly  moved  at  the 
revelation  of  facts  in  regard  to  which  a  categorical  explanation  is  indispensable. 

In  the  months  of  April  and  July,  1863,  two  houses  received  orders  for  the  construction  of 
six  iron-clad  vessels.  Two  of  these  vessels  were  of  the  class  called  rams  with  block-houses. 
And  yet  these  houses  asserted  that  these  vessels  thus  constructed  were  simple  trading  vessels. 

I  do  not  examine  here  the  question  as  to  what  the  intention  was.  It  is  a  point  not  in  dis 
cussion  here,  and  which  I  entirely  set  aside.  Only  these  orders  were  given  by  persons  whose 
names  are  well  known  throughout  Europe,  by  Captain  Bullock,  of  the  Confederate  States,  and 
Mr.  Slidell,  who  has  obtained  a  celebrity  which  is  yet  within  all  recollections;  and  when 
these  builders  were  told  that  these  six  vessels  were  destined  to  navigate  between  Shanghai 
and  San  Francisco,  and  thus  to  connect  California  and  China  by  means  of  vessels  armed 
with  block -houses,  I  think  that  very  serious  doubts  might  naturally  have  arisen  in  the  minds 
of  these  honorable  constructors. 

But  I  have  a  right  to  find  these  doubts,  especially  in  the  minds  of  the  watchful  members  of 
the  government ;  and  when,  under  date  of  June  1,  application  was  made  to  the  minister  of 
marine  in  order  to  obtain  authority  to  put  rifled  cannon  on  board  of  these  innocent  trading 
vessels,  then  it  might  have  been  perceived  that  there  was  something  serious  in  the  matter, 
and  the  names  of  Bullock  and  Slidell  were  significant  enough  to  authorize  such  a  conclusion 
to  be  drawn. 

It  was  drawn,  for  the  requisite  authority  was  granted.  [Sensation  and  various  demon 
strations.] 

It  is  trae  that,  as  some  rumor  of  the  affair  had  reached  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  the 

H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 28 


434  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

minister  of  foreign  affairs  of  the  United  States  wrote  to  Mr.  Dayton:  that  Mr.  Dayton  had 
an  interview  with  the  minister  of  foreign  a  flairs  of  France;  that  the  latter  made  some  repre 
sentations  on  the  subject  to  his  colleague  of  the  marine;  and  that,  in  the  month  of  October, 
the  authority  previously  granted  was  withdrawn. 

But,  gentlemen,  certain  journals  still  110  less  persist  in  asserting  that  these  vessels  are 
armed,  that  two  have  been  launched  in  the  port  of  Brest,  and  it  is  positively  said  will  be 
allowed  to  sail. 

I  request  the  government  not  to  leave  such  a  question  as  this  undecided.  There  is  in 
volved  in  it,  I  shall  not  say  our  honor  or  our  safety — for  here  I  care  not  to  use  such  words — 
but  there  is  involved  in  it  our  political  probity. 

The  declaration  of  the  month  of  June,  18o'X  is  too  explicit  not  to  bind  the  government  in 
the  most  formal  manner. 

Under  such  circumstances,  gentlemen,  its  language  should  dispel  every  kind  of  doubt. 
There  is  no  question  here  of  a  fact  susceptible  of  various  interpretations.  You  see  within 
what  limits  it  is  restricted;  and  I  hope  that  the  goverment  will  not  permit  the  slightest 
shadow  of  uncertitude  to  remain  here.  Such  a  course  is  absolutely  indispensable;  for  if  it 
could  be  imagined  that,  departing  from  the  course  which  she  has  formally  traced  out  for  her 
self,  France  could  take  part  for  one  or  other  of  the  belligerents,  I  leave  it  to  your  own  minds 
to  conceive  what  the  deplorable  result  might  be  of  such  a  state  of  things. 

Assuredly,  gentlemen,  I  can  say  \vith  the  greatest  sincerity  that  we  have  no  interest  in 
augmenting  our  political  embarrassments.  I  have  endeavored  to  show  you  how,  in  my  opin 
ion,  these  embarrassments  have  been  the  consequence  of  the  faults  committed  by  diplomacy. 
It  is  because  our  policy  has  been  equivocal,  because  its  language  has  not  been  strong  and 
precise,  because  it  has  undertaken  everything  without  accomplishing  anything,  that  at  the 
same  time  it  has  compromised  everything.  [Cries  of  no,  no.] 

VOICES  AROUND  THE  SPEAKER.     That  is  true. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.  It  must  renounce  this  system  of  feebleness ;  and  do  you  know  the 
remedy  for  this?  It  must  have  confidence  in  the  nation,  in  its  virility,  in  its  expansion. 
Those  who  guide  the  nation  must  cease  to  be  its  pedagogues  and  its  masters  in  order  to  be 
come  its  inspired  chiefs,  counselled  and  directed  by  it,  [various  manifestations ;]  and  like  the 
divinity  of  the  fable,  instead  of  remaining  in  the  clouds,  they  must  take  their  stand-point 
on  the  earth  which  gives  them  strength — that  is,  on  the  soil  of  liberty.  [Various  interrup 
tions.] 

On  this  condition,  I  do  not  say — neither  do  I  wish  it — that  they  will  be  able  to  command 
the  world  and  to  impose  laws  upon  it ;  but  at  least  they  will  no  longer  expose  themselves  to 
see  their  words  belied  and  their  signatures  protested.  [Murmurs  of  disapprobation  from 
various  benches.  Applause  from  the  benches  around  the  speaker.] 


Speech  of  M.  Rouhcr,  Minister  of  State,  in  reply  to  M.  Jules  Favre. 

[Extract.] 

If  I  examine  the  speech  of  the  honorable  M.  Jules  Favre,  taking  his  objections  in  an  in 
verse  order  from  that  which  he  has  adopted,  the  first  point  to  which  I  come  is  this  pretended 
violation  of  the  rules  of  neutrality  committed  by  France  towards  the  northern  States  of 
America. 

Gentlemen,  questions  of  neutrality  and  the  extent  of  the  rights  of  neutrals  have  at  all 
times  been  a  source  of  difficulty  and  of  numerous  conflicts.  I  do  not  wish  here  to  review 
the  numerous  phases  through  which  the  rights  of  neutrals  have  passed  in  the  code  of  inter 
national  law.  But  \vhat  I  can  say  to  the  honor  of  the  policy  of  our  country  is,  that  every 
thing  in  the  nature  of  liberal,  progressive,  generous  ideas,  introduced  into  the  legislation 
of  neutrals,  has  originated  with  the  French  government.  ["That  is  true;  that  is  true."] 

So,  at  the  declaration  of  war  in  America  between  the  States  of  the  north  and  the  States 
of  the  south,  we  were  not  wanting  to  these  precedents,  and  from  the  very  first  day  we  laid 
down  the  principles  of  neutrality  that  were  to  govern  our  whole  conduct. 

In  the  declaration  of  the  1st  of  June,  186J,  published  in  the  Moniteur,  an  official  act 
emanating  from  the  sovereign,  it  is  laid  down  in  article  3  that — 

"It  is  forbidden  to  every  Frenchman  to  take  a  commission  from  either  of  the  two  parties 
for  the  purpose  of  fitting  out  vessels-of-war,  or  to  receive  letters  of  marque  in  order  to  prey 
upon  commerce,  or  to  be  concerned  in  any  manner  whatever  in  the  equipment  or  armament 
ot  a  vessel-of-war  or  privateer  for  either  of  the  two  belligerent  parties." 

In  the  month  of  June,  1863,  a  request  was  made  by  two  French  constructors  for  per 
mission  to  build  two  steamers,  it  being  indicated  that  these  vessels  were  destined  to  navigate 
in  the  seas  of  China. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  435 

The  Minister  of  the  United  States,  in  the  month  of  December,  1863,  referred  to  letters 
and  documents  which  circumstances,  the  character  of  which  we  have  not  wished  to  sift,  had 
placed  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Dayton.  He  maintained  that  these  vessels  were  intended 
for  the  confederates.  An  investigation  was  immediately  commenced.  The  constructors 
were  questioned,  their  explanations  were  weighed,  and  the  authorization,  temporarily  given, 
was  withdrawn  by  the  government. 

Some  time  afterwards  doubts  arose  ;  those  steamers,  which  are  not  ready  to  depart,  were 
indicated  as  destined  for  Sweden.  New  investigations  At  ere  made.  This  destination  did  not 
seem  sufficiently  demonstrated,  and  under  date  of  May  1,  1861,  ten  days  ago,  the  minister 
of  marine  wrote  to  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs:  "The  vessels  of  war  to  which  you 
refer  will  not  be  permitted  to  sail  from  the  French  ports  until  it  is  shown  in  the  most  posi 
tive  manner  that  their  destination  does  not  affect  the  principles  of  neutrality  which  the 
French  government  desires  vigorously  to  observe  in  regard  to  the  belligerents." 

Such  is  the  unequivocal  course  that  has  been  pursued  by  the  Emperor's  government  in 
the  clearest  and  most  precise  manner. 

And  now  let  me  be  permitted  to  invoke  the  talents  and  eloquence  of  the  honorable  M. 
Jules  Favre,  in  order  to  impress  the  United  States  with  principles  equally  precise  and 
equally  clear  in  regard  to  this  affair  of  neutrality. 

At  the  very  time  that  he  reproaches  us  with  not  having  sufficiently  observed  the  rules  laid 
down  by  the  declaration  of  June  11,  1861,  the  French  government  is  struggling  with  the 
government  of  the  United  States  in  order  to  have  coal  declared  not  contraband  of  war,  and 
perhaps  delivered  to  such  of  our  vessels  as  proceed  to  Mexico.  I  hope  that  the  considera 
tions  so  very  brilliant,  presented  by  M.  Jules  Favre  in  favor  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  will  influence  that  government  to  take  the  representations  to  which  I  allude 
into  most  serious  consideration.  [Approbative  laughter.]  We  must  then  reject  this  vain 
accusation.  It  has  absolutely  no  foundation  whatever.  The  French  government  has  not 
deviated  in  the  slightest  degree  from  the  most  loyal  neutrality.  ["Very  good;  very 
good."] 

Here  I  come  to  the  considerations  presented  by  the  honorable  M.  Jules  Favre  in  refer 
ence  to  the  secession,  in  reference  to  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  for  European  industry 
those  supplies  of  cotton  heretofore  furnished  by  America,  and  to  the  consequences  which 
those  difficulties  have  produced  in  regard  to  the  deposits  of  the  Bank  of  France. 

Indeed,  gentlemen,  it  requires  great  courage  to  impute  to  the  French  government  any 
responsibility  for  such  a  condition  of  things — ["Good,  good"] — and  I  ask  myself  why  we 
are  reproached  for  this  lamentable,  fratricidal  war  that  is  now  waged  in  the  United  States, 
and  in  which  we  have  sought  to  intervene,  not  as  arbiters,  but  as  conciliators.  [Renewed  ap 
probation.  ] 

NOAV,  I  find  it  my  duty  once  more  to  take  up  the  Mexican  question.  I  am  compelled  to 
weigh  the  arguments  that  have  been  presented. 

Is  it  true  that  the  treaty  which  has  been  made  is  a  violation  of  previous  engagements,  of 
declarations  and  promises  made  by  the  government  in  your  presence?  Is  it  true  that  the 
threat  of  American  intervention  is  ever  suspended,  like  the  sword  of  Damocles,  over  the 
future  of  Mexico  ? 

Gentlemen,  whilst  the  honorable  M.  Jules  Favre  spoke,  whilst  I  listened  to  those  ironical 
laudations  by  him  of  the  pretended  eloquence  of  the  organ  of  the  government,  when 
describing  with  complacency  the  future  of  Mexico,  its  expected  splendor,  the  pacification  of 
that  country,  the  manifestations  of  order  and  regularity  that  were  to  be  developed  there,  I 
read  patiently,  without  any  excitement  at  this  irony,  the  advices  from  Mexico  that  just 
reached  me  at  the  moment — [sensation] — and  therein  I  found  the  following  words  : 

"The  general  condition  of  affairs  in  Mexico  is  improving  every  day,  in  proportion  as  the 
masses  understand  and  appreciate  better  the  generous  vieAvs  of  the  Emperor  in  their  regard. 
The  resistance,  localized  at  some  points,  has  noAv  lost  all  national  color ;  the  guerilla  bauds 
fly  on  the  approach  of  our  troops,  and  whenever  they  are  surprised  they  are  cut  to  pieces. 
It  is  becoming  more  and  more  a  question  of  brigandage,  from  Avhich  the  inoffensive  popula 
tion  cruelly  suffers,  but  to  Avhich  an  end  will  very  readily  be  put  by  a  Avell  organized  sys 
tem  of  police. 

"For  a  month  or  two  past,  especially,  it  is  seen  that  confidence  is  reviving.  The  capital 
sees  thronging  from  eA*ery  quarter  citizens  of  all  classes  and  of  all  opinions,  Avho  inter 
mingle  Avith  each  other  and  forget  their  enmities,  and  seek  to  unite  upon  one  sentiment, 
forgetfulness  of  the  past,  faith  in  the  future.  In  this  condition  of  things,  Avith  the  support 
of  the  Emperor's  government  and  the  aid  of  European  capitalists,  Mexico  cannot  fail  to 
enter  promptly  on  a  career  of  material  prosperity,  by  Avhich  Europe  will  be  the  first  to 
profit." 

M.  ERNEST  PICARD.  The  signature! 

The  MINISTER  OF  STATE.  Such  is  the  UCAVS  Avhich  M.  de  Montholon,  our  minister  to 
Mexico,  sends  to  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  by  the  mail  that  has  just  arrived. 

That  is  not  all.  I  have  preserved  to  some  extent  the  custom  of  occupying  myself  with 
those  commercial  questions  amid  Avhich  I  lived  for  eight  years,  and  I  have  been  desirous  to 
knoAv  the  commercial  movement  in  the  port  of  Vera  Cruz.  An  account  of  it  has  been 


436  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

transmitted  to  me  by  this  same  mail,  though  it  was  not  supposed  that  I  would  have  to  make 
use  of  it  so  advantageously  and  so  very  soon.  [Approbative  Laughter.] 

It  appears  from  it  that  the  orders  brought  by  the  mail  of  the  Florida,  which  arrived  yes 
terday  in  the  port  of  Saint  Nazaire,  amount  for  tissues  alone  to  no  less  than  one  million  of 
piastres.  Such  is  the  condition  of  that  country,  such  is  the  progress  of  its  development, 
such  is  the  merchandise  for  which  it  sends  to  Europe ;  such  is  the  way  in  which  it  con 
tradicts  the  statement  of  the  lamentable  condition  indicated  by  the  honorable  M.  Jules 
Favre,  who  experiences,  in  spite  of  himself,  a  sort  of  regret  at  seeing  himself  deprived  of 
that  patronage  of  Juarez,  whom  he  had  so  well  defended.  ["Good,  good."  Applause.] 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.     Your  client  is  fortune. 

The  MINISTER  OF  STATE.     I  did  not  understand  M.  Jules  Favre. 

M.  JULES  FAVRE.     I  said  that  your  client  was  fortune.     [Cries  of  disapprobation."1 

The  MINISTER  OF  STATE.  Yes,  gentlemen,  fortune  is  the  client  of  France.  ["That  is 
true."]  Providence  protects  her  and  reason  guides  her.  ["Good,  good."]  For  that  reason 
it  is  that  fortune  is  faithful  to  us.  [Enthusiastic  approbation. [ 

I  now  come  to  the  two  fundamental  objections  that  have  been  made:  the  treaty  and 
America. 

First,  the  treaty.  We  have,  it  is  said,  made  an  indefinite  engagement  to  keep  our  troops 
in  Mexico ;  we  have  guaranteed  the  loan  proposed  by  the  Emperor  of  Mexico,  and  thus  we 
have  violated  the  declarations  made  before  the  committee,  the  report  of  which  was  presented 
by  the  honorable  M.  Larrabure.  Let  us  examine. 

In  truth,  I  ask  myself  first  by  what  singular  distortion  of  language  any  one  can  have 
come  to  the  supposition  that  the  loan  has  been  guaranteed  by  France,  because  France  has 
accepted  sixty-six  millions  of  negotiable  bonds  of  the  loan,  and  is  called  upon  to  negotiate 
them,  not  with  her  signature,  but  with  that  of  the  Emperor  of  Mexico,  the  only  guarantor 
of  the  payment  of  the  interest.  How  can  any  one  come  to  comprehend  that  there  is  any 
violation  of  plighted  faith,  when,  with  the  utmost  scrupulousness  and  the  greatest  sincerity, 
we  have  maintained,  observed  up  to  the  very  latest  moment  all  the  declarations  solemnly 
made  before  the  legislative  body.  The  loan  has  been  contracted  for  by  the  Emperor  of 
Mexico ;  it  has  been  voluntarily  subscribed  for  by  those  who  judged  that  Mexico  presented 
sufficient  guarantees.  And,  indeed,  your  course  is  not  very  well  calculated  to  assure  the 
capitalists  of  our  country  who  have  thought  proper  to  engage  in  this  enterprise.  [Mani 
festations  of  approbation.  ] 

Hurried  on  by  an  impulse  of  fiery  opposition,  at  a  time  when  every  consideration  would 
have  dictated  respect  and  patience,  the  honorable  M.  Jules  Favre  begins  by  attacking  every 
thing.  He  declares  that  there  is  an  utter  impossibility  of  raising  resources  in  Mexico.  He 
declares  to  the  voluntary  holders  of  the  Mexican  bonds  that  there  is  an  impossibility  for 
them  of  ever  realizing  their  value.  Now,  gentlemen,  that  is  not  patriotic.  ["Bravo, 
bravo."]  And  when  the  honorable  M.  Jules  Favre,  searching  in  the  records  of  the  past,  in 
voked  the  memory  of  one  of  England's  great  men,  he  confounded  at  the  same  time  the, 
object  and  the  circumstances  of  the  conflict  to  which  he  makes  allusion.  That  great  man 
arose  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  order  to  proclaim  there  the  great  principles  of  humanity, 
of  civilization,  and  of  peace,  and  not  to  propose,  under  the  slightest  pretexts,  declarations 
of  war  against  all  Europe.  Yes,  Fox  at  that  moment  performed  a  great  duty  towards 
civilization ;  he  wished  to  arrest  tAvo  nations  ready  to  come  to  blows ;  he  arose  to  oppose 
Pitt;  he  desired  to  calm  the  ardor  of  the  military  spirit ;  he  did  not  succeed,  but  it  is  to  his 
eternal  honor  that  he  made  the  attempt.  On  the  contrary,  the  honorable  M.  Jules  Favre 
has  depreciated  the  credit  of  a  new  empire  and  paralyzed  a  work  of  civilization.  Ah !  if 
you  played  the  part  of  Fox  here,  if  your  part  were  the  same  as  his,  believe  me,  I  would  be, 
with  all  niy  heart,  on  your  side.  ["Good,  good."] 

The  treaty,  it  is  said,  might  contain  engagements  at  variance  with  the  declarations  which 
we  have  made.  What  does  it  contain?  In  the  last  months  of  this  year  the  corps  d'armec 
will  be  reduced  to  25,000  men.  The  expedition  is  terminated,  and,  in  fact,  the  letter  which 
I  have  just  read  proves  it.  A  general  pacification  is  effected  everywhere,  and  the  return 
of  ten  thousand  of  our  soldiers  will  be  effected  before  the  1st  of  January,  3865. 

As  to  the  25,000  men,  whose  stay  has  been  indicated  in  the  treaty,  what  is  the  stipulation 
in  their  regard?  We  declare  that  we  will  remain  temporarily  in  Mexico,  in  order  to  protect 
our  interests,  the  interests  which  occasioned  the  intervention. 

M.  GUEROULT.  Will  the  minister  have  the  goodness  to  read  the  article  of  the  treaty  7 
[Noise  and  confusion.  ] 

SEVERAL  MEMBERS.    Do  not  interrupt. 

The  MINISTER  OF  STATE.  I  have  not  the  treaty  with  me.  If  the  honorable  M.  Gucroult 
will  please  pass  it  to  me  I  will  read  it  to  the  Chamber. 

M.  GUEROULT.  I  am  not  positive,  but,  as  far  as  I  can  remember,  I  think  that  the  treaty 
provides  that  the  25,000  men  shall  remain  in  Mexico  until  the  Emperor  Maximilian  is  able  to 
do  without  us. 

The  MINISTER  OF  STATE.  The  honorable  M.  Gueroult  is  mistaken  ;  his  memory  serves 
him  badly ;  and  from  my  recollections  I  wrill  give  him  the  substance,  if  not  the  precise  text 
of  the  treaty  and  its  provisions. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  437 

By  article  1  it  is  indicated  that  the  corps  d'armte  shall  be  reduced  as  soon  as  possible  to 
25,000  men. 

By  a  second  provision  we  declare  that  our  corps  (Varmte,  is  to  remain  temporarily  in 
Mexico,  in  order  to  protect  our  interests. 

M.  ERNEST  PICARD.  The  interests  that  occasioned  the  intervention.  [Marks  of  disappro 
bation.  "Do  not  interrupt,  do  not  interrupt."]  I  merely  come  to  the  assistance  of  the 
minister. 

The  MINISTER  OF  STATE.    I  resume 

M.  ERNEST  PICARD.     Give  us  the  text. 

The  MINISTER  OF  STATE.  I  am  going  to  give  the  honorable  M.  Picard  the  text,  which 
has  just  been  handed  to  me,  and  he  will  then  permit  me  to  comment  upon  it,  and  to  demon 
strate  in  the  clearest  manner  the  truth  of  my  assertions. 

' '  Article  1 .  The  French  troops  that  are  now  in  Mexico  will  be  reduced  as  soon  as  possible 
to  a  corps  of  25,000  men,  including-  therein  the  foreign  legion. 

"  This  corps,  in  order  to  protect  our  interests  which  occasioned  the  intervention,  will  re 
main  temporarily  in  Mexico  under  the  conditions  laid  down  in  the  following  articles." 

So  25,000  men  are  to  remain  temporarily,  the  time  is  not  fixed;  no  obligatory  delay  is 
determined  upon;  the  appreciation  of. this  delay  belongs  to  France  ;  she  is  the  judge  of  the 
motives  that  must  cause  the  continuance  of  her  troops  there  to  protect  the  interests  that 
occasioned  this  intervention.  [Noisy  demonstrations.] 

But  this  occupation  cannot  be  indefinitely  prolonged  at  the  will  of  France;  the  Emperor 
of  Mexico,  who,  to  the  great  regret  of  the  honorable  M.  Jules  Favre,  pays  twenty-five  mil 
lions  a  year  for  the  stay  of  our  troops,  should  have  the  right  of  requesting  their  evacuation. 
The  Emperor  of  Mexico  has,  therefore,  reserved  to  himself  the  right  of  asking  the  evacuation 
of  our  troops,  according  as  the  organization  of  the  Mexican  army  may  progress. 

Article  2,  in  fact,  adds:  "The  French  troops  will  evacuate  Mexico  according  as  his 
Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Mexico  may  be  able  to  organize  the  troops  necessary  to  take  their 
place 

M.  GUEROULT.  But  when  will  they  be  organized?  In  the  mean  time  we  will  remain  in 
Mexico. 

The  MINISTER  OF  STATE.  lam  going  to  answer  the  honorable  M.  Gueroult's  difficulty. 
What  says  he  ?  we  will  be  obliged  to  remain  there  until  the  Mexican  army  is  organized. 
That  is  the  objection. 

Well,  I  ask  the  honorable  gentleman  whether  he  knows  the  facts?  Has  he  studied  them  ? 
Does  he  not  know  that  the  Mexican  army  is  organized,  that  it  has  a  force  of  25,000  men  ? 
Does  he  not  see  that  there  is  a  community  of  interest  between  the  Emperor  of  the  French 
and  the  Emperor  of  Mexico  to  put  an  end  to  a  burdensome  occupation  ? 

Are  there  men,  therefore,  so  much  governed  by  their  petty  passions  as  that  they  do  not 
wish  to  comprehend  the  elevated  character  of  this  agreement?  Yes,  undoubtedly,  we  may 
be  called  upon  to  remain  in  Mexico  until  the  Mexican  army  is  organized ;  but  thatfarmy  now 
exists,  it  is  organized.  Did  not  the  honorable  M.  Berryer  declare  the  day  before  yesterday 
that  within  the  space  of  eighteen  months  that  army  would  cost  the  Mexican  government  an 
expenditure  of  thirty-seven  millions?  Did  he  not  deduct  this  sum  from  the  resources  of 
Mexico  ?  The  Mexican  army,  therefore,  exists.  So  this  provision  laid  down  in  article  3  is 
being  realised  every  day.  It  is  realized ;  the  departure  of  the  French  troops  has  been  re 
solved  upon  in  advance ;  and  the  day  when  it  shall  take  place  we  will  all  equally  hail  with 
satisfaction,  both  in  France  and  in  Mexico.  ["Good,  good."] 

If  some  persons  regard  with  chagrin  the  fact  that  the  duration  of  the  French  troops  in 
Mexico  is  undetermined,  it  is  a  matter  of  slight  concern  to  me,  because  such  men  are  revolu 
tionists,  who  would  like  to  have  renewed  in  that  unhappy  country  the  agitations  heretofore 
directed  by  Juarez.  The  word  temporarily  inserted  in  the  treaty  is  a  prudential  provision  to 
prevent  the  renewal  of  anarchical  passions,  for  the  outbreak  of  which  the  day  appointed  for 
the  evacuation  would  be  the  signal. 

The  treaty  is,  therefore,  above  criticism,  it  is  sincere ;  its  entire  spirit  is  in  conformity  with 
the  purposes  announced  by  the  government  in  the  discussion  of  the  address.  [  "  That  is 
true,  that  is  true."] 

As  to  America,  we  must  examine  that  question  at  soine  length. 

It  is  not  good  thus  to  put  between  two  great  nations  like  America  and  France  a  pretended 
germ  of  discord,  a  pretended  threat  formally  enunciated  against  our  country  or  against 
Mexico,  Avheu  there  is  at  bottom  nothing  but  a  moment  of  transitory  excitement,  with 
Avhich  the  Congress  of  the  United  States — a  transitory  excitement  somewhat  analogous  to 
that  which  Ave  have  seen  produced  at  the  time  of  the  seizure  of  Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell  on 
the  Trent,  and  which  did  not  prevent  the  government  from  effecting  the  restitution  of  those 
two  prisoners  in  conformity  with  the  law  of  nations. 

What,  then,  could  be  the  afterthought  of  America?  Would  she  wish  to  seize  upon 
Mexico,  and  incorporate  it  with  her  States  ?  Has  she  wished  that  she  could  have  done  so 
before.  The  American  army  was  at  the  city  of  Mexico  in  1847  and  1848.  She  had  con 
quered  the  government  then  existing,  I  believe  it  was  that  of  Santa  Anna  ;  she  could  have 
remained  mistress  of  the  territory;  she  did  not  even  try  to  do  so.  She  liquidated  her  con- 


438  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

dition,  she  determined  her  indemnities ;  she  obtained,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  a  better  settle 
ment  of  the  limits  of  Texas,  the  cession  of  New  California  and  New  Mexico,  and,  in  virtue 
of  these  territorial  arrangements,  she  withdrew  peaceably  without  pretence  of  any  annexa 
tion. 

Yet  the  occasion  was  highly  favorable.  America  was  victorious;  she  was  mistress  not 
only  of  the  capital,  but  of  the  entire  country.  Her  army  had  been  divided  into  two  corps : 
one,  starting  from  Matamoras,  had  seized  the  provinces  as  far  as  the  city  of  Mexico;  the 
other  set  out  from  Vera  Cruz,  and  gained  possession  of  Puebla  before  reaching  the  capital. 

Is  it  solely  to  overturn  a  throne  that  America  would  design  a  declaration  of  Avar  against 
Mexico  ?  But  at  the  present  moment  that  great  country  is  rent  by  civil  war.  Who  can 
foresee  the  moment  when  that  struggle  shall  terminate?  Who  can  foresee  the  moment  when 
cohesion  shall  be  restored  between  the  two  parties  so  violently  separated  one  from  the  other  ? 

A  MEMBER.     Perhaps  it  will  never  be  restored. 

The  MINISTER  OF  STATE.  During  the  time  that  must  elapse  before  the  restoration  of 
peace  in  the  United  Sfates,  can  we  not  entertain  a  legitimate  hope  of  seeing  the  new  Mexican 
empire  firmly  established  ?  When  those  great  commotions  shall  have  been  finally  settled  in 
America,  commercial  interests  will  resume  their  empire ;  they  will  paralyze  all  desires  for 
war  between  Mexico  and  the  United  States,  and  will  produce  a  happy  state  of  international 
relations  between  the  two  countries?  [Marks  of  approbation.] 

Assuredly,  gentlemen,  these  temporary  causes  of  impotence  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  I  refer  to  only  with  regret.  What  I  desire  for  the  honor  of  civilization,  what  I  desire 
by  reason  of  the  sympathies  which  animate  me  towards  that  nation  by  whose  cradle  France 
stood  as  sponsor — ["Good,  good"] — is  that  this  war,  which  has  so  long  desolated  the 
American  continent,  should  come  to  as  speedy  a  solution  as  possible.  But  on  the  day  when 
this  war  will  have  ceased,  then  I  shall  be  more  assured  and  more  profoundly  convinced  that 
a  war  is  impossible  between  Mexico  and  the  United  States  of  America. 

Yes,  such  a  war  is  impossible,  gentlemen;  the  sympathies  of  France  for  America,  of 
America  for  France,  the  declarations  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  principles,  in 
terests,  everything  is  opposed  to  such  a  consummation. 

In  the  very  outset  I  reject  the  view  entertained  by  the  honorable  M.  Jules  Favre,  to  the 
effect  that,  upon  the  cessation  of  the  war,  it  will  not  be  the  armies  of  the  United  States  that 
may  invade  Mexico,  but  bands  of  adventurers,  who  will  renew  those  expeditions  heretofore 
attempted  against  Cuba,  and  which,  by  the  way,  have  succeeded  so  badly.  So,  without  at 
all  compromising  America,  a  partisan  warfare  would  arise — a  war  of  guerillas,  who  would 
come  to  trouble  the  Mexican  empire. 

You  have  not  sufficiently  studied  the  character  of  the  American  war,  when  you  make  such 
an  assertion  as  that.  If,  in  the  beginning  of  the  war,  Avhen  the  enthusiasm  was  great,  when 
the  population  had  not  been  decimated,  there  had  occurred  a  happy  arrangement  of  the  diffi 
culties  between  the  south  and  north,  if  this  wrar  had  been  all  at  once  arrested  in  its  course ; 
yes,  it  might  have  been  possible  that  adventurers,  no  longer  finding  any  occupation  in  the 
bosom  of  America  herself,  might  have  recklessly  and  boldly  thrown  themselves  upon  the 
Mexican  territory,  and  earned  war  with  them.  That  might  have  been  possible,  I  acknowledge. 
But  such  adventurers  are  no  more ;  death  has  mowed  down  their  ranks.  Those  who  are  now 
fighting  in  both  armies  are  unfortunate  workmen,  unhappy  laborers,  torn  from  their  homes 
by  the  conscription,  and  compelled  to  fight  every  day  under  the  guidance  of  chiefs  animated 
with  fiercest  passions ! 

As  to  these  unfortunate  soldiers,  whenever  peace  comes  between  the  south  and  the  north, 
they  will  return  to  their  deserted  workshops,  they  will  go  back  to  their  abandoned  plough 
shares,  and  they  will  not  go  in  search  of  Mexican  adventures.  Believe  me,  whenever  the 
proclamation  of  peace  comes,  their  only  thought  will  be  to  seek  remuneration  in  some  lucra 
tive  employment ;  for  America,  exhausted  by  long  wars,  can  no  longer  find  anywhere  but  in 
commerce  and  industry  the  means  of  regeneration,  which  are — I  desire  it  with  all  my  soul — 
to  restore  her  to  the  rank  of  great  nations.  [Good!  good!  prolonged  applause.] 

And  no\v,  gentlemen,  by  Avhat  principles  is  the  American  government  actuated?  The 
honorable  M.  Jules  Favre  has  thought  proper  to  refer  to  certain  despatches  from  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  in  which  he  believes  that  he  finds  the  proof  of  a  kind  of  conformity 
with  the  declarations  made  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

Gentlemen,  I  have  the  despatches  in  my  hands.  Here  is  what  I  read  in  that  of  the  23d  of 
October,  1S63: 

"The  United  States,  desiring  to  conform  themselves  to  the  legitimate  consequences  of  their 
own  principles,  can  only  leave  the  destiny  of  Mexico  in  the  keeping  of  its  OAVU  inhabitants, 
and  acknoAvledge  their  sovereignty  and  their  independence,  under  whatever  form  it  pleases 
them  to  manifest  that  sovereignty  and  independence." 

Such  is  the  language  held  by  Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton,  and  communicated  to  the  minis 
ter  of  foreign  affairs.  Since  then  spontaneous  explanations  have  been  given  to  us  in  refer 
ence  to  that  declaration  of  the  Congress.  The  minister  of  foreign  affairs  has  set  down 
these  explanations  in  a  circular,  addressed  to  all  his  agents,  under  date  of  May  4,  1804.  I 
cannot  do  better  than  read  it  to  you;  from  it  you  Avill  be  able  to  form  an  idea  as  to  the 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  439 

estimate  to  be  set  upon  the  uneasiness  and  the  doubts  manifested  by  the  honorable  M.  Jules 
Favre  : 

"The  recent  vote  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Washington,  on  the  subject  of 
Mexico,  has  given  occasion  for  interpretations  which  it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  rectify. 
It  has  been  presumed  apparently  that  this  vote  might  induce  the  United  States  to  adopt 
towards  us  a  neAV  attitude  of  such  a  nature  as  to  change  the  friendly  relations  of  the  two 
countries,  or  to  complicate  at  least  the  affairs  of  Mexico  by  external  embarrassments.  It  suf 
fices,  however,  to  take  into  account  the  circumstances  under  which  this  manifestation  has  • 
been  produced,  in  order  to  understand  that  it  is  very  far  from  having  such  importance.  It  is 
undoubtedly  the  reflexion  of  that  sentiment  which  the  American  press  sedulously  maintains 
in  the  United  States,  and  of  \vhich  the  tendency  is  to  have  considered  as  an  indirect  attack 
upon  their  rights  any  intervention  whatever,  no  matter  how  legitimate  it  may  be,  by  a  Eu 
ropean  power  on  any  point  of  the  American  continent.  But,  in  the  United  States,  more 
even  than  in  any  other  country,  the  legislative  power  is  allowed  such  demonstrations  without 
thereby  involving  the  government  and  obliging  it  to  make  those  resolutions  its  rule  of  con 
duct.  The  Emperor's  government  could  not,  therefore,  have  entertained  any  apprehension  in 
this  regard,  even  though  the  incident  had  not  been  the  object  of  any  explanation  on  the  part 
of  the  federal  government ;  but  the  cabinet  of  Washington  has  deemed  it  proper  to  prevent 
of  its  own  accord  any  impression  of  the  kind  that  might  have  been  made  by  it  upon  us. 
Mr.  Dayton  has  come  to  read  to  me  a  despatch  addressed  to  him  by  the  Secretary  of  State 
of  the  Union,  in  order  to  relieve  the  cabinet  of  Washington  from  any  responsibility  in  this 
affair,  and  to  establish  the  point  satisfactorily  that  a  vote  of  the  House  of  Representatives  or 
of  the  Senate,  or  even  of  the  two  houses,  although  naturally  recommending  itself  to  respect 
ful  attention,  yet  does  not  at  all  oblige  the  cabinet  to  modify  its  policy  or  take  away  its 
liberty  of  action. 

"Mr.  Seward  sees  no  reason  to  adopt  a  different  policy  in  the  Mexican  question  from  that 
which  he  has  hitherto  pursued ;  and  if  his  dispositions  should  change  at  any  time,  we  would 
be  informed  of  the  fact  directly  and  at  a  proper  time,  as  also  of  his  motives  for  such  a  change. 
"  I  replied  to  Mr.  Dayton,  that,  in  our  opinion,  there  would  be  no  justification  for  such  a 
change ;  that  our  confidence  in  the  Avisdom  and  enlightened  views  of  the  American  cabinet 
was  too  great  to  allow  us  to  attribute  to  it  any  idea  of  compromising  the  veritable  interests 
of  the  United  States  by  any  imprudent  acts. 

"  In  expressing  to  Mr.  Dayton  the  satisfaction  felt  by  the  Emperors  government  at  the 
assurances  wrhich  he  had  been  commissioned  to  make  to  it,  I  added  that  I  thought,  in  fact, 
that  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  United  States  themselves,  the  choice  could  not  be  doubtful 
between  the  establishment  in  Mexico  of  a  regular  and  stable  government  and  the  perpetua 
tion  of  an  anarchy,  of  which  they  had  been  the  first  to  feel  the  serious  inconveniences.  The 
reorganization  of  an  immense  country,  destined  with  the  return  of  order  and  security  to  play 
an  important  economical  part  in  the  world,  ought  to  be,  for  the  United  States  above  all,  a 
real  source  of  advantage,  since  it  was  a  new  market  opened  to  them,  and  of  which  they 
would  be  called,  more  "than  others,  on  account  of  their  proximity,  to  profit.  The  prosperity 
of  Mexico  Avas,  therefore,  in  unison  with  their  best  interests,  and  I  did  not  certainly  believe 
that  the  cabinet  of  Washington  could  fail  to  recognize  that  truth. 

"  This  reply  to  Mr.  Dayton's  communication  and  the  fact  of  that  communication  itself 

indicate  to  you  sufiicientfy,  Mr. ,  how  it  is  proper  to  regard  the  circumstance  to  which 

I  have  deemed  it  my  duty  to  call  your  attention." 

Such  is  the  declaration  made  by  the  American  government,  immediately  after  that  of  the 
House  of  Representatives.  AVhat  has.become  of  the  latter  declaration  itself?  The  Senate 
indefinitely  postponed  its  consideration. 

And  we  must  state,  all  those  who  have  made  themselves  acquainted  with  American  aflairs 
understand  the  internal  reasons  that  may  have  induced  that  resolution.  A  presidential  con 
test  is,  at  this  moment,  in  progress  in  America,  and  every  one,  democrat  and  republican,  is 
striving  for  popularity.  [That  is  so ;  that  is  so.  ]  And  some  think  that  they  will  attain 
their  purpose  by  opposing  the  new  American  establishment.  But,  at  bottom,  the  danger  of 
a  contest  directed  against  Mexico  is  impossible,  irreconcilable  with  the  principles  on  which 
the  United  States  rely. 

How  !  Here  is  a  country  choosing  by  universal  suffrage  a  form  of  government  monarchical 
or  republican,  and  in  the  name  of  national  sovereignty,  and  yet  the  American  army,  it  is 
supposed,  would  interfere  in  the  states  of  Mexic^,  to  impose— what?  A  different  form  from 
that  adopted  and  proclaimed  by  the  people ! 

Indeed,  America  would  in  that  way  violate  the  verv  essence  of  her  government,  liberty, 
and  national  sovereignty.  She  would  not  even  have  for  her  support  that  Monroe  doctrine, 
so  mistakenly  quoted ;  for,  to  all  those  who  have  read  the  theories  of  President  Monroe,  they 
evidently  amount  only  to  one  thing,  to  this  declaration :  that  it  would  be  regarded  with  dis 
favor  if  Europe  established  colonies  in  America,  maintained  territorial  possessions  there,  and 
enjoyed  such  or  such  territories  under  title  of  conquest,  and  came,  for  instance,  to  convert 
Mexico  into  an  Algeria  placed  under  the  sceptre  of  the  Emperor.  The  Monroe  doctrine  is 
very  pointedly  directed  against  any  such  pretensions  as  these.  It  has  established  the  princi 
ple — Every  one  hate  his  oicn ;  every  oncfor  himself. 


440  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

Are  not  the  Mexicans  in  possession  of  their  own  ?  [That  is  it ;  good !  ]  Does  not  Mexico, 
•while  exercising  her  sovereignty  and  choosing  a  prince  for  Emperor,  perform  an  act  of  legiti 
mate  sovereignty?  Is  it  a  fact  that  there  are  any  circumstances  to  constitute  the  Emperor  of 
Mexico  a  mere  lieutenant  of  the  Emperor  of  the  "French  ?  [That  is  clear  enough.  ] 

Let  us,  therefore,  exclude  those  offensive  and  irritating  expressions  from  our  language. 
[Good!]  The  Emperor  of  Mexico  is  sovereign  by  the  will  of  the  Mexican  people,  and 
America  will  respect  that  will.  Why  should  she  not  respect  it?  From  the  order,  irom  the 
regularity,  from  the  commercial  prosperity  of  Mexico,  America  will  derive  more  profit  than 
any  other  nation.  She  it  is  who  will  most  advantageously  work  out  these  industrial  and 
commercial  relations ;  she  it  is  who  will  be  able  to  send  to  the  rich  diggings  of  Soiiora  and 
Sinaloa  the  superfluous  portion  of  her  population  to  carry  thither  at  once  both  labor  and 
wealth.  That  which  we  might  anticipate  in  our  considerations,  if  such  an  anticipation 
should  be  entertained  by  serious  and  exalted  minds,  is  in  regard  to  the  circumstances,  neces 
sary  in  the  future,  of  a  deep  intimacy  between  Mexico  and  the  United  States  of  America. 
Therefore,  America  does  not  threaten  the  Emperor  of  Mexico,  and  that  sovereign  can  pro 
ceed  in  his  course;  he  may  continue  his  efforts  to  prepare  the  prosperity  of  his  country,  and 
to  mark  the  near  approach  of  that  prosperity  by  selecting  the  day  on  which  to  separate  him 
self  from  the  French  flag  in  order  to  allow  it  to  return  with  glory  to  our  midst.  [Good !] 

This  question  of  Mexico  is  now  exhausted. 


Mr.  Seicard  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  June  15,  18G4. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  'acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  31st 
ultimo,  transmitting  translations  of  two  discussions  which  have  recently  occurred 
in  the  corps  legislatif  of  France,  relative  to  Franco-Mexican  affairs. 

Thanking  you  for  this  attention,  I  have  at  the  same  time  to  acknowledge  pre 
vious  communications  from  you  relating  to  the  political  condition  of  Mexico, 
which,  with  their  accompanying  documents,  have  contributed  largely  to  my  knowl 
edge  of  passing  events  in  that  country.  The  notes,  hitherto  unanswered,  are  of 
the  dates,  respectively,  of  the  2d,  20th,  24th,  and  26th  February,  and  the  1st 
and  2d  March  last. 

I  beg  to  assure  you  of  my  high  appreciation  of  the  zeal  and  ability  with  which, 
from  time  to  time,  you  have  impressed  this  government  as  to  the  actual  con 
dition  of  the  Mexican  republic. 

I  avail  myself  of  the  occasion  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  dis 
tinguished  consideration. 

WILLIAM  11.  SEWARD. 

Seiior  M  ATI  AS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  8fc.,  fyc. 


No.  12. —  Case  of  the  Mexican  brig  Orientc. 

Mr.  Barreda  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  two  enclosures,)  June  24,  1863. 
Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Barreda,  June  30,  1863. 


Mr.  Earrcda  to  Mr.  Seward. 

NEWPORT,  June  24,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  a  statement  addressed  to  me  by  the  Messrs. 
Echeverria  &  Co.,  of  New  York,  agents  of  the  owner  of  the  Mexican  schooner 
Oriente,  with  an  account  of  the  losses  and  damages  which  the  latter  claims. 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  441 

Not  knowing  the  antecedents  of  this  affair,  nor  being  in  possession  of  docu 
ments  relating  to  those  losses  and  damages,  my  action  is  now  limited  to  sub 
mitting  to  you  the  application  of  the  claimant,  trusting  that  you  will  give  to  it 
such  just  appreciation  as  it  may  deserve. 

I  reiterate  to  you  the  assurance  of  my  distinguished  consideration  and 
respect. 

F.  L.  BARRED  A. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  Washington,  D.  C. 


To  Ms  Excellency  FREDERICK  L.  BARRED  A, 

In  charge  of  Mexican  affairs  : 

The  Mexican  schooner  Oriente,  belonging'  to  a  citizen  of  and  residing  in  Mexico,  was 
seized  and  brought  to  the  city  of  New  Orleans  in  the  month  of  June,  1862.  The  vessel  was 
sent  from  that  port  to  New  York,  where  she  arrived  in  the  latter  part  of  the  same  month. 

A  correspondence  in  relation  to  the  schooner  was  had  by  his  excellency  Mr.  Romero 
with  his  excellency  Mr.  Seward. 

No  libel  or  other  proceedings  in  court  were  taken  .against  the  vessel,  and,  by  direction  of 
his  excellency  Mr.  Seward,  the  schooner  was  discharged  from  custody  about  the  middle  of 
January  of  this  year  (1863)  and  delivered  to  us,  the  agents  of  the  owner. 

Mr.  Seward  informed  Mr.  Eomero  that  the  claim  of  the  owner  of  the  vessel  for  the  damages 
he  sustained  could  be  ascertained  by  appraisers  designated  by  the  court,  in  case  of  the  dis 
charge  of  the  vessel ;  but  we  are  advised  that,  as  the  vessel  was  not  brought  into  court  in 
any  manner,  the  court  has  no  jurisdiction  in  the  matter  and  will  not  assume  any. 

We,  therefore,  take  the  liberty  of  praying  your  excellency,  in  behalf  of  the  owner  of  the 
vessel,  to  present  to  Mr.  Seward  the  enclosed  claim  for  damages,  and  request  him  to  order 
the  same  paid. 

We  are  j-our  excellency's  most  obedient  servants, 

M.  ECHEVERRIA  &  CO., 

Agents  for  the  owners. 


Claim  of  the  owner  of  the,  Mexican  schooner  Oriente,  for  damages  sustained  by  him  by  reason 

of  the  seizure  of  the  vessel. 

The  vessel  was  seized  June  18,  1862,  and  released  from  custody  in  January,  1863. 

Loss  of  services  of  the  vessel  for  seven  months,  at  $2,000  per  month $14,  000 

Expenses  of  vessel  and  crew  in  New  Orleans 1,  000 

Wages  of  captain  and  mate,  board  and  passage  to  New  York 1,  000 

Expense  of  sending  home  crew  to  Laguayra,  there  being  no  direct  opportunity 500 

Legal  expenses  in  New  York  and  New  Orleans 

Damage  and  deterioration  of  cargo » -  -  -  -  3,  00 

Damages  to  vessel,  and  expenses  to  place  her  in  the  same  condition  as  when  seized  2,  000 

Goods  and  articles  missing  from  vessel 

Charges  of  agent  in  New  York 1>  000 

23,  300 


M.  ECHEVERRIA  &  CO., 

Agents  for  the  oicncrs. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Barrcda. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  June  30,  1863. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  communication 
of  the  24th  instant,  with  the  accompanying  memorial  of  Messieurs.  Echeverria 
&  Company,  of  New  York,  agents  of  the  owners  of  the  Mexican  brig  Oriente, 
supplemental  to  one  heretofore  forwarded  to  this  department  on  the  20th  No- 


442  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

vember,  1862,  together  with  a  statement  of  the  items  of  which  the  alleged  claim 
is  made  up,  which  will  be  duly  adjusted  when  similar  claims  of  American 
citizens  against  Mexico  are  considered. 

I  avail  m3Tself  of  this  occasion  to  offer  to  you  renewed  assurances  of  my  high 
consideration. 

WILLIAM  II.  SEWARD. 
Senor  Don  FEDERICO  L.  BARREDA,  fyc.,  fa.,  8fc., 

Washington. 


No.  13. — Case  of  the  Mexican  brig  Brilliante. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  March  6,  1862,  (with  one  enclosure.) 
Mr.  SeAvard  to  Mr.  Romero,  March  12,  1862,  (Avith  tAvo  enclosures.) 
Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  June  23,  1862,  (with  two  enclosures.  ) 
Mr.  SeAvard  to  Mr.  Romero  July  14,  1862. 
Same  to  same,  August  4,  1862,  (with  one  enclosure.) 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr  Seward. 

[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  March  6,  1862. 

Mr.  SECRETARY:  I  have  the  honor  to  remit  to  you  copy  of  a  letter  ad 
dressed  by  Messrs.  Riera  and  Thebaud,  merchants,  of  NCAV  York,  to  the 
Mexican  consul  at  that  port,  upon  the  capture  by  United  States  cruisers  of  the 
Mexican  brig  Brilliante,  owned  by  Messrs.  Preciat  &  Goal,  of  Campeachy. 

I  beg  you,  sir,  to  communicate  to  me  the  official  statements  which  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  may  have  about  the  circumstances  which  occa 
sioned  the  capture  of  the  said  brig,  and  the  situation  in  which  the  business 
now  is,  for  the  information  of  the  parties  interested,  and  that  the  legation  may 
gather  from  those  reports  what  may  be  advisable  for  the  protection  of  the 
property  of  Mexican  citizens. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
very  distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  Sfc.,  fyc. 


NEW  YORK,  February  27,  1862. 

DEAR  SIR  :  We  have  the  honor  to  enclose  a  confidential  letter  from  his  excellency  the 
President  of  Mexico  to  the  Mexican  minister  at  Washington,  relative  to  the  claim  of  Messrs. 
Preciat  and  Gual  against  the  government  of  the  United  States,  arising  out  of  the  capture  and 
condemnation  of  the  Mexican  schooner  Brilliante,  with  her  cargo,  for  alleged  violation  of 
blockade,  and  also  a  letter  from  those  gentlemen  to  the  same.  As  you  are  aware,  Messrs. 
Preciat  and  Gual  are  Mexican  citizens,  engaged  in  commercial  affairs  at  Campeachy,  (Yuca 
tan,)  and  were  the  owners  of  said  vessel  and  cargo  at  the  time  of  their  capture.  They  insist 
that  the  seizure  and  condemnation  in  question  are  illegal.  We  are  not  aware  whether  the 
grounds  of  imputed  illegality  appear  in  the  proceedings  of  the  prize  court  at  Key  West,  or 
not.  We  beg  leave  to  request  you  to  place  the  matter  in  charge  of  the  Mexican  embassy  at 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  443 

Washington,  and  to  make  known  to  us  what  steps  it  will  be  necessary  to  take  in  behalf  of 
the  claimants  in  order  to  present  their  case  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  both  governments. 
We  remain,  dear  sir,  your  obedient  servants, 

RIERA  &  THEBAUD. 
SeSor  D.  JOSE  MARIA  DURAN, 

Mexican  Consul. 

A  true  copy : 

M.  ROMERO. 
WASHINGTON,  March  6,  1862. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  March  12,  1862. 

SIR  :  Having  communicated  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  a  translation  of 
your  note  of  the  6th  instant,  with  a  copy  of  the  letter  of  Messrs.  Blera  and 
Thebaud  accompanying  it,  I  have  just  received  from  him  a  letter  upon  the  subject 
referred  to,  of  which,  and  of  its  enclosure,  I  transmit  you  a  copy. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
distinguished  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Sen  or  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  Sp.,  fyc  >  fyc- 


NAVY  DEPARTMENT,  March  11,  1862. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowfedge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  18th  instant  and  its 
enclosures,  and  to  transmit  herewith  an  extract  from  a  report  dated  June  25,  1861,  made  to 
the  flag-officer  of  the  Gulf  blockading  squadron  by  Commander  Melancton  Smith,  which  con 
tains  all  the  information  in  the  possession  of  the  department  in  relation  to  the  capture  of  the 
Mexican  schooner  Brilliante,  by  the  United  St'ates  steamer  Massachusetts.  I  do  not  know 
what  has  been  the  result  of  the  judicial  proceedings  in  the  case,  as  no  information  on  that 
subject  has  been  received  by  the  department. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

GIDEON  WELLES. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State. 


[Extract.  ] 
UNITED  STATES  STEAMER  MASSACHUSETTS, 

Off  Pass  d  Loutre,  June  25,  1861. 

SIR  :  I  have  to  report  that  on  the  23d  instant  I  captured  in  Mississippi  sound,  with  the 
boats  belonging  to  the  vessel,  five  schooners — four  claiming  to  belong  to  a  government  not 
recognized  by  the  United  States,  and  having  on  board  the  nag  adopted  by  the  States  that  are 
in  rebellion,  and  one,  a  Mexican  vessel,  from  New  Orleans,  that  has  violated  the  blockade. 

The  Mexican  schooner  Brilliante — cargo  600  barrels  of  flour,  two  dismounted  guns,  and  one 
gun-carriage — had  been  warned  off  by  the  boarding  officer  of  the  steamer  Brooklyn,  and  her 
register  was  properly  indorsed.  She  cleared  for  New  Orleans  four  days  after  the  expiration 

of  the  notice  given  to  neutral  vessels  to  depart. 

*  #  #  *  #  •*  *  *  •* 

These  vessels  were  sent  forward  to  Key  West. 

#*•******* 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

MELANCTON  SMITH,  Commander. 
Flag-Officer  WILLIAM  MERVINE, 

United  States  Navy. 


444  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seivard. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  June  23,  1862. 

Mr.  SECRETARY:  I  have  the  honor  to  lay  before  you  copy  of  a  letter 
which  I  have  received  from  Messrs.  Preciat  &  Gual,  of  Campeachy,  owners, 
loading  the  Mexican  brig  Brilliante,  which  was  captured  on  the  23d  June  of  the 
year  last  past,  in  the  neighborhood  of  New  Orleans,  in  which  they  explain  the 
reasons  why  the  brig  left  the  port  four  days  after  the  period  limited.  From 
this  letter  it  appears  that,  although,  speaking  absolutely,  it  might  be  said  that 
the  brig  Brilliante  had  violated  the  blockade  from  the  circumstances  indicated 
of  leaving  New  Orleans  four  days  after  the  expiration  of  the  time  given  to 
neutrals  to  pass  freely,  for  which,  most  technically,  she  was  condemned  by 
the  court  at  Key  West,  there  are  very  important  considerations  in  favor  of 
the  good  faith  of  the  owners  of  the  vessel,  which,  perhaps,  would  determine 
the  government  of  the  United  States  to  grant  them  an  indemnity  for  the  losses 
they  would  suffer  in  consequence  of  the  capture  of  the  vessel,  and  the  judgment 
of  the  court.  The  parties  interested  estimate  that  seven  thousand  seven  hun 
dred  and  thirty-two  dollars  and  twenty  six  cents  is  the  amount  of  the  loss 
suffered,  as  appears  in  the  account  which  I  also  send  in  copy. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  reiterate  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of 
my  most  distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


[Translation.] 

CAMPEACHY,  May  12,  1362. 

DEAR  Sm:  By  your  very  obliging  letter,  dated  30th  of  March  last  past,  we  are  apprised  of 
the  date  when  you  received  the  documents  relating  to  the  capture  of  our  Mexican  packet-boat 
Brilliante,  and  that  on  the  same  day  you  addressed  a  note  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Department 
of  State  in  relation  thereto,  of  which  you  sent  me  a  copy,  as  well  as  of  the  reply  had,  which 
you  likewise  sent  to  the  Mexican  consul  at.  New  York,  that  he  might  confer  with  Messrs. 
Eiera  and  Th6baud,  of  that  city,  indicating  what  was  suitable  to  be  done  to  obtain  the  resto 
ration  of  the  vessel,  or  the  value.  We  greatly  appreciate  your  proceedings,  and  do  not  doubt, 
with  your  aid,  to  attain  a  good  result. 

The  narration  of  the  facts  which  caused  the  capture,  for  which  you  call  upon  us,  should  be 
found  judicially  set  forth  in  the  report  from  the  court  at  Key  West,  where  the  judgment  of 
good  prize,  founded  on  the  declaration  of  blockade,  and  the  excess  of  four  days  over  the  term 
granted  for  neutrals  to  pass  freely,  was  given.  The  commander  of  the  United  States  steamer 
Massachusetts  makes  reference  to  the  term,  "exceeded  by  four  days,"  in  his  note,  dated  on 
board  his  ship,  the  25th  of  June,  1861.  In  fact,  the  term  set  for  neutrals  was  exceeded,  and 
this  may  be  a  legal  support  of  the  sentence,  but  not  a  just  one ;  for,  if  attention  be  given  to 
the  antecedents,  which  might  have  happened  in  each  case,  many,  as  well  as  ourselves,  would 
be  absolved.  Don  Rafael  Preciat,  our  partner,  had  gone  with  the  vessel  with  the  single  pur 
pose  of  visiting  his  sons,  who  were  at  the  college  at  Spring  Hill,  for  which  he  set  out  on 
arrival  at  New  Orleans,  and  where  he  was  when  the  publication  of  the  term  limited  for  neu 
trals  was  made ;  and  as,  by  his  absence,  the  vessel  could  not  be  despatched  by  the  consignees, 
it  was  necessary  to  wait  for  him.  When  he  got  back,  the  time  limited,  of  which  he  knew 
nothing,  had  passed — no  other  recourse  remaining  to  him  than  to  hasten  off  from  New  Or 
leans  ;  but  before  getting  to  sea  he  desired  to  speak  one  of  the  cruisers,  and,  in  fact,  he  gave 
the  order  to  come  to  anchor  off  the  bay  of  Velopsi,  where  he  could  have  taken  refuge  if  he  bad 
had  any  fear,  when  he  saw  a  boat  coming,  which  he  waited  for  in  confidence,  thinking  he  had 
accomplished  his  wish,  but  by  which  he  was  captured  and  taken  to  Key  West.  This  is  all 
that  happened.  Now  you  will  understand  whether  the  lapse  of  four  days  over  time  fixed  for 
neutrals  wras  a  sufficient  foundation  for  the  sentence. 

In  our  note  of  losses  sent  to  Messrs.  Riera  and  Thebaud  we  have  not  sought  to  add  more 
expenses  than  we  really  and  truly  have  disbursed  ;  so  much  so,  that  the  vessel,  costing  us 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  445 

much  more  than  the  sum  at  which  she  was  bought  in,  we  having  been  the  purchasers,  we  have 
not  desired  to  fix  a  higher  sum  than  what  we  nave  disbursed  to  make  us  good  for  the  vessel, 
as  you  will  inform  yourself  by  the  copy  we  have  the  honor  to  send  herewith,  leaving  to  your 
discretion  to  alter  it  for  or  against  us  if  it  should  be  judged  proper  and  equitable. 
We  have  the  honor  to  repeat  that  we  are  your  very  obedient  servants, 

PRECIAT  &  GUAL. 
Senor  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  Washington. 

A  true  copy : 

ROMERO. 
WASHINGTON,  June  23,  1862. 


Expenses  incurred  at  Key  West  in  the  matter  of  the  Mexican  pilot-boat  Brilliantc  and  her 
cargo,  which  teas  brought  as  prize  into  that  port  by  an  armed  force  of  the  United  States  of 
America  in  July,  1861. 

Paid  into  court  for  value  of  said  vessel  and  cargo,  as  per  appraisal $3, 820  00 

Paid  to  same  for  costs,  per  receipt 200  00 

Paid  to  defendants'  counsel,  per  receipt 100  00 

Paid  to  English  and  Spanish  consuls  for  protests,  &c.,  there  being  no  Mexican 

consul 30  71 

Paid  the  pilot  for  taking  the  vessel  out 20  00 

Provisions  used  by  the  crew  of  said  schooner,  and  officers  and  seamen  of  the  United 

States  who  were  in  charge  and  remained  on  board  at  Key  West 242  77 

Costs  of  clerk  of  court,  per  receipt 35  60 

Paid  Messrs.  W.  H.Will  &  Co.,  commissions 149  95 

Wages  paid  crew  of  said  schooner 246  36 

Expenses  of  hotel  for  captain  and  passengers 150  00 

Damage  to  tackle  and  sails,  appraised  by  experts 300  00 

Damage  to  cargo,  by  detention  at  Key  West,  on  600  barrels  of  flour,  per  account 

sales 2,436  87 


Total 7,732  26 


PRECIAT  &  GUAL. 
CAMPEACHY,  August  20,  1861. 

• 

A  true  copy  :  • 

ROMERO. 
WASHINGTON,  June  23,  1862. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  July  14,  1862. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  23d 
ultimo,  with  its  enclosures,  relative  to  the  case  of  the  Brilliante,  and  to  inform 
you  that  I  have  called  on  the  United  States  district  attorney  at  Key  West  for 
a  report  in  the  case,  upon  receipt  of  which  the  subject  will  receive  due  con 
sideration. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  you  the  assurances  of  my  high 
consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Senor  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  August  4,  1862. 

SIR  :  Referring  to  my  letter  of  the  14th  July,  in  answer  to  your  communica 
tion  of  the  23d  June  last,  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  you,  herewith,  a  copy 


446  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

of  the  report  made  to  this  department  by  the  United  States  district  attorney  at 
Key  West,  Florida,  setting  forth  the  facts  in  relation  to  the  seizure  and  con 
demnation  of  the  Mexican  schooner  Brilliante,  libelled  July  20,  1861. 

From  this  report  you  will  perceive  that  the  case  is  now  pending  in  the  Su 
preme  Court  of  the  United  States,  the  claimant  having  appealed  from  the  deci 
sion  of  the  district  court,  while  the  vessel  and  cargo  have  been  bonded,  and  are 
now  in  his  possession. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
distinguished  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Senor  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


UNITED  STATES  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY'S  OFFICE, 

Key  West,  Florida,  July  24,  1862. 

Sill :  Your  letter  of  the  14th  instant,  requesting  a  brief  report  of  the  decision  of  the  court  in 
the  case  of  the  Mexican  schooner  Brilliante,  is  received. 

The  vessel  was  libelled  as  prize  on  the  20th  of  July,  1861.  The  evidence  of  the  owner  of 
the  vessel,  and  the  other  witnesses,  showed  that  the  vessel's  papers  were  indorsed  with  notice 
of  the  blockade  by  the  boarding-  officer  from  the  blockading  vessel  at  the  moutk  of  the  Missis 
sippi  river.  After  this  formal  warning  the  vessel  succeeded  in  getting  to  New  Orleans  by  way 
of  Lake  Pontchartrain,  where  she  proceeded  to  take  in  a  load  of  flour.  She  was  taken  coming 
out. 

No  point  except  that  of  the  authority  of  the  President  to  establish  the  blockade  was  argued 
in  this  court.  A  decree  of  condemnation  was  rendered ;  the  claimant  appealed  to  the  supreme 
court,  and  bonded  the  vessel  and  cargo  and  took  them  into  his  possession.  The  appeal  is 
now  pending  in  the  supreme  court. 

I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

THOMAS  J.  BOYNTON, 

United  States  Attorney. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD-, 

Secretary  of  State. 


No.  14. 
Correspondence  of  Legations  of  the  United  States  on  Mexican  affairs. 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward,  January  23, 1863,  (with  one  enclosure.) 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward,  March  11, 1863. 

Same  to  same,  April  9, 18(53. 

Same  to  same,  April  24, 1863,  (with  one  enclosure.) 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton,  April  24, 1863. 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward,  April  27, 1863. 

Same  to  same,  May  1, 1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton,  May  8, 1863. 

Same  to  same,  May  18, 1863. 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward,  May  29, 1863. 

Same  to  same,  May  29,  1863. 

Same  to  same,  June  11, 1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton,  June  12, 1863. 

Same  to  same,  June  12, 1863. 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward,  June  17, 1863,  (with  one  enclosure.) 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward,  June  26, 1863,  (with  one  enclosure.) 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward,  July  2, 1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton,  July  17, 1863. 

Same  to  same,  July  25, 1863. 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward,  August  21, 1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton,  August  31, 1863. 

Same  to  same,  September  7,  1863. 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward,  September  14, 1863. 

Same  to  same,  September  16, 1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton,  September  21, 1863. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  447 


Same  to  same,  September  22, 1863,  (with  three  enclosures.) 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward,  September  25, 1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton,  September  2(5, 1863. 

Same  to  same,  October  5, 1863. 

Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward,  October  9, 1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton,  October  10, 1863. 

Same  to  same,  October  23, 1863. 

Same  to  same,  October  28, 1863. 

Mr.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys  to  Mr.  Mercier,  September  15, 1863. 

Mr.  Pike  to  Mr.  Seward,  August  19, 1863. 

Same  to  same,  September  2, 1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Pike,  September  5, 1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Perry,  September  21, 1863. 

Mr.  Motley  to  Mr.  Seward,  August  17, 1862,  (with  one  enclosure.) 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Motley,  September  11, 1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Motley,  September  26, 1863. 

Same  to  same,  October  9, 1863. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Nelson,  June  19, 1862. 

Mr.  Nelson  to  Mr.  Seward,  September  1, 1862,  (with  one  enclosure.) 

Mr.  Nelson  to  Mr.  Seward,  September  17, 1862,  (with  one  enclosure.) 

Mr.  Thayer  to  Mr.  Seward,  January  9, 1863. 

Same  to  same,  January  12, 1863. 

Same  to  same,  January  27, 1863. 


Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Scicard. 

[Extract.] 
No,  258.1  PARIS,  January  23,  1863. 

SIR:  I  beg  to  enclose  to  you  an  extract  from. the  Moniteur  of  this  morning- 
I  learned  yesterday  from  our  consul  general  at  Alexandria,  Mr.  Thayer,  that 
his  highness  the  viceroy  had  put  on  board  the  French  frigate  La  Sine,  on  the 
night  of  the  7th  instant,  several  hundred  negro  soldiers,  taken  from  Dalfour 
and  Nubia,  destined  to  join  the  French  military  expedition  against  Mexico. 
The  Moniteur  of  this  morning  admits  this  to  be  so,  and  says  that  they  are  taken 
because  the  black  race  is  not  subject  to  the  yellow  fever,  and  that  they  are 

destined  to  be  placed  in  garrison  at  Vera  Cruz. 

********  * 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,   &fc.,  fyv.,  fyc. 


From  the  "  Moniteur"  of  Paris,  January  23,  1863 
[Translation — Bulletin.  ] 

In  consequence  of  the  report  that  the  viceroy  of  Egypt  had  placed  a  battalion 
of  Egyptians  at  the  disposal  of  the  Emperor,  the  British  press  has  suffered 
itself  to  indulge  in  suppositions  which  it  is  proper  to  correct.  The  following  is 
the  fact :  Experience  having  taught,  in  the  case  of  the  negro  companies  from 
our  West  India  possessions  sent  to  Vera  Cruz,  that  the  negro  race  was  not  subject, 
like  the  white  race,  to  the  influence  of  yellow  fever,  the  Emperor  has  asked 
from  the  viceroy,  not  the  permission  to  recruit  soldiers,  as  the  British  govern 
ment  did  during  the  war  in  the  Indies,  but  the  temporary  transfer  (cession)  of 
a  negro  regiment  of  1,200  men,  fully  organized,  with  its  officers  and  non-com 
missioned  officers.  The  viceroy  was  unable,  for  the  time  being,  to  dispose  of 
more  than  450  men,  who  are  to  do  garrison  duty  at  Vera  Cruz.  This  measure, 
adopted  in  a  sense  of  humanity,  cannot  give  rise  to  the  least  criticism. 


448  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 


Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seicard. 

No.  285.]  PARIS,  March  11,  1863. 

SIR:  I  enclose  you,  by  the  present  steamer,  an  English  copy  of  the  trans 
lation  of  the  speech  of  M.  Billault,  "minister  sans  portefeuille,"  on  the 
French  invasion  of  Mexico,  delivered  in  the  corps  legislatif  on  the  7th  of 
February  last.  This  speech  has  doubtless  been  translated  and  published 
in  England  at  the  instance  of  the  French  government.  M.  Billault  is,  as 
you  know,  one  of  the  most  eloquent  debaters  in  France,  and  on  the  floor  of 
the  Chambers  acts,  in  this  matter  of  Mexico,  as  the  mouthpiece  of  the  gov 
ernment.  The  Mouiteur,  of  this  morning,  says  that  a  copy  of  this  speech 
has  been  laid  on  the  desk  of  each  of  the  members  of  the  British  Parliament. 
Two  copies  have  been  furnished  to  me,  one,  at  least,  of  which  was,  doubt 
less,  intended  for  my  government.  You  will  draw  your  own  inferences  from 
this  course  of  proceeding  on  the  part  of  this  government. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  Sfc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward. 

No.  297.]  PARIS,  April  9,  1863. 

SIR  :  In  a  conference  with  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  ,had  this  day,  he  in 
quired  particularly  as  to  our  action  in  reference  to  the  issue  of  letters  of  marque. 
*  *  *  *  He  then 

said  immediately  there  was  nothing  of  special  interest  for  me  there ;  that  they 
had  no  news  of  importance  from  the  United  States ;  and  as  to  Mexico,  he  said 
again  their  purpose  was  to  take  the  city ;  to  give  some  sort  of  order  to  the  con 
dition  of  things  there,  repay  themselves  for  debts,  expenses,  &c.,  and  then  leave 
the  country ;  that  we  might  rest  assured  they  were  not  going  to  charge  them 
selves  with  the  government  of  Mexico.  I  told  him  that  in  the  present  distracted 
condition  of  that  country  I  did  not  see  how  it  was  possible  that  France,  if  she 
got  possession,  could  enforce  the  payment  of  the  debts  due  her  and  expenses. 
(I  suppose  he  meant  expenses  of  invasion,  although  he  did  not  say  so.)  I  said 
that  France  would  not  be  willing,  I  supposed,  to  seize  on  the  private  property 
of  Mexican  citizens  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  these  claims,  and  there  seemed 
to  be  no  public  revenues  adequate.  To  this  he  answered  that  the  wealth  of 
Mexico  was  rather  unused  and  scattered  than  exhausted ;  that  there  were 
sources  of  wealth,  mines,  &c.,  which,  properly  worked,  would  meet  all  claims 
upon  the  country.  Here  I  think  you  have  a  view  of  the  probable  policy  of  this 
government — an  intimation  which  will  serve  as  an  index  to  point  out  the  future 
route  which  the  government  of  France,  if  successful,  at  present  designs  to  follow. 
My  fear  would  be  that,  estimating  for  herself  the  debts  and  expenses  due  to  her, 
working  for  herself  the  mines  or  other  sources  of  income,  and  keeping  both 
sides  of  the  account,  it  would  require  a  long  possession  before  the  profits  of  the 
adventure  would  fully  settle  the  balance. 

My  long  conference  with  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  was  a  very  pleasant  and 
agreeable  one.  Our  personal  relations  are  in  all  respects  kind.  Before  leaving  I 
asked  for  another  copy  of  the  diplomatic  correspondence  of  France  for  the  past 
year,  telling  him,  at  the  same  time,  that  it  was  for  Mr.  Romero,  the  Mexican 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  449 

minister  at  Washington,  who  had  written  to  me  for  it.     He  gave  it  to  me  at  once, 
adding  some  other  pamphlets  about  Mexican  affairs,  which  I  told  him  I  should 
forward  to  Mr.  Romero.     I  use  the  despatch  bag  for  that  purpose. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WM.  L.  DAYTOX. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  fyc. 


Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward. 

Xo.  301.]  PARIS,  April  2±,  1863. 

SIR  :  In  pursuance  of  the  written  request  of  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  I  called 
at  the  Foreign  Office  yesterday,  and  immediately  learned  that  the  French  govern 
ment  made  gave  and  serious  complaint  against  us  by  reason  of  the  late  certificate, 
or,  as  they  choose  to  call  it,  the"  laissez  passer"  which  Mr.  Adams  grave,  as 
they  allege,  to  Messrs.  Howell  and  General  Zirraan,  the  Mexican  agents  in 
London.  They  assume  that  the  cargo  was  arms,  and  that  Mr.  Adams  knew  it. 
I  suggested  that  there  was  nothing  on  the  face  of  the  papers  to  indicate  any 
thing  of  the  kind,  and  told  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  that,  in  giving  the  paper  or 
certificate  in  question,  I  did  not  believe  Mr.  Adams  had  had  the  slightest  thought 
or  reference  to  France  and  her  relations  with  Mexico,  as  Matainoras  was  not,  I 
thought,  blockaded  by  France.  That  he,  Mr.  Adams,  had  a  difficult  part  to 
play  in  England,  and,  do  what  he  would,  he  was  sure  to  be  found  fault  with 
there.  I  told  him  I  much  regretted  that  anything  had  occurred  there  to  wound 
the  sensibility  of  the  government  of  the  Emperor,  and  I  was  sure  it  was  not 
intended.  It  was  not  so  much,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  the  fact  that  Mr.  Adams  had 
given  the  certificate  in  question  that  he  complained  of,  as  the  terms  or  phraseol 
ogy  in  which  he  had  clothed  it ;  and,  assuming  that  the  cargo  was  arms  for  the 
Mexicans,  with  whom  France  is  at  war,  and  that  Mr.  Adams  knew  it,  it  was 
perhaps  justly  subject  to  a  part  at  least  of  the  criticism  which  he  placed  upon  it. 
He  went  on  to  add,  too,  that  Mr.  Adams's  desire  to  facilitate  "  neutral  commerce  " 
(being  arms,  as  he  said,  to  kill  the  French)  was  much  at  variance  with  the  action 
of  our  government  at  Xew  York  and  Xew  Orleans,  which  forbade  the  shipment 
of  mules,  or  free  laborers,  and  even  of  timber  for  the  use  of  the  French  in  Mexico. 
I  told  him  that  I  knew  nothing  of  this,  and  that  the  correspondence  between 
yourself  and  Mr.  Romero,  the  Mexican  minister  at  Washington,  indicated  a 
policy  directly  the  reverse  of  this.  That  while  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
had  refused  to  interfere,  on  the  application  of  Mr.  Romero,  to  prevent  the  ex 
portation  of  wagons,  &c.,  for  the  French,  he  had  at  once  stopped  the  exportation 
of  37,000  stand  of  muskets  purchased  in  New  York  for  the  Mexicans,  and  that 
the  Mexican  minister  had,  in  consequence,  felt  himself  justified  in  making  the 
unpleasant  intimation  that  our  government  had  discriminated  unjustly  and  un 
fairly  against  Mexico  and  in  favor  of  France.  He  wished  me  to  send  him  an  ex 
tract  of  this  correspondence  for  the  Emperor,  and  I  have  this  morning  sent  him 
the  correspondence  itself,  with  the  parts  marked  to  which  I  desired  particularly 
to  call  his  attention.  Before  leaving  this  part  of  the  subject,  however,  he  said 
that  he  thought,  in  the  first  place,  there  had  been  some  such  liberty  of  export  al 
lowed  ;  that  even  General  Butler  had  permitted  this ;  but  that  General  Banks  who, 
it  was  thought,  was  to  be  less  severe  than  his  predecessor  at  Xew  Orleans,  had 
been  more  exacting  or  less  liberal  upon  these  matters  than  even  General  Butler. 
That  most  serious  complaints  had  come  to  him  from  'the  army  and  navy  depart 
ment  here  of  the  great  inconvenience  to  which  they  had  been  subject  by  his  orders 
limiting  the  export  of  such  articles.  I  told  him  that  I  knew  of  nothing  further 
on  this  subject  than  appeared  in  the  published  correspondence,  and  that  if  any 
H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 29 


450  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

such  orders  were  made,  they  must  have  grown,  I  thought,  out  of  some  existing 
want  or  emergency  of  our  own  j  but  in  this  he  did  not  agree  with  me.  He  said 
if  the  war  in  Mexico  were  unpleasant  to  us,  we  must  remember  that  our  war,  too, 
was  unpleasant  and  injurious  to  them  :  and,  adverting  again  to  Mr.  Adams's  cer 
tificate,  he  said  that  they  had  at  no  time,  by  word  or  act,  said  or  done  an  unkind 
thing  toivards  us ;  that  their  leaning  had  been  rather  in  our  favor  than  against 
us  throughout,  and  yet  here  is  a  certificate  given  by  a  distinguished  official  of  the 
United  States  government  abroad,  stating  that  "  it  gives  him  pleasure  "  to  dis 
tinguish  this  adventure  of  sending  a  shipment  of  arms  to  their  enemies  as  an 
honest  and  fair  enterprise  and  for  a  creditable  purpose,  &c.,  (being,  as  he  said,  to 
kill  them  with  !)  and  that  he  therefore"  cheerfully  "  gave  the  certificate  in  ques 
tion.  That  this  languag'e  was  calculated  to  excite  the  French  people,  and  he 
should,  as  far  as  possible,  keep  its  translation  out  of  the  French  newspapers ; 
and  he  hoped  for  something  kind  very  shortly  from  the  government  of  the  United 
States  to  relieve  the  painful  impression  it  had  made. 

In  illustrating  his  views  of  the  certificate,  he  said  its  manifest  tendency  was  to 
encourage  Mexico,  and  to  induce  the  belief  that  if  she  held  out  the  United  States 
would,  perhaps,  in  the  end  help  her.  He  added :  "  Suppose  Baron  Gros  (the 
present  minister  of  France  at  London)  had  given  to  the  owners  of  a  ship  full  of 
arms  going  to  the  confederates,  who  are  at  war  with  us,  such  a  paper,  directed 
to  the  commander  of  the  French  squadron  on  our  cost,  what  would  our  govern 
ment  have  thought  of  it?  ""  But  he  said  that  the  paper  was  much  opposed  to 
the  views  you  had  yourself  expressed  very  recently  to  Mr.  Mercier,  as  to  the 
purposes  of  our  government  in  regard  to  the  war  of  France  in  Mexico  ;  and  he 
read  to  me  part  of  a  despatch  from  Mr.  Mercier,  dated,  I  think,  as  late  as  the' 
third  of  this  month,  on  that  subject.  He  wished  me  to  say  again  to  you  that 
France  had  no  purpose  in  Mexico  beyond  asserting  her  just  claims  against  her, 
obtaining  payment  of  the  debt  due,  with  the  expenses  of  the  invasion,  and  vindi 
cating,  by  victory,  the  honor  of  her  flag.  He  again  said,  expressly,  that  they 
did  not  mean  to  colonize  in  Mexico,  or  to  obtain  Sonora  or  any  other  section 
permanently,  and  that  all  such  pretences,  propagated  through  the  newspapers, 
were  untrue.  In  return,  I  assured  him  that  all  your  correspondence  with  me, 
public  and  private,  assured  me  that  our  government  had  no  purpose  to  interfere 
in  any  way  with  the  war  between  France  and  Mexico. 

After  this  general  conversation  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  said  that  he  had,  for 
greater  certainty,  put  in  writing  the  substance  of  his  remarks  as  to  the  paper 
given  by  Mr.  Adams  to  the  Mexican  agents,  which  he  would  leave  with  me, 
not  as  a  formal  communication,  but  as  informal  memoranda  only  of  what  he  had 
said  on  that  subject.  I  told  him  I  should  be  happy  to  have  the  paper  if  I  was 
permitted  to  translate  and  send  it  to  my  government.  To  this  he  assented.  I 
received  it  without  reading,  and  herewith  send  you  a  translation.  I  shall  like 
wise  send  another  copy  to  Mr.  Adains.  The  sound  judgment  and  great  discre 
tion  which  have  so  uniformly  characterized  his  service  in  London  will  dictate 
to  him  whether  it  calls  for  any  action  on  his  part. 

Before  closing  this  despatch,  I  ought  to  add  that  I  was  informed  that  Mr. 
Drouyn  de  Lhuys  has  expressed  himself  to  another  person,  on  the  subject  herein 
before  referred  to,  in  terms  more  decided  even  than  to  me,  closing,  as  he  did, 
with  the  remark,  that  if  the  United  States  aided  or  encouraged  their  enemies 
in  Mexico,  France  would  aid  and  encourage  our  enemies  in  the  United  States. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WM.  L.  DAYTON. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  fyc. 

P.  S. — I  will  send  a  copy  of  the  original  of  the  memoranda  handed  to  me  by 
Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  by  the  next  steamer. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  451 


Translation  of  informal  memoranda  of  M) .   Drouyn  <lc  Lhuys's  remarks  to 
Mr.  Dayton  on  the  23d  of  April. 

The  government  of  the  Emperor  has.  not  been  able  to  read  without  painful 
surprise  the  document  emanating  from  the  minister  of  the  United  States  at  Lon 
don,  to  which  the  English  press  have  just  given  a  publicity  perhaps  unexpected. 
A  deliberate  feeling  only  of  hostility  towards  France  can  have  induced  Mr. 
Adams  to  deliver  to  the  Mexican  agents,  who  had  informed  him  as  to  their  pro 
jects,  the  strange  certificate  destined  to  facilitate  the  execution  of  them.  If  a 
doubt  were  possible  in  this  respect,  the  terms  in  which  is  conceived  the  "  laissez 
passer,"  addressed  to  the  commandant  of  the  federal  fleet,  would  suffice  to  indi 
cate  with  what  disposition  the  representative  of  the  United  States  in  England 
was  unfortunately  inspired  on  this  occasion. 

The  government  of  the  Emperor  admits  perfectly  that  the  American  cruisers 
should  abstain  from  molesting  and  seizing  the  vessels  which  have  not  violated, 
towards  the  United  States  themselves,  the  duties  of  neutrality. 

But  there  is  no  necessity  for  setting  forth  the  difference  which  exist  between 
an  abstention  conformable  to  the  attitude  imposed  upon  every  belligerent  to 
wards  neutrals  whose  conduct  does  not  furnish  it  with  direct  motives  of  com 
plaint,  and  the  formal  assurance  given  to  a  third  party  engaged  in  operations 
infected  with  an  illegal  character  towards  another  belligerent,  that  they  will  not 
in  any  way  disturb  their  operations.  There  is  guaranteed  to  these  parties  in 
this  last  case  a  security  upon  which  they  ought  not  to  count ;  there  is  removed 
from  them  in  advance  certain  perils  which  might  compromise  success ;  fears  are 
dissipated  which  would  perhaps  have  stopped  them.  If  there  is  not  there  an 
effective  participation  in  acts  condemned  by  the  right  of  nations,  is  it  not,  never 
theless,  very  evidently  to  accord  to  them  an  unusual  guarantee,  a  quasi  protection  ; 
and  is  it  not,  therefore,  morally  to  associate  one's  self  with  them  ?  In  giving  to 
M.  M.  Howell  and  Zirman  the  attestation  which  they  solicited  of  him,  and  the 
effect  of  which  must  be  to  assure  to  them,  in  spite  of  the  character  of  their  mer 
chandise,  a  free  passage  through  the  American  cruisers,  Mr.  Adams  could  not 
be  mistaken  as  to  the  concurrence  which  he  had  lent  to  a  transaction  of  contra 
band  of  war,  which  he  knew  to  be  undertaken  against  us.  There  would  then 
have  been  occasion  for  asking  one's  self  by  what  inadvertence  the  minister  of  a 
friendly  power  had  been  induced  thus  to  favor  acts  openly  directed  against  France, 
if  the  tenor  of  the  certificate  signed  by  him  did  not  state  that  it  is  intentionally, 
and  because  he  approved  of  it,  that  Mr.  Adams  wished  to  cover  them  with  an 
exceptional  immunity.  The  expressions  employed  by  M.  the  minister  of  the 
United  States  do  not  leave  room  for  any  ambiguity.  It  is  with  pleasure  that 
he  learns  the  end  of  the  proposed  operation.  The  sending  of  arms  and  ammuni 
tions,  which  might  have  called  for  the  most  severe  censure,  the  most  rigorous 
repression,  if  they  had  been  destined  for  the  enemies  of  the  federal  government, 
assumes  an  entirely  different  character,  and  becomes  legitimate  as  soon  as  it  is  to 
the  profit  of  the  enemies  of  France. 

The  government  of  the  Emperor  refuses  to  believe  that  such  sentiments  have 
drawn  their  inspiration  from  Washington.  It  is  well  convinced  that  Mr.  Adams 
has,  in  this  matter,  only  expressed  opinions  altogether  personal. 

It  is  easy  to  understand,  however,  that  the  language  of  the  minister  of  the 
United  States  at  London  borrows,  necessarily,  from  its  diplomatic  character,  a 
particular  importance,  and  formed  as  they  have  been,  his  appreciations  authorize 
us  to  suppose  that  views  hostile  to  France  are  held  also  by  his  government.  The 
cabinet  of  Washington  will  not  be  astonished,  then,  that  the  government  of  the 
Emperor  should  see  in  the  procedure  of  Mr.  Adams  an  act  gratuitously  malevo 
lent  towards  France,  and  by  which  it  has  a  right  to  feel  itself  wounded.  One 


452  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

would  seek  in  vain  a  motive  for  excuse  of  the  conduct  of  the  American  represen 
tative. 

Nothing  made  it  obligatory  upon  him  to  furnish  to  the  Mexican  agents  a  paper 
which  was  equivalent  to  a  veritable  safe-conduct,  which,  even  had  it  not  been  a 
question  of  the  transportation  of  contraband  of  war,  would  have  contrasted  with 
the  suspicious  and  excessive  surveillance  exercised  over  all  shipments  leaving 
England  for  the  same  point,  but  which,  in  the  form  and  with  the  conditions  on 
which  it  was  given,  became  a  mark  of  sympathy  and  an  altogether  voluntary 
encouragement  accorded  to  illegal  manoeuvres  prejudicial  to  a  friendly  power. 
The  government  of  the  Emperor  cannot,  then,  conceal  the  regretable  impressions 
which  it  has  experienced.  It  must  think  that  the  federal  government  will 
itself  have  anticipated  it,  and  confiding  in  the  security  of  the  assurances  of  en 
tirely  another  nature  which  it  has  often  received  from  it,  it  believes  itself  author 
ized  to  expect  of  it  an  explicit  disavowal  of  the  attitude  and  of  the  language  of 
its  minister  at  London. 


Mr.  Seicard  to  Mr.  Dayton. 

No.  336.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  April  24,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  despatch  of  April  9,  No.  297,  has  been  submitted  to  the  President. 

#  *  #  #  #  # 

I  do  not  care  to  speak  often  upon  the  war  of  France  against  Mexico.  The 
President  confidingly  believes  that  the  Emperor  has  no  purpose  of  assuming,  in 
the  event  of  success,  the  government  of  that  republic.  Difficult  as  the  exercise  of 
self-government  there  has  proved  to  be,  it  is,  nevertheless,  quite  certain  that  the 
attempt  to  maintain  foreign  authority  there  would  encounter  insurmountable 
embarrassment.  The  country  possesses  immense,  practically  inexhaustible, 
resources.  They  invite  foreign  labor  and  capital  from  all  foreign  countries  to 
become  naturalized  and  incorporated  with  the  resources  of  the  country  and  of 
the  continent,  while  all  attempts  to  acquire  them  by  force  must  meet  with  the 
most  annoying  and  injurious  hindrance  and  resistance.  This  is  equally  true 
of  Mexico  and  of  every  portion  of  the  American  continent.  It  is  more  than  a 
hundred  years  since  any  foreign  state  has  successfully  planted  a  new  colony  in 
America,  or  even  strengthened  its  hold  upon  any  one  previously  existing  here. 
Through  all  the  social  disturbances  which  attend  a  change  from  the  colonial  state 
to  independence,  and  the  substitution  of  the  democratic  for  the  monarchical 
system  of  governnifnt,  still  seems  to  us  that  the  Spanish- American  states  are 
steadily  "advancing  towards  the  establishment  of  permanent  institutions  of  self- 
government.  It  is  the  interest  of  the  United  States  to  favor  this  progress,  and 
to  comme'nd  it  to  the  patronage  of  other  nations.  It  is  equally  the  interest  of 
all  other  nations,  if,  as  we  confidently  believe,  this  progress  offers  to  mankind 
the  speediest  and  surest  means  of  rendering  available  to  them  the  natural 
treasures  of  America. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  II.  SEWAPvD 

WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq.,  fyc.,  $r.,  fyc.,     . 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  453 


Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Sewar.d. 

[Extract.] 
No.  302.]  PARIS,   April  27,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  send  you  herewith  what,  for  the  want  of  time,  I  could  not  get  ready 
for  the  last  steamer,  to  wit,  a  copy  of  the  original  memorandum  handed  to  me  by 
Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  in  reference  to  the  views  taken  by  the  French  govern 
ment  of  the  certificate  lately  given  by  Mr.  Adams  to  the  Mexican  agents  in 
London.  It  is  not  signed,  you  will  observe,  and  was  given  to  me,  as  I  have 
informed  you,  not  as  a  formal  communication,  but  as  mere  memoranda  of  con 
versation. 

I  should  have  added  in  my  last  despatch  that  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  again 
observed  to  me,  in  that  conversation,  that  it  would  manifestly  be  bad  policy  in 
the  United  States  to  adopt  a  course  of  action  which  would  identify  the  policy 
of  France  with  that  of  England ;  that  he  knows  there  was  much  exasperation  of 
feeling  in  our  country  against  England,  but  that  heretofore  France  had  done 
nothing  of  which  we  could  complain.  He  assumes  that  they  have  been  friendly 
throughout;  says  they  have  built  no  Alabamas,  &c. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

\VM.  L.  DAYTON. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  fyc. 

P.  S. — It  is  reporteed  to  me  that  an  additional  loan  of  eight  millions  of  francs 
has  been  effected  by  the  confederates  here.  *  D. 


Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seicard. 

No.  303.]  PARIS,  May  1,1863. 

SIR  :  Your  despatches  from  No.  320  to  No.  330,  both  inclusive,  are  received 
########* 

Having  received  a  note  from  Mr.  Adams  in  reference  to  his  late  certificate  to 
Messrs,  fio well  •and  Zirman,  I  took  occasion,  at  his  request,  to  say  inform 
ally  to  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  that  he  (Mr.  Adams)  expressly  disclaimed  all  hos 
tility  to  the  French  government,  and  all  of  the  unfriendly  motives  attributed  to 
him,  in  the  late  memoranda  which  had  been  left  with  me. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WM.  L.  DAYTON. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Secretary  of  State,  $c. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton. 
[Extract.] 

No.  341.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  May  8,  1S63. 

SIR:  Your  despatch  of  the  24th  of  April,  No.  301,  has  been  received.  It 
communicates  the  impressions  which  have  been  made  upon  the  French  gov 
ernment  by  a  paper  under  the  signature  of  Mr.  Adams,  of  the  date  of  the  9th 
of  April  last,  which  has  appeared  in  the  journals  of  London. 

Candor  obliges  me   to    commence  my  observations  upon  the  subject  with 


454  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

an  acknowledgment  of  the  very  generous  manner  in  which  Mr.  Drouyn  de 
Lhuys  has  opened  the  way  to  a  dfspassionate  and  friendly  consideration  of 
the  complaint  which  he  ha*  preferred.  He  has  not  only  reassured  you  of  the 
friendly  spirit  of  the  Emperor  towards  the  United  States,  but  he  has  also, 
with  marked  decision  and  energy,  reaffirmed  to  you  that  France  has  no  puy- 
pose  in  Mexico  beyond  asserting  just  claims  against  her,  obtaining  payment 
of  the  debt  due,  with  the  expenses  of  the  invasion,  and  vindicating  by  vic 
tory  the  honor  of  the  French  flag,  and  that  France  does  not  mean  to  colo 
nize  in  Mexico,  or  to  obtain  Sonora  or  any  other  section  permanently,  and 
that  all  allegations  propagated  through  the  newspapers  conflicting  with  these 
assurances  are  untrue. 

Your  reply  to  these  remarks  of  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  namely,  that  in  all 
my  correspondence  with  you,  whether  public  or  private,  I  have  averred  that 
this  government  has  no  purpose  to  interfere  in  any  way  with  the  war  be 
tween  France  and  Mexico,  was  as  truthful  as  it  was  considerate  and  proper. 
The  United  States  have  not  disclaimed,  and  can  never  under  existing  cir 
cumstances  disclaim,  the  interest  they  feel  in  the  safety,  welfare  and  pros 
perity  of  Mexico,  any  more  than  they  can  relinquish  or  disown  their  senti 
ments  of  friendship  and  good  will  towards  France,  which  began  with  their 
national  existence,  and  have  been  cherished  with  growing  earnestness  ever 
since.  When  the  two  nations  towards  which  they  are  thus  inclined  are  found 
engaged  in  such  a  war  as  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  has  described,  the  United 
States  can  only  deplore  the  painful  occurrence,  and  express  in  every  way  and 
everywhere  their  anxious  desire  that  the  conflict  may  be  brought  to  a  speedy 
close  by  a  settlement  consistent  with  the  stability,  prosperity  and  welfare  of 
the  parties  concerned.  The  United  States  have  always  acted  upon  the  same 
principle  of  forbearance  and  neutrality  in  regard  to  wars  between  powers  with 
which  our  own  country  has  maintained  friendly  relations,  and  they  believe  that 
this  policy  could  not  in  this,  more  than  in  other  cases,  be  departed  from  with 
advantage  to  themselves  or  to  the  interests  of  peace  throughout  the  world.  *  * 

The  French  government  has  justly  assumed  that  the  first  knowledge  which 
this  government  had  of  the  paper  of  which  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  complains 
was  derived  from  its  publication  in  London.  It  is  notorious  that  the  insurgents 
of  the  United  States  derive  their  munitions  of  war  and  other  supplies  chiefly 
through  a  countraband  trade  of  merchants  and  others  residing  or  sojourning  in 
Great  Britain,  carried  on  in  vessels  which  pretend  not  a  direct  destination  to 
the  ports  of  our  own  country  which  are  blockaded  or  held  in  military  occupation 
by  the  government  forces,  but  to  neutral  ports  of  Great  Britain,  Spain,  and 
Mexico.  Matamoras  is  chief  among  these  neutral  ports,  and  being  situated  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande,  which  is  our  national  boundary,  contraband 
freights  of  vessels  ascending  to  or  approaching  Matamoras  through  that  river 
are  with  much  facility  transferred  to  the  insurgents  of  the  United  States,  for 
whose  use  they^are  designed. 

The  blockade  has  been  until  this  moment  our  chief  protection  against  this 
danger,  although  we  are  now  obtaining  a  new  security  against  it  by  recovering 
the  exclusive  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  river,  which  divides  the  country 
west  of  that  river  from  the  principal  field  of  war. 

We  understand  that  two  persons  named  Zirman  and  II o well  appeared  in 
London,  and  presented  themselves  to  Mr.  Adams,  Zirmau  claiming  American 
citizenship  by  naturalization,  and  Howard  claiming  it  by  birth.  We  do  not 
know  that  they  were,  or  that  they  avowed  themselves  to  be,  agents  of  the 
Mexican  government,  as  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  seems  to  have  supposed.  Zir 
man  is  now  recognized  here  as  an  adventurer  destitute  of  all  pretensions  to 
morality  or  character.  We  know  nothing  of  the  other's  antecedents.  They 
represented  to  Mr.  Adams  that  they  were  freighting  a»British  ship  with  British 
merchandise,  not  for  the  insurgents,  but  for  the  Mexicans,  and  that  they  found 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  455 

it  difficult  if  not  impossible  to  effect  an  insurance  in  London,  because  a  general 
suspicion  attending  the  Matanaoras  trade  exposed  all  vessels  engaged  in  it  to 
seizure  by  the  cruisers  who  are  maintaining  our  blockade.  They  therefore 
asked  of  Mr.  Adams  a  private  note  which  would  show  that  they  are  loyal  Amer 
icans,  and  that  their  venture  was  not  contraband  as  against  the  United  States, 
and  which  being  confidentially  shown  to  the  underwriters,  might  remove  the 
aforementioned  difficulty  of  insurance.  Mr.  Adams,  acting  at  once  upon  the 
suggestion  without  waiting  for  further  information  or  prolonged  reflection,  wrote, 
signed,  and  put  into  their  hands  the  paper  of  which  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys 
complains,  with  no  expectation  that  it  would  in  any  case  become  public. 

The  transaction  being  viewed  in  the  light  cast  upon  it  by  these  circumstances, 
seems  to  me  to  lose  something  of  the  gravity  with  which  it  might  otherwise  be 
invested.  It  must  certainly  be  allowed  to  be  an  act  not  of  deliberation,  but  of 
inadvertence.  The  paper  shows  on  its  face  that  it  had  for  its  chief,  if  not  its 
only  object,  to  remove  an  embarrassment  which  two  of  his  supposed  countrymen 
had  encountered  in  a  mercantile  transaction  in  the  distant  country  to  which  Mr. 
Adams  was  accredited,  which  embarrassment  resulted  in  part  from  proceedings 
in  that  country,  and  in  part  from  the  action  of  our  own  government.  It  seems 
at  least  possible  that  the  bearing  of  the  transaction  upon  the  war  between  France 
and  Mexico  did  not  at  all  occur  to  Mr.  Adams,  pre-occupied  as  he  was  with  its 
relations  simply  to  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  for  he  confines  himself 
in  the  paper  to  those  relations. 

The  French  government,  however,  has  adopted  a  different  conclusion.  In 
announcing  it  to  you  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  assumes  that  the  cargo  of  Zirman 
and  Howell  was  composed,  or  was  at  least  understood  by  Mr.  Adams  to  consist, 
of  military  stores  and  munitions  of  war.  I  am  not  able,  with  the  light  now 
enjoyed,  to  affirm  or  to  deny  this  fact.  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  derives  further 
evidence  of  a  purpose,  or  at  least  of  sentiments,  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Adams  hos 
tile  to  France,  from  certain  expressions  in  the  paper,  namely,  these  :  "  It  gives 
me  pleasure  to  distinguish  one  [meaning  one  enterprise]  which  has  a  different 
and  a  creditable  purpose.  I  therefore  very  cheerfully  give  them  [Howell  and 
Zirman]  this  certificate  at  their  request. "  These  expressions  are  grounded  upon 
the  statement  which  Mr.  Adams  makes,  that  these  persons  have  presented  him 
with  evidence  which  is  perfectly  satisfactory  to  him  that  they  are  really  bound 
to  Matamoras  with  a  cargo  intended  for  the  Mexicans.  While  I  deem  it  possi 
ble  that  these  Expressions  were  conceived  -and  used  without  any  consciousness 
on  the  part  of  Mr.  Adams  that  they  would  be  taken  as  alluding  to  the  war  ex- . 
isting  between  France  and  Mexico,  it  must  be  admited,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
to  insist  upon  this  point  would  be  to  stand  upon  a  question  of  verbal  criticism. 
The  United  States  have  no  motive  for  assuming  such  a  position.  Striving  to 
conduct  their  affairs  frankly  and  cordially  with  all  parties,  and  especially  with 
France,  it  is  enough  for  them  that  the  construction  put  upon  the  expressions  of 
Mr.  Adams  by  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  is  by  no  means  a  violent  or  an  unnatural 
one,  and  therefore  the  French  government  is  entitled  to  the  explanation  it  has 
asked.  You  will  consequently  say  to  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  that  having  taken 
the  President's  instructions  upon  the  subject,  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  giving  of 
the  paper  complained  of  to  Zirman  and  Howell  was  in  effect  an  unfriendly  act  to 
wards  France,  which  was  not  in  harmony  with  the  sentiments  and  policy  of  this* 
government,  and  which  it  therefore  views  with  disfavor  and  with  regret,  while  it 
regards  the  proceeding  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Adams  as  having  been  one  of  inadvert 
ence,  and  not  of  design  or  motive  injurious  to  France. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq ,  fyc.,  <fc.,  fyc. 


456  MEXICAN    AFFAIKS. 


Mr.  Reward  to  Mr.  Dayton. 

No.  346.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  May  IS,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  despatch  Xo.  303,  of  the  1st  instant,  has  been  received. 
The  department  is  pleased  to  notice  that  you  have  anticipated  the  instruc 
tion,  No.  341,  in  regard  to  the  transaction  of  Mr.  Adams  with  Messrs.  Howell 
and  Zirman. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq.,  fa.,  fa.,  fa. 


Mr.  Seicard  to  Mr.  Dayton. 

No.  348.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  May  23,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  despatch  of  May  8  ( No.  305)  has  been  received.  It  is  proper 
for  me  to  correct  a  misapprehension  into  which  you  seem  to  have  been  led 
by  some  remarks  of  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  namely,  that  I  had  suggested  to 
Mr.  Mercier,  with  a  view  to  the  action  of  the  French  government,  a  blockade  of 
Matamoras.  This  is  erroneous.  Any  suggestion  of  that  kind  that  may  have 
reached  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  from  Mr.  Mercier  must  have  been  made  from 
impressions  of  his  own,  and  on  his  own  authority,  although  it  is  not  improbable 
that  he  conceived  the  thought  as  the  result  of  a  free  conversation  with  me,  in 
which  I  mentioned,  with  some  earnestness,  the  difficulties  we  sustain  in  seeing 
that  the  neutral  port  of  Mexico  is  used  as  the  entrepot  for  munitions  of  war, 
which,  if  we  attempt  to  seize  them,  are  covered  by  the  pretence  that  they  are 
designed  for  another  belligerent,  while,  if  we  let  them  pass  on  that  ground, 
they  are  received  and  used  for  our  destruction.  It  will  not  be  necessary  for 
you  to  make  any  explanations  to  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  on  the  subject.  Mr. 
Mercier  will  doubtlessly  do  that. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq.,  fa.,  fa.,  fa. 


Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seivard. 
No.  309.J  PARIS,  May  29,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  despatch  No.  341,  which  communicates  the  answer  of  our  gov 
ernment  to  the  complaint  made  here  in  respect  to  the  paper  given  by  Mr.  Adams 
to  Messrs.  Zirman  and  Ho  well,  dated  9th  April  last,  was  duly  received.  I  im 
mediately  called  upon  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  and  read  to  him  your  despatch, 
and  likewise  the  copy  of  the  one  enclosed,  sent  to  Mr.  Koerner,  our  minister  at 
Madrid,  dated  February  28,  last.  When  I  had  closed  reading  these  papers, 
Mr.  Drouyn  de  JLhuys  expressed  himself  very  kindly,  saying  he  was  much  grati 
fied  by  the  contents  ;  and  as  respects  the  paper  given  by  Mr.  Adams,  he  added 
immediately,  "Let  it  be  forgotten."  We  may,  therefore,  consider  this  little 
diplomatic  disturbance  as  a  something  passed  and  gone. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WM.  L.  DAYTON. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  fa. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  457 

Mr.  Dayton,  to  Mr.  Scward. 

[Extracts.] 
No.  311.]  PARIS,  May  29,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  wrote  you  some  time  since  that  I  had  unofficially,  at  the  request  of 
Messrs.  Aspinwall  &  Forbes,  asked  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  if  there  would  be 
any  objection  to  the  quotation  of  our  stocks  on  the  French  Bourse.  I  have  not 
yet  had  any  definite  answer,  though  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  said  they  (the  min 
isters)  had  taken  up  the  subject  in  council,  and  his  intimation  was  that  they 
were  rather  opposed  to  it.  The  granting  of  this  right  was,  as  he  said,  a  mere 
arbitrary  act,  and  we  had  not  been  very  complying  in  sundry  small  matters 
towards  them,  viz.,  granting  the  right  to  export  to  Mexico ;  and  Mr.  Corwin,  he 
added,  has  refused  to  take  charge  of  the  legation  of  France,  in  Mexico,  when 
their  minister  was  about  to  leave ;  which  was,  he  said,  a  common  act  of  inter 
national  courtes}7.  I  told  him  that  if  this  privilege  (quoting  our  stocks  on  their 
Bourse)  should  be  denied,  I  hoped  it  would  be  put  on  no  such  ground.  That  it 
would  surprise  us  very  much  to  learn  that  France  thought  we  had  not  been 
complaisant  and  accommodating  towards  them.  That,  in  respect  to  exports  for 
Mexico,  I  knew  no  more  than  I  had  previously  said  to  him  ;  and,  as  respects 
the  action  of  Mr.  Corwin,  I  knew  nothing  of  it ;  but  if  he  had  declined  to  take 
charge  of  the  French  legation  at  Mexico,  I  had  no  doubt  he  had  done  so  fearing 
that,  in  the  existing  state  of  things,  it  might  tend  to  some  unpleasant  complications  ; 
and  that  I,  acting  under  the  same  impulse,  had,  on  a  like  application,  refused, 
at  first,  to  take  charge  of  the  Mexican  legation  here,  and  that  that  legation  in 
Paris  had,  consequently,  been  left  in  the  hands  of  the  minister  from  Peru.  This 
seemed  to  strike  him,  and  he  asked  if  he  could  mention  it.  I  told  him  he  could; 
but  I  must  inform  him,  at  the  same  time,  that,  after  advising  with  others,  and 
satisfying  myself  that  it  was  a  mere  act  of  international  courtesy,  involving  no 
consequence  that  a  belligerent  could  complain  of,  I  would  have  been  willing  to 
take  charge  of  that  legation,  and  so  informed  its  minister ;  but  that,  under  all 
the  circumstances,  he  then  thought  it  would  be  better  to  leave  its  affairs  in  the 

hands  of  the  representatives  of  another  government. 

*****  * 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  II.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State. 


Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Scward. 

[Extract.] 

No.  314.]  PARIS,  June  11,  1863. 

gIR  .  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

The  Emperor  and  court  have  left  Paris  for  Fontainebleau.  The  unexpected 
news  of  the  taking  of  Puebla  by  the  French  has  caused  great  joy  and  grat- 
ulation,  especially  among  the  officials  of  the  government.  Illuminations  oc 
curred  last  night,  and  the  cannon  of  the  Hotel  ctes  Invalided  were  fired  in  honor 
of  the  event.  The  news  was  altogether  unexpected.  Even  the  French  press 
had  begun  to  admit  the  disastrous  condition  of  things  in  Mexico,  and  the  gov 
ernment,  a  few  days  since,  sent  off  large  re-enforcements. 

*  sj:  *  *  *  *  #  * 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  Sfc. 


458  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

Mr.  Scward  to  Mr.  Dayton. 

No.  357.|  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  June  12,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  confidential  despatch  of  May  29  (No.  311)  has  been  received,  and 
I  have  made  its  contents  known  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

I  have  experienced  the  same  surprise  which  you  have  confessed  in  learning 
that  our  recent  proceedings  in  relation  to  France,  in  Mexico,  have  been  regarded 
as  illiberal  by  the  imperial  government.  Mr.  Cbrwm,  in  a  despatch  of  the  llth 
of  March,  referred  to  complaints  made  by  the  government  of  Mexico  to  the  effect 
that  we  allowed  the  French  government  to  obtain  supplies  here,  while  we  denied 
similar  favors  to  the  government  of  Mexico. 

In  the  same  paper  Mr.  Corwin  informed  me  that,  on  the  9th  February,  he 
had  been  solicited  by  the  retiring  minister  from  Prussia  to  assume  the  protection 
of  all  French,  Spanish,  Prussian,  and  Belgian  subjects  in  Mexico,  and  that  he 
had  declined  to  assume  this  charge  without  instructions  from  his  own  govern 
ment.  .  Mr.  Corwin  promptly  set  forth  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  asked 
the  President's  instructions  thereupon.  Such  instructions  were  duly  given  on 
the  18th  of  April  last. 

I  give  you,  by  way  of  extract,  such  portions  of  Mr.  Corwin's  despatch  as 
bears  on  the  subject,  together  with  a  copy  of  a  note  relating  thereto,  which  was 
addressed  to  him  by  the  minister  for  foreign  relations  of  Mexico.  I  add  a  copy 
of  my  reply  to  Mr.  Corwin's  despatch.  You  are  at  liberty  to  read  these  papers 
to  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  if  it  should  seem  to  you,  as  it  does  to  me,  that  they 
are  calculated  to  show  that,  in  respect  to  both  of  the  topics  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Drouyn  de  'Lhuys,  this  government  has  acted  with  a  scrupulous  regard  to  its 
friendly  relations  with  them,  and  its  neutrality  in  the  war  which  unhappily 
exists  between  that  power  and  Mexico. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq.,  fyc.  fyc,  fyc. 


Mr.  Scicard  to  Mr.  Dayton. 

No.  358.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  June  12,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  despatch  of  May  29  (No.  309)  has  been  received.  It  gives  me 
much  pleasure  to  learn  that  the  explanations  made  by  me  in  relation  to  the  let 
ter  written  by  Mr.  Adams  to  the  admirals  on  the  blockade  service  were  satis 
factory. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq. 


Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seicard. 
No.  316.1  PARIS,  June  17,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  herewith  a  printed  copy  of  the  letter  ad 
dressed  by  the  Emperor  to  General  Forey  upon  receipt  of  the  news  of  the  cap 
ture  of  Puebla. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  'Sfc.,  Sfc.,  Sfc. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  459 


The  Emperor  to  General  Forty, 

PALACE  OF  FONTAINEBLEAU,  June  12. 

GENERAL:  The  news  of  the  capture  ofPuebla  reached  me  the  day  before  yes 
terday,  via  New  York.  This  event  has  filled  us  with  joy. 

I  am  aware  how  much  foresight  and  energy  have  been  required  of  the  chiefs 
and  the  soldiers  to  attain  that  importaint  result.  Testify  in  my  name  to  the 
army  my  entire  satisfaction ;  tell  it  how  highly  I  appreciate  its  perseverance 
and  its  courage  in  so  distant  an  expedition,  in  which  it  had  to  struggle  against 
the  climate,  against  the  difficulties  of  the  country,  and  against  .an  enemy 
so  much  the  more  obstinate  that  it  was  deceived  as  to  my  intentions.  I 
I  bitterly  deplore  the  probable  loss  of  so  many  brave  men,  but  I  have  the  con 
solatory  feeling  that  their  death  has  not  been  useless,  either  to  the  interests  or 
honor  of  France  or  to  civilization.  Our  object,  you  well  know,  is  not  to  impose 
a  government  on  the  Mexicans  against  their  will,  or  to  make  our  successes 
contribute  to  the  triumph  of  any  party  whatever.  I  desire  that  Mexico  should 
revive  to  a  new  life,  and  that,  being  soon  regenerated  by  a  government  founded 
on  the  national  will,  on  principles  of  order  and  of  progress,  and  in  respect  for 
the  law  of  nations,  it  shall  admit  by  friendly  relations  that  it  is  indebted  to  France 
for  its  repose  and  its  prosperity. 

I  wait  for  the  official  reports  to  give  to  the  army  and  to  its  chief  their  well- 
merited  rewards  ;  but  at  present,  general,  accept  my  warm  and  sincere  congrat 
ulations. 

NAPOLEON. 


Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward. 

[Extracts.]        , 

No.  321.]  PARIS,  June  26,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  herewith  enclose  you  the  translation  of  a  communication  in  La 
France,  and  a  copy  of  the  paper  itself,  this  journal  having,  it  is  supposed 
by  the  diplomatic  corps,  a  certain  indirect  connexion  with  the  government. 
As  the  substance  of  this  communication  was  in  conformity  with  information 
reported  to  me  from  other  sources,  I  felt  justified,  yesterday,  in  asking  Mr. 
Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  distinctly,  if  any  change  in  the  policy  of  this  government 
towards  us  was  contemplated  ;  whether  anything  was  in  agitation.  He 
said,  first,  that  he  knew  of  nothing ;  but  he  added,  that  he  had  not  seen  the 
Emperor  for  some  days,  and  he  could  not,  therefore,  answer  for  what  he  had 
said  or  done.  He  informed  me,  however,  that  he  was  satisfied  that  the  Em 
peror  had  seen  Mr.  Slidell  here,  and  he  believed  he  had  seen  Messrs.  Lindsay 
and  Roebuck  at  Fontainebleau ;  but  of  the  latter  fact  he  did  not  speak 
with  certainty.  I  have,  however,  no  doul}t  of  it,  nor  have  I  any  doubt  that 
their  mission  to  Fontainebleau  was  to  get  directly  from  the  Emperor  the 
expression  of  his  views,  with  a  view  to  its  influence  in  the  British  Parlia 
ment.  I  have  heard  it  said  that  the  conference  with  Mr.  Slidell  was  mainly 
in  reference  to'  the  policy  of  the  confederate  government  in  regard  to  the 
French  invasion  of  Mexico,  and  its  probable  conduct  towards  them  if  they 
should  wish  to  make  the  south  a  basis  of  operations  against  that  country ; 
upon  all  which  Mr.  Slidell,  of  course,  gave,  it  is  said,  most  satisfactory 
assurances. 


460  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

This  Mexican  question  has  become  a  most  prominent  one  in  the  policy  of 
the  Emperor,  and  the  more  his  invasion  of  that  country  is  complained  of, 

the  more  anxious  does  he  seem  as  to  its  success. 

******** 

Please  let  me  hear  from  you  on  this  subject. 
•I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  fyc. 


[Translation  of  extract  from  the  journal  La  France.] 

We  understand  that  Mr.  Slidell,  envoy  of  the  Confederate  States,  was  received  on 
Thursday  last  by  the  Emperor,  during  the  s'hort  stay  that  his  Majesty  made  at  Tails. 

\Ve  haVe  reason  to  believe  that  the  visit  of  Mr.  Slidell  was  connected  with  the  idea  of 
recognizing  the  Confederate  States  of  the  south,  and  of  thus  giving  new  force  to  the  peace 
party,  which  is  increasing  every  day  in  the  States  of  the  north. 

The  sympathies  of  the  south  for  France  have  just  been  manifested  in  a  striking  manner. 
Richmond  has  been  illuminated  upon  the  occasion  of  the  capture  of  Puebla,  while  this 
great  feat  of  arms  was  received  at  the  north  with  an  unassembled  feeling  of  regret. 

We  are  informed,  also,  that  Messrs.  Roebuck  and  Lindsay,  members  of  the  British  Par 
liament,  have  had  the  honor  of  being  received  by  his  Majesty  the  Emperor. 

It  is  known  that  these  honorable  deputies  have  presented  a  motion  in  Parliament,  which 
ought  to  be  discussed  next  week,  and  which  has  for  its  object  the  recognition  of  the  southern 
States. 

The  cause  of  the  confederates  gains  new  sympathies  every  day,  and  their  heroic  resistance 
on  the  one  side,  on  the  other  the  impotence  of  the  armies  of  the  north,  prove  that  there  is  in 
them  a  people  strongly  organized,  worthy,  in  fine,  to  be  admitted  among  the  independent 
states. 

We  are  assured  that  Spain,  in  particular,  will  show  herself  disposed  to  recognize  the  south 
upon  the  condition,  easy  to  be  arranged,  that  the  new  confederation  would  recognize,  in  its 
turn,  the  secular  rights  of  the  Spanish  government  over  the  island  of  Cuba,  and  would  in 
terdict  itself  from  all  aggression  against  this  island. 

A.  RENAULD. 


.Mir.  Dayton  io  Mr.  Scward. 
No.  323.]  PARIS,  July  2,  1863. 

SIR:  I  have  communicated  to  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  to-day  the  substance 
of  your  despatch  No.  357,  in  reference  to  Mexico,  and  the  refusal  of  Mr. 
Corwin  to  take  charge  of  the  business  of  the  French  legation.  He  did  not 

seem  to  consider  the  reasons  assigned  by  Mr.  Corwin  to  be  very  good  ones. 
******** 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WM.  L.  DAYTON. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Scward  to  Mr.  Dayton. 

No.  374.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  July  17,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  reception  of  your  despatch  of  the 
2d  of  July,  No.  323,  in  which  you  have  related  a  conversation  which  you  had 
just  before  held  with  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  upon  several  subjects  affecting 
our  relations  with  France. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  461 

Your  proceeding  in  making  the  explanations  concerning  the  action  of  Mr. 

Corwin  in  regard  to  the  protection  of  French  subjects  in  Mexico  is  approved. 

####*### 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq. 


Mr.  Scicard  to  Mr.  Dayton. 

No.  37S.J  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  July  25,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  enclose  a  copy  of  a  despatch  from  Mr.  Burton,  United  States  minister 
at  Bogota,  and  of  the  correspondence  to  which  it  refers,  relative  to  a  supposed 
design  of  the  French  upon  the  independence  of  Ecuador.  These  papers  may 
be  considered  eufficent  to  warrant  an  inquiry  of  M.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys  upon 
the  subject,  and  a  request  for  such  an  explanation  as  the  answer  to  that  inquiry 
may  call  for. 

I  am,  sir,  vour  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  II.  SEWARD. 
WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq. 


Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Scward. 

[Extract.] 
No.  336.]  PARIS,  August  21,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  despatch  No.  378  has  been  duly  received,  and  I  have  called 
Mr.  Drouyn  de  1'Huys's  attention  to  the  subject  therein  referred  to.  He 
assures  me  that  France  has  no  purpose  or  design  upon  the  independence  of  the 
republic  of  Ecuador ;  that  should  any  change  in  its  territory  take  place,  or 
should  it  be  absorbed  in  another  government,  as  in  the  republic  of  .Colombia, 
this  would  not,  in  the  language  of  Baron  G-owry  du  Roslan,  their  minister,  pass 
unobserved  by  the  government  of  France,  but  its  observation  of  such  events 
would  apply  only  to  such  change  of  ministers  or  agents  as  the  absorption  of 
two  governments  into  one  might  render  necessary.  If  they  had  any  claims 
against  the  country  or  territory  so  absorbed,  they  would  reserve  the  right  to 
press  them,  of  course.  But  he  said  he  recollected  nothing  of  a  special  character 
in  the  despatches  of  Baron  G-owry  du  Roslan  on  these  subjects ;  he  would, 
however,  examine  them  further. 

It  is  not  improbable  or  unnatural  that,  in  view  of  the  course  of  France  in 
Mexico,  the  republics  of  Central  America  may  have  become  alarmed  for  their 
future.  They  look,  therefore,  with  great  suspicion  and  distrust  upon  the  lan 
guage  of  all  French  officials,  which  seems  to  imply  a  purpose  upon  the  part  of 
the  Emperor  to  interfere  further. 

In  this  connexion  I  should  add,  that  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  took  occasion  again 
to  say  that  France  had  no  purpose  in  Mexico  other  than  heretofore  stated ;  that 
she  did  not  mean  to  appropriate  permanently  any  part  of  that  country,  and  that 
she  should  leave  it  as  soon  as  her  griefs  were  satisfied,  and  she  could  do  so.with 
honor.  In  the  abandon  of  a  conversation  somewhat  familiar  I  took  occasion 
to  say  that  in  quitting-  Mexico  she  might  leave  a  puppet  behind  her.  He  said 
no  ;  the  strings  would  be  too  long  to  work.  He  added  they  had  had  enough  of 
colonial  experience  in  Algeria  :  that  the  strength  of  France  was  in  her  compact 


462  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

body  and  well-defined  boundary.  In  that  condition  she  had  her  resources 
always  at  command.  There  is  much  force  in  the  suggestion,  as  applied  to  this 
government,  which  is  so  emphatically  a  military  power. 

You  will  put  upon  this  conversation  as  to  Mexico  your  own  construction,  and 
draw  your  own  inferences.  It  seemed  to  me,  however,  that  Mr.  Drouyn  de 
1'Huys  was  disposed  to  avail  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  relieve,  as  far  as  pos 
sible,  the  suspicion  and  distrust  which  our  government  might,  from  late  events, 
naturally  entertain  of  the  purposes  of  France  in  that  country. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  •  •  * 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WM.  L.  DAYTON. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  II.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton. 

No.  390.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  August  31,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  received  your  three  despatches,  namely,  No.  329,  under  date  of 
July  30 ;  No.  332,  of  August  4,  and  No.  333,  of  August  5. 

Under  the  uniform  aspect  of  our  domestic  affairs,  the  matters  presented  by 
these  papers  may  safely  pass  unnoticed. 

You  will  perceive  that  the  course  of  events  in  Mexico  is  giving  rise  to  much 
speculation,  as  well  in  this  country  as  in  Europe,  and  this  speculation  takes  a 
direction  which  may  well  deserve  the  consideration  of  the  Emperor's  government, 
for  it  indicates  a  disposition  in  some  quarters  to  produce  alienation  between  this 
country  and  France.  This  government  has  said  nothing  upon  the  subject,  ex 
cept  what  is  contained  in  a  previous  communication  made  by  me  to  yourself, 
and  it  lends  no  materials  or  encouragement  to  the  debate  to  which  I  have 
referred. 

I  have  told  you  in  a  previous  despatch  that  the  interests  of  the  United  States 
in  Texas  are  not  overlooked.  I  have  now  to  add  that  preparations  have  been 
made,  which,  as  I  trust,  will  be  effectual  in  establishing  the  national  authority 
in  that  State. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton. 

No.  392.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  September  7,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  despatch  of  August  21  (No.  336)  has  been  received.  The  ex 
planations  of  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  in  regard  to  the  views  of  the  Emperor's 
government  concerning  the  Central  American  states,  are  unexceptionable  ;  and 
I  shall  take  pleasure  in  making  them  known  to  the  parties  in  whose  names  the 
inquiry  was  instituted. 

I  Jbave  read  with  much  interest  the  statement  you  have  given  me  of  the  remarks 
which  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  made  informally  to  you  concerning  the  position  of 
the  imperial  government  in  Mexico.  If  we  were  now  authorized  to  regard  them 
as  guaranteed  by  the  Emperor,  it  would  go  far  to  relieve  a  solicitude,  not  only 
here,  but  in  Europe,  which  I  cannot  but  believe  is  becoming  as  inconvenient  to 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  463 

France  as  it  is  to  the  United  States.     Before  this  despatch  will  be  received  you 
will  probably  have  ascertained,  in  compliance  with  a  previous  instruction  of  mine, 
whether  we  are  authorized  to  understand  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  as  speaking 
by  authority  in  the  explanations  he  has  thus  made. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD.  ' 
WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq. 


Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward. 

No.  345.J  PARIS,  September  14,  1863. 

SIR:  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

In  the  course  of  conversation  reference  was  made  to  the  almost  universal 
report  that  our  government  only  awaits  the  termination  of  our  domestic  troubles 
to  drive  the  French  out  of  Mexico.  This  idea  is  carefully  nursed  and  circulated 
by  the  friends  of  secession  here,  and  is  doing  us  injury  with  the  government. 
The  French  naturally  conclude  that  if  they  are  to  have  trouble  with  us,  it  would 
be  safest  to  choose  their  own  time.  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  referred  to  these 
matters,  and  said  the  Emperor  had  recently  asked  him  if  it  were  true,  as  the 
public  journals  alleged,  that  the  United  States  had  made  a  formal  protest  against 
the  action  of  France  in  Mexico,  and  he  had  told  him  that  110  such  protest  had 
been  made.  I  told  him  that,  so  far  as  I  was  concerned,  I  had  received  no  orders 
to  make  such  formal  protest ;  that,  relying  on  the  constant  assurances  of  France 
as  to  its  purposes  in  Mexico,  and  its  determination  to  leave  the  people  free  as  to 
their  form  of  government,  and  not  to  hold  or  colonize  any  portion  of  their  terri 
tories,  my  government  had  indicated  to  me  no  purpose  to  interfere  in  the  quarrel ; 
at  the  same  time  we  had  not  at  all  concealed,  as  he  well  knew,  our  earnest 
solicitude  for  the  well-being  of  that  country,  and  an  especial  sensitiveness  as  to 
any  forcible  interference  in  the  form  of  its  government.  He  said  that  these 
were  the  same  general  views  held  by  you  to  M.  Mercier,  and  reported  by  him  to 
this  government.  I  told  him  that  France  must  well  understand  that  we  did  not 
want  war  with  her ;  to  which  he  answered  that  she  did  not  certainly  wish  war 
with  us. 

When  I  referred  to  the  rumored  cession  of  Texas  and  part  of  Louisiana  to 
the  Emperor,  he,  in  denying  the  fact,  said  these  rumors  were  diabolical.  He 
added  that  France  wanted  no  territory  there. 

I  enclose  you  a  slip  cut  from  Galignani,  containing  the  substance  of  what  is, 
I  presume,  a  semi-official  exposition  of  the  government  as  to  its  action  in  respect 
to  the  rebel  ship  Florida  at  Brest. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State. 


Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward. 

No.  347.]  PARIS,  September  16,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  did  not  receive  the  communication  for  Mr.  Mercier  which  Mr.  Drouyn 
de  Lhuys  promised  me  until  last  night.  It  came  then  in  an  open  envelope,  with 
a  note  requesting  rae,  after  reading  it,  to  seal  it  and  send  it  by  my  next  courier, 
(meaning  thereby  the  next  despatch  bag.)  Having  sealed  it  according  to  request, 
I  herewith  send  it  in  an  envelope  to  you,  begging  that  you  will  have  it  promptly 


464  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

delivered  to  Mr.  Mercier.  The  despatch  commences  with  a  remark  compliment 
ary  to  myself,  and  then  goes  on  to  state  that  I  had  inquired  of  him  as  to  the 
truth  of  certain  rumors  alloat,  to  wit,  that  the  Emperor  had  decided  to  recognize 
the  south,  and  had  even  already  signed  a  treaty  by  which  the  south  agreed  to 
cede  to  France,  for  herself  or  to  be  recouveyed  to  Mexico,  Texas  and  part  of 
Louisiana,  and  that  Mr.  Drouyn  dc  Lhuys,  at  the  same  time,  asked  me  if  I  had 
not  heard  other  rumors  calculated  to  disturb  the  good  relations  existing  between 
our  two  countries — as  that  the  United  States  had  made  its  protest  against  the 
action  of  the  French  government  in  Mexico;  had  sent  its  fleet  to  Vera  Cruz  ; 
and  made  a  treaty,  offensive  and  defensive,  with  Russia.  He  goes  on  to  say 
that  these  suggestions  were  made  less  with  a  view  to  inquiring  as  to  their  truth 
than  for  the  purpose  of  fortifying  me  against -a  belief  in  the  rumors  I  had  first 
referred  to,  the  truth  of  which  rumors  he  expressly  denied.  He  then  tells  Mr. 
Mercier  that  I  said  I  had  no  knowledge  of  and  did  not  believe  in  the  report 
that  our  navy  was  before  Vera  Cruz,  or  that  we  had  made  a  treaty,  offensive  and 
defensive,  with  Russia,  and  that  if  you  had  instructed  me  to  make  a  formal  pro 
test  against  their  proceedings  in  Mexico  I  should  have  done  so,  which  I  had 
not ;  although,  under  the  influence  of  your  general  correspondence  on  this  sub 
ject,  I  had  made  him  aware  of  the  painful  impression  caused  in  my  country  by 
European  intervention  in  Mexico,  and  our  anxious  solicitude  as  to  any  interfer 
ence  with  the  form  of  government  there.  He  then  tells  Mr.  Mercier  that  he  had 
attached  little  importance  to  the  rumors  he  had  referred  to,  which  probably 
originated  in  the  same  source  as  those  to  which  I  had  referred.  He  then  says  to 
Mr.  Mercier,  "I  repeated  to  him  (Mr.  Dayton)  that  which  I  had  already  often 
said  to  him,  that  we  were  not  seeking,  either  for  ourselves  or  others,  any  acqui 
sition  in  America.  I  added  (says  he)  that  I  hoped  the  good  sense  of  the  people 
of  the  United  States  would  do  justice  to  the  exaggerations  and  false  suppositions 
by  the  aid  of  which  it  was  sought  to  mislead  and  embitter  opinion,  and  that  I 
counted  upon  his  concurrence  to  try  and  make  prevail  a  more  just  appreciation 
of  our  intentions  and  of  the  necessities  which  our  policy  obeyed." 

He  then  directs  Mr.  Mercier  to  communicate  this  conversation  to  you,  and  to 
use  the  text  thereof  to  correct  false  judgments  and  unjustifiable  imputations 
about  him. 

I  should  add  that  as  this  despatch  is,  in  part,  in  reference  to  the  intentions  of 
France  in  Mexico,  in  which  you  and  the  country  are  just  now  so  much  inter 
ested,  I  have  thought  it  best  to  avoid  mistakes  by  sending  you  the  above,  the 
last  twenty  lines  of  which  are  little  less  than  a  translation  of  that  part  cf  Mr. 
Drouyn  de  Lhuys's  despatch. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WM.  L.  DAYTON. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWAKD, 

Secretary  of  State,  fyc. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton. 

No.  400.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  September  21,  1863. 

SIR  :  The  French  forces  are  understood  to  hold  in  subjection  to  the  new  pro 
visional  government  established  in  Mexico  three  of  the  states,  while  all  the 
other  constituent  members  of  the  republic  of  Mexico  still  remain  under  its  au 
thority.  There  are  already  indications  of  designs,  in  those  states,  to  seek  aid 
in  the  United  States,  with  the  consent  of  this  government  if  attainable,  and 
without  it  if  it  shall  be  refused ;  and  for  this  purpose  inducements  arc  held  out, 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  465 

well  calculated  to  excite  sympathies  in  a  border  population.  The  United  States 
government  has  hitherto  practiced  strict  neutrality  between  the  French  and  Mex 
ico,  and  all  the  more  cheerfully,  because  it  has  relied  on  the  assurances  given  by 
the  French  government  that  it  did  not  intend  permanent  occupation  of  that 
country,  or  any  violence  to  the  sovereignty  of  its  people.  The  proceedings  of 
the  French  in  Mexico  are  regarded  by  many  in  that  country,  and  in  this,  as  at 
variance  with  those  assurances.  Owing  to  this  circumstance,  it  becomes  very 
difficult  for  this  government  to  enforce  a  rigid  observance  of  its  neutrality  laws. 
The  President  thinks  it  desirable  that  you  should  seek  an  opportunity  to  mention 
these  facts  to  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  and  to  suggest  to  him  that  the  interests 
of  the  United  States,  and,  as  it  seems  to  us,  the  interests  of  France  herself,  re 
quire  that  a  solution  of  the  present  complications  in  Mexico  be  made,  as  early 
as  may  be  convenient,  upon  the  basis  of  the  unity  and  independence  of  Mexico. 
I  cannot  be  misinterpreting  the  sentiments  of  the  United  States  in  saying  that 
they  do  not  desire  an  annexation  of  Mexico,  or  any  part  of  it,  nor  do  they  de 
sire  any  special  interest,  control,  or  influence  there,  but  they  are  deeply  inter 
ested  in  the  re-establishment  of  unity,  peace,  and  order  in  the  neighboring 
republic,  and  exceedingly  desirous  that  there  may  not  arise  out  of  the  war  in 
Mexico  any  cause  of  alienation  between  them  and  France.  Insomuch  as  these  sen 
timents  are  by  no  means  ungenerous,  the  President  unhesitatingly  believes  that 
they  are  the  sentiments  of  the  Emperor  himself  in  regard  to  Mexico. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq.,  fyc.t  Sfc.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton. 

No.  401.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  September  22,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  enclose,  for  your  information,  a  translation  of  a  note  of  the  20th  of 
July  last,  which  has  been  addressed  to  me  by  Mr.  J.  M.  Arroyo,  who  calls  him 
self  under-secretary  of  state  and  foreign  affairs  of  the  Mexican  empire,  setting 
forth  recent  proceedings,  with  a  view  to  the  organization  of  the  new  government 
at  Mexico ;  also  a  copy  of  a  memorandum  which  has  been  left  with  me  by  a 
person  calling  himself  General  Cortes,  alleged  to  have  been  formerly  governor 
of  the  Mexican  state  of  Sonora.  No  reply  has  been,  or  probably  will  be,  made 
to  either  of  these  papers. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
WM.  L.  DAYTON,  Esq. 


Mr.  Arrogo  to  Mr.  Seicard. 
[Translation.  ] 

PALACE  OF  THE  REGENCY  OF  THE  EMPIRE  OF  MEXICO, 

My  20,  1863. 

The  undersigned,  under-secretary  of  state  and  of  foreign  affairs  of  the  Mex 
ican  empire,  has  the  honor  to  address  the  present  communication  to  his  excel 
lency  the  Secretary  of  State  and  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  United  States  of 
H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 30 


466  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

America,  to  the  end  that  he  may  be  pleased  to  place  within  the  knowledge  of  his 
government  the  recent  important  events  which  have  finally  resulted  in  the  or 
ganization  of  an  appropriate,  strong,  and  durable  government,  with  a  view  that 
the  nation  might  be  constituted. 

This  capital  having  been  occupied  on  the  10th  ultimo  by  the  allied  Franco- 
Mexican  army,  the  first  care  of  the  general-in-chief  was  to  issue  a  decree  con 
vening  a  superior  gubernative  junto  of  thirty-five  members,  composed  of  the 
most  distinguished  notabilities ;  and,  moreover,  another  of  two  hundred  and  fifteen 
notables,  in  order  that,  united  to  the  former,  they  might  form  an  assembly  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  persons  selected  from  all  classes  of  society,  and  from  all  the 
departments,  which,  in  conformity  to  public  law  and  to  the  traditional  usages  of 
the  country,  should  express  the  wish  of  the  nation  as  to  the  form  of  government 
that  would  best  suit  it. 

The  gubernative  junto  having  met,  decreed  the  establishment  of  a  provisional 
executive  power  composed  of  three  members,  appointing  the  most  excellent  the 
generals  of  divisions,  Don  Juan  N.  Almonte  and  Don  Mariano  Salas,  and  the 
most  illustrious  the  archbishop  of  Mexico,  Don  Pelagio  Antonio  de  Labastida, 
at  present  absent  in  Europe,  and  to  act  as  his  substitute  the  most  illustrious 
Don  Juan  B.  Ormaechea,  bishop  elect  of  Tulancingo,  who,  in  such  character, 
immediately  took  up  the  reins  of  government. 

The  assembly  of  the  notables  having  convened  in  conformity  to  the  decree  of 
the  thirteenth  of  June  last,  was  engaged  in  causing  to  be  made  the  important 
declaration  in  regard  to  the  form  of  government,  with  a  view  to  its  permanent 
stability  and  the  future  happiness  of  the  nation.  The  final  result  of  their  labors 
has  been  the  solemn  decree,  a  copy  of  which  the  undersigned  has  the  satisfac 
tion  to  enclose  to  his  excellency,  in  which  appears  the  following  declaration : 

1st.  The  Mexican  nation  adopts,  as  its  form  of  government,  a  limited  heredi 
tary  monarchy,  with  a  Catholic  prince. 

2d.  The  sovereign  shall  take  the  title  of  Emperor  of  Mexico. 

3d.  The  imperial  crown  of  Mexico  is  offered  to  his  imperial  and  royal  high 
ness  the  Prince  Ferdinand  Maximilian,  Archduke  of  Austria,  for  himself  and 
his  descendants. 

4th.  If,  under  circumstances  which  cannot  be  foreseen,  the  Archduke  of  Austria, 
Ferdinand  Maximilian,  should  not  take  possession  of  the  throne  which  is  offered 
to  him,  the  Mexican  nation  relies  on  the  good  will  of  his  Majesty  Napoleon  III, 
Emperor  of  the  French,  to  indicate  for  it  another  Catholic  prince. 

This  solemn  and  explicit  declaration  was  received  by  all  classes  of  society 
with  gratification,  and  even  with  enthusiasm,  manifested  in  such  a  way  that 
the  undersigned  does  not  fear  to  anticipate  its  complete  realization;  and  so  much 
the  more  so,  since  he  receives  every  day  numerous  manifestations  of  accession, 
notice  of  which  his  excellency  will  see  in  the  official  journal  of  the  empire,  which 
is  annexed. 

Consequently  the  undersigned  relies  on  the  moral  co-operation  of  the  govern 
ments  which  are  friendly  to  Mexico,  among  which  he  has  the  satisfaction  of 
enumerating  that  of  the  United  States  of  America,  which  has  given  so  many 
proofs  of  its  interest  in  the  happiness  of  Mexico. 

The  undersigned  avails  himself  of  this  opportunity  to  offer  to  his  excellency 
the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States  of  America  the  assurances  of  his 
distinguished  consideration. 

J.  M.  ARROYO. 

His  Excellency  the  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  AND  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS 

of  the  United  States  of  America. 

• 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  467 

Mr.  Arroyo  to  Mr.  Scward. 
[Translation.] 

SECRETARYSHIP  OF  STATE  AND  OF  THE  OFFICE  OF  FOREIGN  RELATIONS. 

PALACE  OF  THE  SUPREME  EXECUTIVE  POWER, 

Mexico,  July  11,  1863. 

The  provisional  supreme  executive  power  has  been  pleased  to  address  me  the 
following  decree : 

"  The  provisional  supreme  executive  power  of  the  nation  to  the  inhabitants 
thereof:  Know  ye  that  the  Assembly  of  Notables  has  thought  fit  to  decree 
as  follows : 

"  « The  Assembly  of  Notables,  in  virtue  of  the  decree  of  the  16th  ultimo,  that 
it  should  make  known  the  form  of  government  which  best  suited  the  nation,  in 
use  of  the  full  right  which  the  nation  has  to  constitute  itself,  and  as  its  organ 
and  interpreter,  declares,  with  absolute  liberty  and  independence,  as  follows  : 

"  '  1.  The  Mexican  nation  adopts  as  its  form  of  government  a  limited  hered 
itary  monarchy,  with  a  Catholic  prince. 

"  '  2.  The  sovereign  shall  take  the  title  of  Emperor  of  Mexico. 

"  « 3.  The  imperial  crown  of  Mexico  is  offered  to  his  imperial  and  royal 
highness  the  Prince  Ferdinand  Maximilian,  Archduke  of  Austria,  for  himself 
and  his  descendants. 

"  *  4.  If,  under  circumstances  which  cannot  be  foreseen,  the  Archduke  of 
Austria,  Ferdinand  Maximilian,  should  not  take  possession  of  the  throne  which 
is  offered  to  him,  the  Mexican  nation  relies  on  the  good  will  of  his  Majesty 
Napoleon  III,  Emperor  of  the  French,  to  indicate  for  it  another  Catholic  prince. 

"  'Given  in  the  Hall  of  Sessions  of  the  Assembly,  on  the  10th  of  July,  1863. 

"'TEODOSIO  LAKES,  President. 

"  'ALEJANDRO  ARANGO  Y  ESCANDON,  Secretary. 

"  '  JOSE  MARIA  ANDRADE,  Secretary.' 

"Therefore,  let  it  be  printed,  published  by  national  edict,  and  circulated,  and 
let  due  fulfilment  be  given  thereto. 

"  Given  at  the  palace  of  the  supreme  executive  power  in  Mexico,  on  the 
llth  of  July,  1863. 

"JUAN  N.  ALMONTE. 
"JOSE  MARIANO  SALAS. 
"JUAN  B.  ORMAECHEA. 

"To  the  UNDER  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  AND  OF  THE  OFFICF,  OF  FOREIGN 
RELATIONS." 

And  I  communicate  it  to  you  for  your  knowledge  and  consequent  purposes. 

J.  M.  ARROYO, 

Under  Secretary  of  State  and  of  the  Office  of  Foreign  Relations. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 


Mr.  Arroyo  to  Mr.  Scward. 
[Translation.] 

SECRETARYSHIP  OF  STATE  AND  OF  THE  OFFICE  OF  FOREIGN  RELATIONS. 

PALACE  OF  THE  SUPREME  EXECUTIVE  POWER, 

Mexico,  July  11,  1863. 

The  provisional  supreme  executive  power  has  been  pleased  to  address  me 
the  following  Decree: 


468  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

"The  provisional  supreme  executive  power  of  the  nation  to  the  inhabitants 
thereof:  Know  ye,  that  the  Assembly  of  Notables  has  thought  fit  to  decree  as 
follows : 

"  'The  Assembly  of  Notables,  in  view  of  the  decree  of  this  date,  has  thought 
fit  to  decree  : 

"  '  Until  the  arrival  of  the  sovereign  the  persons  appointed,  by  decree  of  22d 
of  June  last,  to  form  the  provisional  government,  shall  exercise  the  power  in 
the  very  terms  established  by  the  decree  referred  to,  with  the  character  of 
regency  of  the  Mexican  empire. 

"  '  Given  in  the  Hall  of  Sessions  of  the  Assembly  on  the  llth  of  July,  1863. 

"'TEODOSIO  LARES,  President. 

"  'ALEJANDRO  ARANGO  Y  ESCANDON,  Secretary. 

"  '  JOSE  MARIA  ANDRADE,  Secretary' 

"  Therefore,  let  it  be  printed,  published,  and  circulated,  and  let  due  fulfilment 
be  given  thereto. 

"  Given  at  the  palace  of  the  supreme  executive  power  in  Mexico,  on  the 
llth  of  July,  1863. 

"JUAN  N.  ALMONTE. 
"JOSE  MARIANO  DE  SALAS. 
"JUAN  B.  ORMAECHEA. 

"To  the  UNDER  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  AND  OF  THE  OFFICE  OF  FOREIGN 
RELATIONS." 

"  DON  J.  MIGUEL  ARROYO." 

And  I  communicate  it  to  you  for  your  knowledge  and  consequent  purposes. 

J.  M.  ARROYO, 
Under  Secretary  of  State,  and  of  the  Office  of  Foreign  Relations. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 


Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Seward. 

No.  352.]  PARIS,  September  25,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  despatch,  No.  391,  as  to  the  proceedings  of  our  minister  resident  at 
Salvador,  in  reference  to  French  interests  there,  and  the  despatch  from  him  to 
you  on  that  subject,  were  at  once  communicated  by  me  to  the  Foreign  Office 
here.  As  it  was  evident  that  a  copy  of  Mr.  Partridge's  despatch,  stating  what 
he  had  done  in  relation  to  French  interests  in  that  country,  should  be  on  the 
files  of  the  Foreign  Office  here,  I  left  the  same  temporarily  with  Mr.  Drouyn  de 
Lhuys,  at  his  request,  that  he  might  have  it  copied,  if  so  disposed. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  fyc.,  &[c.,  tyc. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton. 
[Extracts.] 

No.  406.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  September  26,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  confidential  despatch  of  September  7,  No.  342,  has  been  received 
and  carefully  considered,  ****#* 

It  is  well  understood  that  through  along  period,  closing  in  1860,  the  manifest 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  469 

strength  of  this  nation  was  a  sufficient  protection,  for  itself  and  for  Mexico, 
against  all  foreign  states.  That  power  was  broken  down  and  shattered  in 
1861,  by  faction.  The  first  fruit  of  our  civil  war  was  a  new,  and  in  effect, 
though  not  intentionally  so,  an  unfriendly  attitude  assumed  by  Great  Britain, 
France,  and  Spain,  all  virtually,  and  the  two  first  named  powers  avowedly, 
moving  in  concert.  While  I  cannot  confess  to  a  fear  on  the  part  of  this  govern 
ment  that  any  one  or  all  of  the  maritime  powers  combining  with  the  insurgents 
could  overthrow  it,  yet  it  would  have  been  manifestly  presumptuous,  at  any 
time  since  this  distraction  seized  the  American  people,  to  have  provoked  such 
an  intervention,  or  to  have  spared  any  allowable  means  of  preventing  it.  The 
unceasing  efforts  of  this  department  in  that  direction  have  resulted  from  this 
ever-present  consideration.  If  in  its  communications  the  majestic  efforts  of  the 
government  to  subdue  the  insurrection,  and  to  remove  the  temptation  which  it 
offered  to  foreign  powers,  have  not  figured  so  largely  as  to  impress  my  corre 
spondents  with  the  conviction  that  the  President  relies  always  mainly  on  the  na 
tional  power,  and  not  on  the  forbearance  of  those  who  it  is  apprehended  may 
become  its  enemies,  it  is  because  the  duty  of  drawing  forth  and  directing  the 
armed  power  of  the  nation  has  rested  upon  distinct  departments,  while  to  this 
one  belonged  the  especial  duty  of  holding  watch  against  foreign  insult,  intru 
sion,  and  intervention.  With  these  general  remarks  I  proceed  to  explain  the 
President's  views  in  regard  to  the  first  of  the  two  questions  mentioned,  namely, 
the  attitude  of  France  in  regard  to  the  civil  war  in  the  United  States. 

******* 
The  subject  upon  which  I  propose  to  remark,  in  the  second  place,  is  the 
relation  of  France  towards  Mexico.  The  United  States  hold,  in  regard  to 
Mexico,  the  same  principles  that  they  hold  in  regard  to  all  other  nations.  They 
have  neither  a  right  nor  a  disposition  to  intervene  by  force  in  the  internal  affairs 
of  Mexico,  whether  to  establish  and  maintain  a  republic  or  even  a  domestic  gov 
ernment  there,  or  to  overthrow  an  imperial  or  a  foreign  one,  if  Mexico  chooses 
to  establish  or  accept  it.  The  United  States  have  neither  the  right  nor  the  dis 
position  to  intervene  by  force  on  either  side  in  the  lamentable  war  which  is 
going  on  between  France  and  Mexico.  On  the  contrary,  they  practice  in  regard 
to  Mexico,  in  every  phase  of  that  war,  the  non-intervention  which  they  require 
all  foreign  powers  to  observe  in  regard  to  the  United  States.  But,  notwith 
standing  this  self-restraint,  this  government  knows  full  well  that  the  inherent 
normal  opinion  of  Mexico  favors  a  government  there  republican  in  form  and 
domestic  in  its  organization,  in  preference  to  any  monarchical  institutions  to  be 
imposed  from  abroad.  This  government  knows,  also,  that  this  normal  opinion 
of  the  people  of  Mexico  resulted  largely  from  the  influence  of  popular  opinion 
in  this  country,  and  is  continually  invigorated  by  it.  The  President  believes, 
moreover,  that  this  popular  opinion  of  the  United  States  is  just  in  itself,  and  em 
inently  essential  to  the  progress  of  civilization  on  the  American  continent,  which 
civilization,  it  believes,  can  and  will,  if  left  free  from  European  resistance,  work 
harmoniously  together  with  advancing  refinement  on  the  other  continents.  This 
government  believes  that  foreign  resistance,  or  attempts  to  control  American 
civilization,  must  and  will  fail  before  the  ceaseless  and  ever-increasing  activity 
of  material,  moral,  and  political  forces,  which  peculiarly  belong  to  the  American 
continent.  Nor  do  the  United  States  deny  that,  in  their  opinion,  their  own 
safety  and  the  cheerful  destiny  to  which  they  aspire  are  intimately  dependent 
on  the  continuance  of  free  republican  institutions  throughout  America.  They 
have  submitted  these  opinions  to  the  Emperor  of  France,  on  proper  occasions, 
as  worthy  of  his  serious  consideration,  in  determining  how  he  would  conduct 
and  close  what  might  prove  a  successful  war  in  Mexico.  Nor  is  it  necessary 
to  practice  reserve  upon  the  point,  that  if  France  should,  upon  due  considera 
tion,  determine  to  adopt  a  policy  in  Mexico  adverse  to  the  American  opinions 


470  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

and  sentiments  which  I  have  described,  that  policy  would  probably  scatter  seeds 
which  would  be  fruitful  of  jealousies,  which  might  ultimately  ripen  into  collision 
between  France  and  the  United  States  and  other  American  republics.  An 
illustration  of  this  danger  has  occurred  already.  Political  rumor,  which  is  al 
ways  mischievous,  one  day  ascribes  to  France  a  purpose  to  seize  the  Rio  Grande, 
and  wrest  Texas  from  the  United  States ;  another  day  rumor  advises  us  to  look 
carefully  to  our  safety  on  the  Mississippi ;  another  day  we  are  warned  of  coali 
tions  to  be  formed,  under  French  patronage,  between  the  regency  established  in 
Mexico  and  the  insurgent  cabal  at  Richmond.  The  President  apprehends  none 
of  these  things.  He  does  not  allow  himself  to  be  disturbed  by  suspicions  so 
unjust  to  France  and  so  unjustifiable  in  themselves ;  but  he  knows,  also,  that 
such  suspicions  will  be  entertained  more  or  less  extensively  by  this  country, 
and  magnified  in  other  countries  equally  unfriendly  to  France  and  to  America ; 
and  he  knows,  also,  that  it  is  out  of  such  suspicions  that  the  fatal  web  of  na 
tional  animosity  is  most  frequently  woven.  He  believes  that  the  Emperor  of 
France  must  experience  desires  as  earnest  as  our  own  for  the  preservation  of 
that  friendship  between  the  two  nations  which  is  so  full  of  guarantees  of  their 
common  prosperity  and  safety.  Thinking  this,  the  President  would  be  wanting 
in  fidelity  to  France,  as  well  as  to  our  own  country,  if  he  did  not  converse  with 
the  Emperor  with  entire  sincerity  and  friendship  upon  the  attitude  which  France 
is  to  assume  in  regard  to  Mexico.  The  statements  made  to  you  by  M.  Drouyn 
de  Lhuys,  concerning  the  Emperor's  intentions,  are  entirely  satisfactory,  if  we 
are  permitted  to  assume  them  as  having  been  authorized  to  be  made  by  the  Em 
peror  in  view  of  the  present  condition  of  affairs  in  Mexico.  It  is  true,  as  I  have 
before  remarked,  that  the  Emperor's  purposes  may  hereafter  change  with 
changing  circumstances.  We,  ourselves,  however,  are  not  unobservant  of  the 
progress  of  events  at  home  and  abroad;  and  in  no  case  are  we  likely  to  neglect 
such  provision  for  our  own  safety  as  every  sovereign  state  must  always  be  pre 
pared  to  fall  back  upon  when  nations  with  which  they  have  lived  in  friendship 
cease  to  respect  their  moral  and  treaty  obligations.  Your  own  discretion  will 
be  your  guide  as  to  how  far  and  in  what  way  the  public  interests  will  be  pro 
moted,  by  submitting  these  views  to  the  consideration  of  M.  Drouyn  del'Huys. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq.,  8fc.,  fyc.,  $-c. 


Mr.  Scivard  to  Mr.  Dayton. 

No.  410.J  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  October  5,  1863. 

SIR:  Your  despatches  of  the  14th  of  September  (No.  345)  and  the  16th  of 
September  (No.  347)  have  been  received.  Moreover,  I  have  been  favored  by 
Mr.  Mercier  with  a  visit,  and  with  a  reading  of  the  despatch  addressed  to  him 
by  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  of  which  special  mention  is  made  in  your  comnuini- 
cations. 

The  explanations  made  by  you  to  him  are  correct,  and  they  are  approved. 
Despatches  from  this  department,  which  you  must  have  received  after  writing 
your  own,  not  only  sustain  those  explanations,  but  they  also  draw  very  dis 
tinctly  the  line  of  policy  towards  France  which  the  President  has  marked  out 
under  the  counsels  of  prudence,  and  the  traditional  friendship  towards  her  which 
prevails  in  the  United  States.  Any  statesman  who  has  observed  how  inflexi 
bly  this  government  adheres  to  the  policy  of  peace  awl  non-intervention,  would 
not  need  to  be  informed  that  the  report  of  an  alliance  by  us  with  Russia  for 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  471 

European  war  is  an  absurdity.  So,  also,  no  one  who  knows  how  completely 
the  American  people  suffer  themselves  to  be  absorbed  in  the  duty  of  suppress 
ing  the  present  unhappy  insurrection,  and  restoring  the  authority  of  the  Union, 
would  for  a  moment  believe  that  we  are  preparing  for  or  meditating  a  future 
war  against  any  nation,  for  any  purpose  whatever,  much  less  that  we  are  or 
ganizing  or  contemplating  a  future  war  against  France,  whom  it  is  our  constant 
desire  to  hold  and  retain  as  a  friend,  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  political 
fortune,  and  all  the  changes  of  national  life. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  II.  SEWARD. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq.,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Dayton  to  Mr.  Scward. 

[Extracst.] 
No.  361.]  PARIS,  October  9,  1863. 

SIR  :  In  the  conference  with  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  had  yesterday,  I  com 
municated  the  general  views  expressed  by  you  in  despatches  Nos.  395  and 

400. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

I  brought  out  your  views,  however,  in  the  course  of  a  general  conversation 
about  Mexican  affairs.  I  asked  of  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  what  character  of 
test  was  to  be  adopted,  with  a  view  to  learn  the  wishes  of  that  country  (Mexico) 
as  to  its  form  of  government.  He  said  that  the  vote  of  the  entire  country,  and 
of  all  its  departments,  whether  the  French  were  or  were  not  in  their  possession, 
would  be  taken,  and  if  upon  its  registries  it  should  appear  that  a  large  majority 
of  the  whole  population  (Spanish  and  Indian)  were  favorable  to  a  monarchical 
form  of  government,  he  supposed  that  would  be  sufficient.  He  thought  there 
would  be  no  difficulty  in  applying  this  test,  and  showing  a  large  numerical  ma 
jority  in  favor  of  the  Archduke,  and  that  form  of  government. 

Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  went  on  to  say,  that  the  dangers  of  the  government 
of  the  Archduke  would  come  principally  from  the  United  States,  and  the  sooner 
we  showed  ourselves  satisfied,  and  manifested  a  willingness  to  enter  into  peace 
ful  relations  with  that  government,  the  sooner  would  France  be  ready  to  leave 
Mexico  and  the  new  government  to  take  care  of  itself,  which  France  would,  in 
any  event,  do  as  soon  as  it  with  propriety  could;  but  that  it  would  not  lead  or 
tempt  the  Archduke  into  difficulty,  and  then  desert  him  before  his  government 
was  settled.  He  added,  that  France  could  not  do  that.  He  said,  that  the  early 
acknowledgment  of  that  government  by  the  United  States  would  tend  to  shorten, 
or  perhaps,  he  said,  to  end  all  the  troublesome  complications  of  France  in  that 
country;  that  they  would  thereupon  quit  Mexico. 

####### 

I  told  him  that,  without  having  any  authority  from  my  government  to  say  so, 
I  should  scarcely  suppose  that  France,  under  the  circumstances,  would  expect 
the  United  States  to  make  haste  to  acknowledge  a  new  monarchy  in  Mexico ; 
but  I  would  report  his  views  to  the  government  at  home;  not  suggesting,  how 
ever,  that  any  answer  would  be  given.  In  the  course  of  conversation,  he  took 
occasion  again  to  repeat,  voluntarily,  their  disclaimer  of  any  purpose  to  interfere 
with  Texas,  or  to  make  or  seek  any  permanent  interest  or  control  in  Mexico. 
He  said  that  our  situation,  as  a  next  neighbor,  entitled  us  to  an  influence  there 
paramount  to  that  of  distant  European  countries,  and  that  France,  at  her  great 
distance  from  the  scene,  would  not  be  guilty  of  the  folly  of  desiring  or  attempt- 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

ing  to  interfere  with  us.  He  spoke  highly  of  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Corwin,  our 
minister  in  Mexico,  who  was  reported  to-  him  as  not  having  intrigued  or  inter 
fered  in  these  matters,  but  that  he  had  always  acted  loyally  and  in  good  faith. 
Before  leaving  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  (assuming  the  purposes  of  the  Emperor 
to  be  as  he  represented  them,)  I  asked  him  why  he  permitted  so  many  false 
reports,  as  to  his  policy,  to  be  circulated  both  in  Europe  and  America.  I  told 
him  that  it  seemed  to  me  the  interests  of  both  countries  demanded  that  they 
should  cease,  and  that  a  frank  avowal  in  the  Moniteur  would  end  them.  He 
said  there  were  objections  to  using  the  Moniteur  for  such  purposes,  but  that 
there  were  his  despatches,  which  might  be  published.  I  told  him  that  the  world 
was  given  to  looking  at  despatches  as  savoring  too  much  of  diplomacy.  He 
then  said  that  the  Emperor,  at  the  opening  of  the  "  corps  legislatif,"  would 
have  a  proper  opportunity,  and  he  did  not  doubt  that  he  would  then  declare  his 
policy  in  Mexico,  in  conformity  with  the  declarations  heretofore  constantly 
made  to  us. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton. 

No.  412.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  October  10,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  despatch  of  the  25th  of  last  month,  No.  352,  describing  your  pro 
ceedings  in  relation  to  Mr.  Partridge's  course  respecting  French  interests  at 
Salvador,  has  been  received  and  is  approved. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq.,  Sfc.,  fyc.,  Sfc. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton. 

No.  417.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  October  23,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  reception  of  your  despatch  of  the 
9th  instant,  No.  361,  which  brings  me  the  views  expressed  by  Mr.  Drouyn  de 
Lhuys  concerning  the  situation  in  Mexico.  Various  considerations  have  induced 
the  President  to  avoid  taking  any  part  in  the  speculative  debates  bearing  on 
that  situation  which  have  been  carried  on  in  the  capitals  of  Europe  as  well  as 
in  those  of  America.  A  determination  to  err  on  the  side  of  strict  neutrality,  if 
we  err  at  all,  in  a  war  which  is  carried  on  between  two  nations  with  which  the 
United  States  are  maintaining  relations  of  amity  and  friendship,  was  prominent 
among  the  considerations  to  which  I  have  thus  referred. 

The  United  States,  nevertheless,  when  invited  by  France  or  Mexico,  cannot 
omit  to  express  themselves  with  perfect  frankness  upon  new  incidents,  as  they 
occur  in  the  progress  of  that  war.  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  now  speaks  of  an 
election  which  he  expects  to  be  held  in  Mexico,  and  to  result  in  the  choice  of 
his  Imperial  Highness  the  Prince  Maximilian  of  Austria  to  be  Emperor  of  Mexico. 
We  learn  from  other  sources  that  the  prince  has  declared  his  willingness  to  ac 
cept  an  imperial  throne  in  Mexico  on  three  conditions,  namely  :  first,  that  he 
shall  be  called  to  it  by  the  universal  suffrage  of  the  Mexican  nation ;  secondly, 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  473 

that  he  shall  receive  indispensable  guarantees  for  the  integrity  and  independence 
of  the  proposed  empire ;  and  thirdly,  that  the  head  of  his  family,  the  Emperor 
of  Austria,  shall  acquiesce. 

Referring  to  these  facts,  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  intimates  that  an  early  ac 
knowledgment  of  the  proposed  empire  by  the  United  States  would  be  convenient 
to  France,  by  relieving  her,  sooner  than  might  be  possible  under  other  circum 
stances,  from  her  troublesome  complications  in  Mexico. 

Happily  the  French  government  has  not  been  left  uninformed  that,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  United  States,  the  permanent  establishment  of  a  foreign  and 
monarchical  government  in  Mexico  will  be  found  neither  easy  nor  desirable. 
You  will  inform  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  that  this  opinion  remains  unchanged.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  United  States  cannot  anticipate  the  action  of  the  people 
of  Mexico,  nor  have  they  the  least  purpose  or  desire  to  interfere  with  their  pro 
ceedings,  or  control  or  interfere  with  their  free  choice,  or  disturb  them  in  the 
enjoyment  of  whatever  institutions  of  government  they  may,  in  the  exercise  of 
an  absolute  freedom,  establish.  It  is  proper,  also,  that  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys 
should  be  informed  that  the  United  States  continue  to  regard  Mexico  as  the 
theatre  of  a  war  which  has  not  yet  ended  in  the  subversion  of  the  government 
long  existing  there,  with  which  the  United  States  remain  in  the  relation  of 
peace  and  sincere  friendship ;  and  that,  for  this  reason,  the  United  States  are 
not  now  at  liberty  to  consider  the  question  of  recognizing  a  government  which, 
in  the  further  chances  of  war,  may  come  into  its  place.  The  United  States,  con 
sistently  with  their  principles,  can  do  no  otherwise  than  leave  the  destinies  of 
Mexico  in  the  keeping  of  her  own  people,  and  recognize  their  sovereignty  and 
independence  in  whatever  form  they  themselves  shall  choose  that  this  sovereignty 
and  independence  shall  be  manifested. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq.,  fyc.,  fyc.,  $c. 


Mr.  Scward  to  Mr.  Dayton. 

No.  437.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  November  28,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  transmit  for  your  information  a  copy  of  a  communication  of  the  23d 
instant,  addressed  by  this  department  to  Major  General  Banks,  and  of  an  in 
struction  of  the  same  date  (No.  88)  to  Mr.  Corwin. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq.,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


Mr.   Drouyn  de  Lhuys  to  Mr.  Merrier. 

[Translation.] 

No.  21.]  MINISTRY  OF  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS,  DIPLOMATIC  DIVISION, 

Paris,  September  15,  1863. 

SIR  :  Mr.  Dayton,  who  exhibits  in  his  relations  with  me  a  great  confidence, 
and  a  rectitude  to  which  I  am  pleased  to  bear  testimony,  has  been  moved  at 
certain  rumors,  propagated  with  a  design  which  I  have  not  now  to  inquire 
into,  but  which  appear  lately  to  have  obtained  some  credit  at  Paris,  and  he  has 
come  to  converse  with  me  about  them.  According  to  these  reports,  too  incon 
siderately  accepted,  the  Emperor's  government  has  decided  to  recognize  the 


474  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

States  of  the  south,  and  a  treaty  has  even  been  already  signed,  according  to  which 
the  new  confederacy  is  to  cede  to  France,  either  for  herself,  or  that  she  may 
make  a  retrocession  of  them  to  Mexico,  Texas  and  a  portion  of  Louisiana. 

At  the  moment  in  which  Mr.  Dayton  was  imparting  to  me  this  information,  I 
was  exactly  in  a  position  to  offer  him  information  for  information,  and,  before 
answering  the  questions  which  he  addressed  me,  I  asked  him  if,  among  the 
alarming  symptons  for  the  maintenance  of  the  good  relations  of  the  two  coun 
tries,  he  had  not,  like  myself,  received  other  news,  likewise  diffused  in  public, 
such  as,  for  instance,  the  transmission  by  him  to  me  of  a  protest  from  his  gov 
ernment  against  our  expedition  to  Mexico  and  its  consequences ;  the  conclusion 
of  an  alliance,  offensive  and  defensive,  between  the  United  States  and  Hussia ; 
the  appearance  of  a  federal  fleet  before  Vera  Cruz,  &c.,  &c. 

In  regard  to  the  protest,  after  remarking  to  me  that  I,  better  than  any  one 
else,  knew  that  he  had  not  transmitted  to  me  any,  Mr.  Dayton  said  to  mo  that, 
under  the  promptings  of  the  general  tenor  of  the  correspondence  of  Mr.  Seward, 
and  of  the  knowledge  which  he  himself  had  of  the  inclinations  of  his  fellow- 
citizens,  he  had  been  able  to  speak  to  me  of  the  painful  impression  produced 
on  public  opinion  in  his  country  by  the  preponderant  intervention  of  a  Euro 
pean  power  in  an  American  republic,  and  by  the  creation  of  a  monarchical  es 
tablishment  in  a  country  adjacent  to  the  United  States ;  but  that  from  that  to  a 
protest,  or  to  any  intention  whatever  of  comminatory  intermeddling,  was  very 
far,  and  that  nothing  in  his  instructions  authorized  him  to  overleap  that  dis 
tance.  He  knew  nothing,  on  the  other  hand,  of  the  alleged  alliance  of  his 
government  with  Russia,  and  he  had  every  reason  to  disbelive  it.  As  to  the 
presence  of  a  federal  fleet  before  Vera  Cruz,  this  news  did  not  seem  to  him  even 
to  merit  the  honor  of  a  contradiction. 

I  told  Mr.  Dayton  that  I  had  never  attached  any  importance  to  the  reports 
which  I  had  pointed  out  to  him,  and  that,  in  speaking  to  him  of  them,  my  ob 
ject  was  much  less  to  call  forth  explanations  on  his  part,  than  to  warn  him 
against  rumors  of  a  different  character ;  but  having  probably  the  same  origin  of 
which  he  had  spoken  to  me,  I  could,  however,  contradict  them  categorically. 
In  regard  to  the  recognition  of  the  States  of  the  south,  the  intentions  of  the  Em 
peror's  government  were  known  to  him,  and  this  question  was  still  at  the  point 
where  our  late  conversations  had  left  him.  We  had  not,  therefore,  recognized 
the  south,  and,  much  more,  we  had  not  signed  with  it  any  treaty  for  the  cession 
of  Louisiana  and  Texas.  With  respect  to  this,  I  could  repeat  to  him,  what  I 
had  so  often  said  to  him  already,  that  we  neither  sought  for  ourselves,  nor  for 
others,  any  acquisition  in  America.  I  added  that  I  trusted  that  the  good 
sense  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  would  do  justice  to  exaggerations  and 
false  suppositions,  by  the  aid  of  which  it  was  endeavored  to  mislead  and  sour 
public  opinion ;  and  that  I  relied  on  his  co-operation  in  trying  to  render  prev 
alent  a  more  equitable  appreciation  of  our  intentions  and  of  the  necessities 
which  our  policy  obeyed. 

I  have  thought,  sir,  that  it  was  well  that  you  should  be  informed  of  the  par 
ticulars  of  this  conversation,  in  order  that  you  might,  on  your  part,  communi 
cate  it  to  Mr.  Seward,  and  receive  the  precise  words  of  it,  in  order  to  rectify 
around  you  false  opinions  and  unjustifiable  anticipations. 
Accept,  sir,  assurances  of  my  high  consideration. 

DROUYN  DE  LHUYS. 

Mr.  MERCIER, 

Minister  of  the  Em2>cror  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  475 

Mr.  Pike  to  Mr.  Seicard. 

[Extracts.] 
No.  07. J  UNITED  STATES  LEGATION, 

The  Hague,  August  19,  1863. 

SIR:  1  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  despatch  of  July  24,  (No.  111.) 

Two  weeks'  digestion  of  the  news  from  America  results  in  no  revival  of 
hopes  on  this  side  for  the  rebellion.  The  partisans  of  the  south  seem  dis 
couraged  and  disheartened.  The  only  pretence  they  raise,  to  mitigate  the 
extremity  of  the  situation,  is  the  allegation  that  their  case  has  seemed  equally 
desperate  before.  The  argument  does  not  arrest  the  fall  of  their  sinking  for 
tunes  on  the  exchange.  Their  favorite  cotton  loan,  so  lately  above  par,  is  down 
to  70.  The  complete  break  down  of  the  financial  system  of  the  insurgents, 
demonstrated  by  the  fall  of  their  paper  currency  to  10  cents  on  the  dollar,  has, 
perhaps,  more  weight  attached  to  it  here  than  in  the  United  States.  It  is 
regarded  as  indicating  a  near  relapse.  Dispassionate  observers  fail  to  see  how 
the  resources  of  the  rebel  government  are  to  be  replenished,  or  their  finances 
even  nominally  administered.  The  melting  away  of  its  armies,  from  internal 
weakness,  alone  seems  thus  inevitable. 

But  beyond  this,  the  clearing  out  of  the  Mississippi  river,  if  its  approaches 
be  properly  guarded  against  any  sudden  descent  of  armed  iron-dads  from 
Europe,  is  viewed  as  a  fatal  grip  at  the  throat  of  the  rebellion.  The  events 
occurring  in  Mexico  make  New  Orleans  looked  upon  more  than  ever  as  the  key 
of  our  empire.  Its  original  capture  was  considered  in  Europe  a  deadly  blow  to 
the  insurrection.  The  conviction  was  and  is  that  it  should  be  made  impregnable 
to  attack  by  sea,  which  seems  easy  enough ;  the  hostile  action  of  no  power  in 
the  Gulf  need  be  feared.  But  should  this  safeguard  be  neglected,  we  might 
find  our  dear-bought  triumphs  suddenly  brought  to  a  disastrous  termination. 
Our  enemies  tried  to  find  consolation  in  the  hope  that  we  shall  be  less  prudent 
to  secure  than  we  have  been  energetic  to  conquer. 

That  we  must  look  to  ultimate  collision  in  that  quarter  with  foreign  powers, 
the  action  of  France  in  Mexico  does  not  seem  to  allow  us  to  doubt. 

As  I  took  occasion  to  observe  some  months  ago  (I  believe  you  thought  pre 
maturely)  the  cotton  question  is  ended  in  Europe.  We  have  entirely  gone  by 
that  danger.  Cotton  is  abundant.  The  only  disturbing  fact  that  remains 
is  that  the  price  is  so  high  that  manufacturers  decline  to  spin  and  weave  on  the 
old  scale.  Distress  is  again  setting  into  the  manufacturing  districts,  but  the 
disorder  and  suffering  is,  to  a  great  extent,  compensated  by  the  excellent  har 
vest  which  almost  everywhere  prevails. 

Now,  therefore,  as  heretofore.  I  believe  we  are  to  be  unmolested  from  abroad. 
If  we  can  furnish  the  troops  necessary  to  follow  up  our  recent  great  successes 
triumphantly,  we  shall  have  a  glorious  issue  from  our  trials.  Viewed  at  this 
distance,  the  prospects  of  the  country  have  never  seemed  so  encouraging. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  S.  PIKE. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Pike  to  Mr.  Scward. 
[Extract.] 

No.  99.]  UNITED  STATES  LEGATION, 

The  Hague,  September  2,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  despatch  of  the  13th  of 
August,  (No.  115.)  and  your  circular  despatch  of  the  12th  of  the  same  month, 


476  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

with  an  accompanying  map,  giving  an  exposition  of  the  military  situation ;  all 
of  which  are  attentively  considered. 

Political  affairs  are  comparatively  quiet. 

The  conference  of  German  sovereigns  at  Frankfort  has  ended;  with  what 
success  in  the  main  purpose  of  consolidating  their  power  against  France  remains 
to  be  seen.  England  approves  and  encourages  the  movement.  France  throws 
cold  water  on  the  proceedings,  notwithstanding  the  real  object  of  the  conference 
is  veiled  under  other  pretences. 

Some  of  the  French  journals  are  engaged  in  the  effort  to  show  that  the  United 
States  have  no  cause  of  hostility  to  the  effort  to  establish  an  empire  upon  the 
ruins  of  Mexican  independence.  The  argument  proceeds  upon  the  assumption 
that  France  does  not  desire  to  do  any  offensive  political  act  towards  the  United 
States,  and  so  far  intimates  inactivity  upon  the  question  of  recognition. 

It  seems  to  be  reduced  to  a  certainty  that  the  Polish  question  will  not  disturb 
the  peace  of  Europe.     Russia  claims  that  the  rebellion  is  exhausted. 
##*#*#*# 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  S.  PIKE. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington. 


Mr.  Reward  to  Mr.  Pike. 

No.  118.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Wasltijigton,  September  5 ,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  despatch  of  August  19  (No.  97)  has  been  carefully  considered. 

What  you  have  noticed  in  Europe,  in  regard  to  the  political  aspects  of  the  in 
surrection  here,  has  been  equally  observable  here  during  the  period  which  you 
have  mentioned.  No  fortunate  military  incident  has  occurred  to  revive  the  hopes 
of  the  insurgents,  while  Union  sieges  and  marches  have  gone  on  favorably.  The 
insurgents  have  burned  much  and  lost  more  of  the  cotton  that  they  had  pledged  to 
European  creditors,  while  the  price  of  gold  in  their  currency  has  risen,  within 
two  months,  from  1,OCO  per  cent,  to  1,600  per  cent.,  which  is  the  last  reported 
rate.  The  insurgent  financiers  last  winter  adopted  wheat  instead  of  gold  for 
the  standard  of  values,  and  fixed  that  of  wheat,  if  I  remember  rightly,  at  five 
dollars  per  bushel.  It  is  now  reported  that  the  farmer  refuses  to  thresh  his 
wheat,  and  the  government  agents  are  considering  whether  the  power  to  appro 
priate  at  five  dollars  does  not  also  include  the  necessary  preliminary  power  to 
thresh  the  grain. 

You  have  rightly  assumed  that  the  safe  occupation  of  New  Orleans,  so  long 
as  it  is  maintained,  is  sufficient  guarantee  for  the  success  of  the  government.  We 
are,  however,  not  without  some  concern  on  that  subject;  for,  in  the  first  place, 
we  have  no  clearly  reliable  assurances  that  the  British  government  will  prevent 
the  departure  of  the  iron  rams,  which  are  being  prepared  in  British  ship  yards, 
for  that  or  some  similar  purpose.  And  next,  notwithstanding  the  great  energy 
of  the  Navy  Department,  it  has  not  yet  brought  out  the  vessels  upon  which  we 
can  confidently  rely  for  adequate  defence  against  such  an  enterprise.  Neverthe 
less,  Mr.  Adams  is  making  the  best  possible  efforts  with  reference  to  the  first 
point,  and  our  naval  means,  which  certainly  are  neither  small  nor  inefficient, 
are  rapidly  increasing.  Your  observations  on  this  subject  are  so  sagacious  that 
I  have  thought  it  proper  to  commend  them  to  the  special  attention  of  the  Navy 
Department. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  477 

I  tliank  you  for  the  account  you  have  given  me  of  public  opinion  in  Europe 
in  regard  to  the  condition  of  Mexico  and  its  bearing  on  the  interests  of  the 
United  States.  Public  opinion  is  not  embarrassed  by  a  want  of  accurate  knowl 
edge  of  existing  facts.  It  anticipates  and  assumes  probable  events,  and  thus 
the  imagination  early  arrives  at,  and  is  satisfied  with,  premature  solutions  ;  from 
Mexico  we  have  nothing  in  regard  to  the  attitude  or  proceedings  of  the  republi 
can  government  since  it  withdrew  before  the  invaders  to  San  Luis;  from  France 
nothing  in  regard  to  the  question  of  a  new  government,  but  reiterated  assurances 
of  an  absence  of  any  design  to  permanently  occupy  or  dominate  in  Mexico ;  and 
from  Austria,  only  the  speculations  of  the  press  upon  a  condition  of  affairs  in 
Mexico,  too  imperfectly  developed  to  justify  any  decisive  action  by  the  alleged 
candidate  for  an  imperial  crown. 

In  these  circumstances  we  see  no  occasion  for  extreme  sensibility  or  for  im 
mediate  demonstration.  Mr.  Corwin  cannot,  of  course,  communicate  with  the 
authorities  newly  instituted  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  while  he  is  shut  out  from 
access  to  the  republican  one  to  which  he  is  accredited.  That  government  may, 
for  aught  we  know,  maintain  an  effectual  resistance  to  the  new  one,  or,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  may  even  succumb.  Such  a  resistance  would  relieve  the  people  of 
all  difficulties,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  as  unreasonable  as  it  would 
be  unavailing  to  seek  to  rescue  a  people  that  should  voluntarily  surrender  itself 
to  foreign  control.  The  new  government,  if  it  succeeds,  may  respect  the  sove 
reignty  and  all  the  rights  of  the  United  States,  and  so  give  us  no  cause  of  com 
plaint  or  dissatisfaction.  Our  opinions  as  to  the  ultimate  and  permanent  suc 
cess  of  an  European  intervention  in  Mexico  were  early  expressed  by  way  of 
anticipation.  Until  we  recall  them  no  presumption  that  they  are  abandoned 
can  arise.  But  we  see  now,  instead  of  a  whole  and  normal  Mexico  on  our 
southern  border,  a  Mexico  divided  between  Mexicans  and  the  French.  We  do 
not  know  how  this  new  condition  of  things  might  sooner  or  later  affect  the  au 
thority  of  the  United  States  in  Texas.  Independently  of  that  consideration, 
the  time  has  arrived  when  that  authority  ought  to  be,  and,  as  we  think,  can  be, 
restored  in  that  important  border  State,  and  this  will  be  done. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

JAMES  S.  PIKE,  Esq.,  fa.,  fa.,  fa., 


Mr.  Scicard  to  Mr.  Perry. 

No.  10.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

WasJiington,  September  21,  1863. 

SIR:  Your  despatch  of  August  26  (No.  110)  has  been  received.  The  general 
views  of  the  United  States  concerning  the  interests  of  society  and  government 
in  Mexico,  and  on  this  continent,  have  been  heretofore  fully  made  known  to  all 
parties  who  officially  expressed  to  us  any  concern  on  that  subject.  While 
adhering  to  these  views,  the  President  does  not  perceive  any  necessity  for 
entering  at  present  into  the  European  debates  which  have  arisen  out  of  the 
changing  phases  of  the  war  with  France  against  Mexico.  You  will  be  promptly 
advised  if  it  shall  be  deemed  important  to  enter  into  explanations  on  that  subject 
with  the  cabinet  of  Madrid. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

HORATIO  J.  PERRY,  Esq.,  fa.,  fa.,  fa.,  Madrid. 


478  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

Mr.  Motley  to  Mr.  Scivard. 

No.  31.]  LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

Vienna,  August  17,  18G3. 

SIR  :  So  soon  as  the  news  of  the  proclamation  of  the  empire  in  Mexico, 
together  with  the  offer  of  the  imperial  crown  to  the  Archduke  Ferdinand 
Maximilian,  reached  Vienna,  I  requested  an  interview  with  Count  Rechberg. 

I  saw  the  minister  accordingly  on  the  llth  August.  As  he  was  to  leave 
next  day  for  Frankfort  to  attend  the  conference  at  the  diet  of  sovereigns,  and 
as  many  other  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps  were  waiting  to  see  him,  the 
interview  was  necessarily  very  brief;  I  merely  begged  him  to  inform  me  what 
was  authentically  known  to  him  in  regard  to  the  Mexican  affair. 

He  replied  that  the  intelligence  received  by  the  government  was  hardly  in  an 
authentic  shape.  He  said:  We  do  not  consider  our  situation  essentially  altered. 
We  are  not  prepared  to  take  action  on  what  may  prove  to  be  an  ephemeral 
demonstration.  We  regard  all  that  is  reported  concerning  the  whole  affair — so 
far  as  relates  to  his  Imperial  Highness — as  not  having  occurred  ;  (commc,  n<m 
avenu  was  his  expression,  the  conversation  being  in  French.)  I  asked  if  he 
considered  it  true  that  a  deputation  was  on  the  way  from  Mexico  to  offer  the 
crown  to  the  archduke.  He  replied  that  it  was  possible,  but  that  it  was  very 
doubtful  whether  such  a  deputation  would  be  received. 

I  asked  if  it  was  true  that  a  telegram  had  been  sent  by  the  Emperor  Napoleon 
congratulating  the  archduke  on  the  news.  He  said  yes  ;  but  that,  from  the 
tenor  of  the  telegram,  the  Emperor  Napoleon  did  not  appear  to  attach  much 
weight  to  the  intelligence. 

Under  such  circumstances,  I  said  it  was  useless  to  ask  whether  any  decision 
had  been  taken  in  regard  to  the  offer,  as  such  a  question  had  already  been  an 
swered  in  the  negative  by  what  he  had  already  said. 

He  replied,  "of  course ;"  and  I  then  took  my  leave,  saying  that  I  only  wished 
to  know  the  exact  position  of  the  affair  up  to  the  present  moment. 

I  beg  to  be  informed,  at  your  earliest  convenience,  what  language  you  wish 
me  officially  to  hold  on  this  very  important  subject.  The  recent  conquest  of 
Mexico  by  France  seems  to  me  fraught  with  future  woe  to  our  whole  continent ; 
but  I  cannot  think  it  desirable,  in  the  present  condition  of  our  own  affairs,  that 
we  should  hasten  the  evil  day  by  taking  any  part  in  that  most  unhappy  adven 
ture. 

It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  Archduke  Maximilian  is  desirous  of  accept 
ing  the  crown  of  Mexico,  but  I  am  not  aware  that  there  are  many  persons  in 
this  empire  who  regard  the  project  with  favor.  It  certainly  is  an  unpopular  one 
with  all  classes  of  society,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  observe. 

The  language  of  the  press  is,  in  some  cases,  guarded,  but  in  general  de 
cidedly  hostile  on  the  subject. 

As  a  specimen  of  Vienna  journalism  in  this  matter,  I  send  you  a  translation 
of  a  portion  of  an  article  from  a  widely  circulated  journal,  Die  Presse.  The 
tone,  although  bold  and  bitter,  is  not  exceptionably  so. 

I  have  the  honor,  sir,  to  remain  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  LOTHROP  MOTLEY. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington. 


[Extract  from  the  Presse  of  August  11,  1863.] 

"The  journals  of  Paris  announce  to-day  that  the  Emperor  and  Empress  have  already  sent 
congratulation's  by  telegraph  to  the  Archduke  Ferdinand  Maximilian,  on  the  imperial  Mexican 
dignity  which  has  been  ottered  to  him.  Well,  they  may  think  it  a  piece  of  good  fortune — nnd 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  47  9 

they  may  have  their  reasons  for  it — to  obtain  possession  of  a  crown  in  such  a  way  in  a 
country  like  Mexico.  We,  however,  believe  that  we  are  a  faithful  organ  of  the  opinion  of  the 
Austrian  people  when  we  say,  without  concealment,  that  the  acceptance  of  the  crown  by  the 
Archduke  Ferdinand  Maximilian  would  not  be  looked  upon  by  any  of  them  as  a  piece  of 
good  fortune,  but,  on  the  contrary,  they  would  look  upon  it  as  an  evil  destiny.  An  evil 
destiny,  we  say,  for  it  would  be  nothing  else  if  an  Austrian  prince  should  ever  seriously 
think  of  accepting  a  crown  from  the  hands  of  a  Napoleon.  In  the  deepest  humiliation  of 
Germany  by  the  forcible  dominion  of  Napoleon  I,  we  find  nothing  similar  to  this  ;  and  shall 
constitutional  Austria  bear  to-day  what  absolute  Austria  was  too  pjoud  to  endure  ?  And 
what  sort  of  a  crown  is  it?  Without  any  plausible  reason,  treading  under  foot  those 
liberties  of  the  people  of  which  they  are  always  speaking,  the  French  soldiers  have 
broken  into  Mexico,  and,  after  shedding  streams  of  blood,  they  have  occupied  the  Mexi 
can  capital,  followed  by  the  curses  .  of  a  people  hitherto  proud  of  its  independence.  And 
shall  a  crown  of  tears  and  blood,  conquered  in  this  forcible  manner,  be  placed  upon 
the  head  of  a  prince  of  constitutional  Austria,  perhaps  as  an  indemnity  for  the  pearl 
which  in  1859  was  broken  from  Austria's  crown,  or  as  a  present  to  keep  us  unharmed 
in  case  of  future  occurrences  of  a  similar  kind  ?  The  more  we  lose  ourselves  in  specu 
lations  of  this  kind,  the  more  impossible,  adventurous,  unacceptable,  and  monstrous, 
this  proposed  attention  of  the  court  of  Napoleon  to  Austria  appears  to  us.  Have  those  who 
play  with  the  thoughts  of  wrapping  themselves  in  the  purple  mantle  of  an  Aztec  emperor 
already  reflected  on  the  political  consequences  which  would  follow  Austria's  acceptance  of 
this  imperial  crown  ?  Have  they  painted  to  themselves  the  wretched,  dependent  relation, 
the  vassalage  in  which  Austria — even  assuming  that  there  is  no  thought  of  compensation  at 
the  bottom  of  the  French  offer — that  it  is  dictated  by  the  purest  unselfishness — will  find  itself 
in  regard  to  Napoleonic  France  by  accepting  the  Mexican  throne  ?  Is  Archduke  Maximilian, 
in  Mexico,  to-be  the  counterpart  to  King  George  of  Greece,  with  only  the  difference  that 
before  his  throne  French  soldiers  would  keep  watch,  as  the  king's  crown  in  Athens  would 
be  protected  by  those  of  England?  And  even  if  it  should  be  decided  to  give  the  new 
Emperor  of  Mexico  an  Austrian  corps  as  an  escort,  has  the  cost  of  this  scheme  been  already 
counted  ?  What  in  the  name  of  Heaven  has  Austria  to  do  in  this  Mexican  galley  ?  It  would 
)>e  bound  and  exposed  to  France  on  all  sides  for  this  present  of  the  Danaides,  and  particu 
larly  in  regard  to  Poland  it  would  be  made  lame  and  impotent  in  its  political  action ;  it 
would  afford  France  a  pretext  for  occupying  Mexico,  as  the  Pope  affords  a  pretext  for  occu 
pying  Rome ;  it  will  have  engaged  its  honor  for  specific  French  speculations,  without  satis 
fying  a  single  reasonable  interest.  We  already  see  the  moment  when  the  Cabinet  of  Wash 
ington,  fortified  by  the  Monroe  doctrine,  by  the  alliance  of  the  states  of  Central  and  South 
America,  and  by  the  enormous  military  resources  which  the  end  of  the  civil  war  will  leave  at 
its  disposition,  shall  call  upon  the  French  in  Mexico  to  leave  a  continent  on  which  they  have 
no  business  and  no  right  to  command.  Shall  Austria,  then,  make  war  in  company  with 
France  upon  America  to  uphold  and  occupy  a  problematical  throne  in  Mexico  ?  That  would 
be  the  height  of  the  adventurous,  and  Austria  would  have  then  no  alternative  than  that  of  a 
shameful  fiasco  or  that  of  a  vassalage,  which  would  absorb  its  best  powers  for  the  interests  of 
France.  Even  if  the  thought  of  ruling  the  old  empire  of  the  Aztecs  should  not  be  devoid  of 
poetic  charm  to  a  romantic  character,  we  believe  that  the  times  have  gone  by  when  such 
caprices  are  sufficient  to  compromise  the  policy  of  great  states  and  to  throw  them  into  endless 
complications.  And  so  we  still  hope  that  the  answer  of  Austria  to  the  proposition  of  the 
Mexican  asamblea,  received  by  way  of  Paris,  will,  this  time,  be  a  decided  negative,  and 
that  once  for  all  an  end  will  be  put  to  an  intrigue  which  has  no  other  aim  than  to  shift  the- 
ignominy  of  the  Mexican  expedition — that  attack  on  an  independent  people — from  the 
shoulders  of  France  on  those  of  Austria,  and  to  cover  the  gulf  of  the  dirty  speculations  of  the 
banker  Jecker  and  his  worthy  associates  in  France  and  Mexico  with  the  brilliant  name  of 
an  Austrian  prince." 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Motley. 

No.  41.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  September  11,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  despatch  of  August  17  (No.  31)  has  been  received. 

When  France  made  war  against  Mexico,  we  asked  of  France  explanations- 
of  her  objects  and  purposes.  She  answered,  that  it  was  a  war  for  the  redress 
of  grievances ;  that  she  did  not  intend  to  permanently  occupy  or  dominate  in 
Mexico,  and  that  she  should  leave  to  the  people  of  Mexico  a  free  choice  of 
institutions  of  government.  Under  these  circumstances  the  United  States 
adopted,  and  they  have  since  maintained,  entire  neutrality  between  the  bel 
ligerents,  in  harmony  with  the  traditional  policy  in  regard  to  foreign  wars. 


480  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

The  war  has  continued  longer  than  was  anticipated.  At  different  stages  of  it 
France  has,  in  her  intercourse  with  us,  renewed  the  explanations  before  men 
tioned.  The  French  army  has  now  captured  Puebla  and  the  capital,  while  the 
Mexican  government,  with  its  principal  forces,  is  understood  to  have  retired  to 
San  Luis  Potosi,  and  a  provisional  government  has  been  instituted  under 
French  auspices  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  which,  being  supported  by  arms,  divides 
the  actual  dominion  of  the  country  with  the  Mexican  government,  also  main 
tained  by  armed  power.  That  provisional  government  has  neither  made  nor 
sought  to  make  any  communication  to  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
nor  has  it  been,  in  any  way,  recognized  by  this  government.  France  has  made 
no  communication  to  the  United  States  concerning  the  provisional  government 
which  has  been  established  in  Mexico,  nor  has  she  announced  any  actual  or 
intended  departure  from  the  policy  in  regard  to  that  country  which  her  before- 
mentioned  explanations  have  authorized  us  to  expect  her  to  pursue.  The 
United  States  have  received  no  communications  relating  to  the  recent  military 
events  in  Mexico  from  the  recognized  government  of  that  country. 

The  imperial  government  of  Austria  has  not  explained  to  the  United  States 
that  it  has  an  interest  in  the  subject,  or  expressed  any  desire  to  know  their 
views  upon  it.  The  United  States  hare  heretofore,  on  proper  occasions,  frankly 
explained  to  every  party  having  an  interest  in  the  question  the  general  views 
and  sentiments  which  they  have  always  entertained,  and  still  entertain,  in  re 
gard  to  the  interests  of  society  and  government  on  this  continent.  Under  these 
circumstances,  it  is  not  deemed  necessary  for  the  representatives  of  the  United 
States,  in  foreign  countries,  to  engage  in  the  political  debates  which  the  present 
unsettled  aspect  of  the  war  in  Mexico  has  elicited.  You  will  be  promptly  ad 
vised  if  a  necessity  for  any  representations  to  the  government  of  Austria  shall 
arise. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

J.  LOTHROP  MOTLEY,  Esq.,  Sfc.,  $c.,  Vienna. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Motley. 

No.  43.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  September  26,  1863. 

SIR  :  Your  interesting  despatch  of  September  1  (No.  32)  has  been  received. 
The  United  States  are  not  indifferent  to  the  events  which  are  occurring  in 
Mexico.  They  are  regarded,  however,  as  incidents  of  the  war  between  France 
and  Mexico.  While  the  governments  of  those  two  countries  are  not  improperly 
left  in  any  uncertainty  about  the  sentiments  of  the  United  States,  the  reported 
relations  of  a  member  of  the  imperial  family  of  Austria  to  those  events  do  not 
seem  sufficient  to  justify  this  government  in  making  any  representations  on 
that  subject  to  the  government  of  the  Emperor.  His  candor  and  fairness 
towards  the  United  States  warrant  the  President  in  believing,  as  he  firmly 
does,  that  his  Majesty  will  not  suffer  his  government  to  be  engaged  in  any  pro 
ceeding  hostile  or  injurious  to  the  United  States. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

J.  LOTHROP  MOTLEY,  fy.,  $v.,  Vienna. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  481 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Motley. 

No.  45.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  October  9,  1863. 

SIR:  Your  despatch  of  the  21st  of  September,  No.  34,  has  been  received. 

You  have  proceeded  very  properly  in  giving  to  Count  Rechberg  a  copy  of 
my  despatch  to  Mr.  Dayton  of  the  3d  of  March,  1862.  This  government  de 
sires  to  practice  no  concealment  in  its  intercourse  with  foreign  states.  During 
the  discussion  concerning  Mexico,  and  France,  and  the  United  States,  which 
has  been  going  on  in  Europe,  I  have  refrained  from  instructing  you  to  speak 
for  the  United  States.  This  reserve  has  been  practiced  because  the  questions 
immediately  concern  only  the  three  states  mentioned,  and  the  personal  relation 
to  them  of  the  Austrian  grand-duke  is  an  incident  which  could  only  bring  the 
imperial  royal  government  under  any  responsibility  to  the  United  States  when 
that  government  should  attempt  or  propose  to  violate  some  actual  political 
right,  or  disregard  some  practical  interest,  which  it  would  be  the  duty  of  the 
President  to  maintain  or  assert.  But  in  this  course  of  proceeding  it  has  not 
been  my  intention  to  deny  to  you  a  full  knowledge  of  the  position  of  the  Pre 
sident  in  regard  to  the  questions  debated.  France  is  at  war  with  Mexico,  and 
at  peace  with  the  United  States,  and  a  civil  war  is  raging  in  the  United  States. 
I  am  to  speak  of  the  attitude  of  France  towards  the  United  States  in  relation 
to  this  civil  war,  and  also  to  speak  of  the  attitude  of  France  toward  Mexico, 
-as  it  bears  on  the  United  States.  For  the  sake  of  perspicuity  I  keep  the  two 
topics  distinctly  separate,  and  I  treat  the  last  one  first. 

We  know  from  many  sources,  and  even  from  the  direct  statement  of  the 
Emperor  of  France,  that  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  insurrection  he  adopted 
the  then  current  opinion  of  European  statesmen  that  the  efforts  of  this  govern 
ment  to  suppress  it  would  be  unsuccessful.  To  this  pre-judgment  we  attribute 
his  agreement  with  Great  Britain  to  act  in  concert  with  her  upon  international 
questions  which  might  arise  out  of  the  conflict,  his  practical  concession  of  a 
belligerent  character  to  the  insurgents,  his  repeated  suggestions  of  accommoda 
tions  by  this  government  with  the  insurgents,  and  his  conferences  on  the  sub 
ject  of  a  recognition.  These  proceedings  of  the  Emperor  of  France  have  been 
very  injurious  to  the  United  States  by  encouraging  and  thus  prolonging  the 
insurrection.  On  the  other  hand,  no  statesman  of  this  country  is  able  to  con 
ceive  of  a  reasonable  motive  on  the  part  of  France  or  the  Emperor  to  do  or  to 
wish  injury  to  the  United  States.  Every  statesman  in  the  United  States  cherishes 
a  lively  interest  in  the  welfare  and  greatness  of  France,  and  is  content  that  she 
shall  peacefully  and  in  unbounded  prosperity  enjoy  the  administration  of  the 
Emperor  she  has  chosen.  We  have  not  an  acre  of  territory,  nor  a  fort,  which 
we  think  France  could  wisely  covet;  nor  has  she  any  possession  that  we  could 
accept  if  she  would  resign  it  into  our  hands.  Nevertheless,  when  recurring  to 
what  the  Emperor  of  France  has  already  done,  we  cannot,  at  any  time,  feel 
assured  that,  under  mistaken  impressions  of  our  embarrassments  in  consequence 
of  a  lamentable  civil  war,  he  may  not  go  further  in  the  way  of  encouragement 
to  the  insurgents,  whose  intrigues  in  Paris  we  understand  and  do  not  under 
estimate.  While  the  Emperor  of  France  has  held  an  unfavorable  opinion  of 
our  national  strength  and  unity,  we,  on  the  contrary,  have  as  constantly  in 
dulged  an  entire  confidence  in  both.  Not  merely  the  course  of  events,  but  that 
of  time  also,  opposes  the  insurrection  and  reinvigorates  the  national  strength 
and  power.  Under  these  convictions,  we  avoid  everything  calculated  to  irritate 
France  by  wounding  the  just  pride  and  proper  sensibilities  of  that  spirited 
nation,  and  thus  we  hope  to  free  our  claim  to  her  just  forbearance  in  our  present 
political  emergency  from  any  cloud  of  passion  or  prejudice.  Pursuing  this 
course,  the  President  hopes  that  the  pre-judgment  of  the  Emperor  against  the 
H.  Ex.  Doc.  11 31 


482  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

stability  of  the  Union  may  give  way  to  considerations  which  will  modify  hid 
course  and  bring  him  back  to  the  traditional  friendship  which  he  found  existing 
between  this  country  and  his  own  when,  in  obedience  to  her  voice,  he  assumed 
the  administration  of  her  government.  These  desires  and  purposes  of  ours  do 
not  imply  either  a  fear  of  imperial  hostility,  or  any  neglect  of  a  prudent  posture 
of  national  self-reliance,  and  in  that  posture  we  constantly  aim  to  stand. 

I  speak  next  of  the  relation  of  France  towards  Mexico.  Until  1860  our 
prestige  was  a  protection  to  her  and  to  all  the  other  republican  states  on 
this  continent.  That  prestige  has  been  temporarily  broken  up  by  domestic 
faction  and  civil  war.  France  has  invaded  Mexico,  and  war  exists  between 
those  two  countries.  The  United  States  hold,  in  regard  to  these  two  states 
and  their  conflict,  the  same  principle  that  they  hold  in  relation  to  all  other 
nations  and  their  mutual  wars.  They  have  neither  a  right  nor  any  disposition 
to  intervene  by  force  in  the  internal  affairs  of  Mexico,  whether  to  establish  or 
to  maintain  a  republican  or  even  a  domestic  government  there,  or  to  overthrow 
an  imperial  or  a  foreign  one  if  Mexico  shall  choose  to  establish  or  accept  it. 
The  United  States  have  not  a  right  nor  a  disposition  to  intervene  by  force  on 
either  side  in  the  lamentable  war  which  is  going  on  between  France  and  Mexico. 
On  the  contrary,  they  practice  in  regard  to  Mexico,  in  every  phase  of  the  war, 
the  non-intervention  which  they  require  all  foreign  powers  to  observe  in  regard 
to  the  United  States.  But  notwithstanding  this  self-restraint,  this  government 
knows  full  well  that  the  inherent  normal  opinion  of  Mexico  favors  a  govern 
ment  there  republican  in  form  and  democratic  in  its  organization  in  preference 
to  any  monarchical  institutions  to  be  imposed  from  abroad.  This  government 
knows  also  that  this  normal  opinion  of  the  people  of  Mexico  resulted  largely 
from  the  influence  of  popular  opinion  in  this  country,  which  constantly  invigor 
ates  it.  The  President,  moreover,  believes  that  this  popular  opinion  of  the 
United  States  is  just  in  itself  and  eminently  essential  to  the  progress  of  civili 
zation  on  the  American  continent,  which  civilization  he  believes  can  and  will,  if 
left  free  from  European  resistance,  work  harmoniously  together  with  advancing 
refinement  on  the  other  continents.  This  government  believes  that  all  foreign 
resistance  to  American  civilization,  and  all  attempts  to  control  it,  must  and  will 
fail  before  the  ceaseless  and  ever-increasing  activity  of  material,  moral,  and 
political  forces  which  peculiarly  belong  to  the  American  continent.  Nor  do 
the  United  States  deny  that  in  their  opinion  their  own  safety  and  the  cheerful 
destiny  to  which  they  aspire  are  intimately  dependent  on  the  continuance  of 
free  republican  institutions  throughout  America,  and  that  their  policy  will 
always  be  directed  to  that  end.  They  have  frankly,  and  on  proper  occasions, 
submitted  these  opinions  to  the  Emperor  of  France,  as  worthy  of  his  serious 
consideration,  in  determining  how  he  would  conduct  and  close  what  might 
prove  a  successful  war  in  Mexico.  Nor  do  we  practice  reserve  upon  the  point 
that  if  France  should,  upon  due  consideration,  determine  to  adopt  a  policy  in 
^iexico  adverse  to  the  American  opinions  and  sentiments  which  I  have  de- 
^pribed,  that  policy  would  probably  scatter  seeds  which  would  be  fruitful  of 
jealousies  that  might  ultimately  ripen  into  collisions  between  France  and  the 
United  States  and  other  American  republics.  An  illustration  of  this  danger  has 
occurred  already.  Political  rumor,  which  is  always  suspicious,  one  day  ascribes 
to  France  a  purpose  to  seize  the  Rio  Grande  and  wrest  Texas  from  the  United 
States.  Another  day  rumor  advises  us  to  look  carefully  to  our  safety  on  the 
Mississippi.  Another  day  we  are  warned  of  coalitions  to  be  formed  under 
French  patronage  between  the  regency  that  has  been  recently  set  up  at  the 
city  of  Mexico  and  the  insurgent  cabal  at  Richmond.  The  President  appre 
hends  none  of  these  things,  and  does  not  allow  himself  to  be  disturbed  by 
suspicions.  But  he  knows  also  that  such  suspicions  will  be  entertained  more 
or  less  extensively  in  this  country,  and  will  be  magnified  in  other  countries, 
and  he  knows,  also,  that  it  is  out  of  such  suspicions  that  the  fatal  web  of  national 
animosity  is  most  frequently  woven.  The  President,  upon  the  assurances 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  483 

which  he  has  received  froni  the  Emperor  of  France,  expects  that  he  will  neither 
deprive  the  people  of  Mexico  of  their  free  choice  of  government  nor  seek  to 
maintain  any  permanent  occupation  or  dominion  there. 

It  is  true  that  the  purposes  or  policy  of  the  Emperor  of  France,  in  these 
respects,  may  change  with  changing  circumstances.  Although  we  are  confid 
ing,  we  are  not  therefore  unobservant,  and  in  no  case  are  we  likely  to  neglect 
such  provision  for  our  own  safety  as  every  people  must  always  be  prepared  to 
fall  back  upon  when  a  nation  with  which  they  have  lived  in  friendship  ceases 
to  respect  its  moral  and  treaty  obligations. 

In  giving  you  this  summary  of  our  positions,  I  have  simply  drawn  off  from 
the  records  the  instructions  under  which  Mr.  Dayton  is  acting  at  Paris.  I  re 
main  of  the  opinion  that  national  dignity  is  best  conserved  by  confining  the 
discussion  of  these  affairs  to  the  cabinets  of  the  United  States,  France,  and 
Mexico,  and  that  no  public  interest  is  to  be  advanced  by  opening  it  at  Vienna, 
and,  therefore,  I  do  not  direct  you  to  communicate  this  despatch  to  the  imperial 
royal  court. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

J.  LOTHROP  MOTLEY,  Esq.,  fyc.,  fyc.,  Vienna. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Nelson. 

No.  14.]  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  June  19,  1862. 

SIR  :  Your  despatch  of  May  1  (No.  33)  has  been  received. 

The  change  of  opinion  and  sentiment  which  has  taken  place  in  Chili  in 
regard  to  our  domestic  troubles  is  the  attainment  of  an  important  advantage 
which  the  President  early  determined  to  secure,  if  possible,  by  frank,  hon 
orable,  and  generous  efforts.  It  is  certainly  true  that  there  cannot  perma 
nently  exist  two  antagonistical  systems  of  government  upon  this  continent,  nor 
can  there  always  be  two  commercial  systems  upon  this  continent,  one  of  which 
must  have  its  centre  here  and  the  other  in  Europe.  The  social  differences 
which  distinguish  the  Latin  races  from  those  of  northern  stock  are  likely  to  be 
long  perpetuated  on  that  continent.  But  there  is  a  constant  and  rapid  tendency 
towards  harmony  and  assimilation  between  them  in  America,  and  ultimately  a 
constitution  of  society  decidedly  American  must  exist  here.  Such  a  change  is 
necessary  to  secure  a  complete  development  of  the  resources  of  the  continent, 
and  necessary  even  to  render  the  states  which  are  to  exist  here  safe  against 
domestic  divisions  and  foreign  aggression.  The  change,  however,  is  to  be 
effected  not  by  wars  and  conquests,  but  peacefully  through  the  influence  of 
moral  causes.  Each  American  state  must  practice  justice  and  forbearance  and 
cordial  friendship  towards  every  other  state,  and  all  must  come  to  learn  that 
political  institutions,  which  fail  to  secure  peace  and  to  create  prosperity,  cannot 
be  upheld  even  by  any  combination  with  foreign  powers. 

The  United  States  want  no  more  extended  empire.  The  field  they  occupy 
is  adequate  to  the  employment  of  all  their  energies,  and  ample  for  the  play  of 
their  just  ambition.  Thus  content  with  their  boundaries,  they  daily  become 
more  intolerant  of  the  idea  of  any  division  of  their  domain,  or  any  encroachment 
upon  it  by  foreign  powers.  These  sentiments  have  thus  far  been  the  great  in 
vigorating  forces  of  the  country  in  the  present  war,  and  have,  as  we  believe, 
carried  us  safely  to  the  point  where  the  end  begins.  We  have  not  been  una 
ware  that  reactionary  forces  have  manifested  themselves  in  neighboring  Ameri 
can  states,  and  threaten  a  subversion  of  their  republican  institutions,  and  of 


484  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

course  a  subversion  of  their  sovereignty  and  independence.  It  might  be  doubt 
ful  whether  states  thus  menaced  could  in  any  case  be  benefited  by  material  aid 
borrowed  from  any  foreign  nation.  Every  loan  of  that  kind  is  ultimately  re 
paid  with  the  loss  of  a  part  of  the  independence  which  it  was  intended  to  save. 
But  the  Latin  states  of  America  may  rest  assured  that  the  United  States  will 
maintain  their  own  integrity  and  independence  through  the  greatest  trials,  and 
thus  show  to  the  world  that  American  institutions  possess  virtues  and  advan 
tages  which  make  the  nations  which  enjoy  them  indissoluble  and  invulnerable. 
We  invite  Chili  and  all  the  other  American  states  to  cultivate  the  same  spirit, 
and  exhibit  the  same  determination. 

The  attempt  to  revolutionize  the  American  Union  has  already  failed.  The 
disappointed  faction,  if  they  are  to  be  believed,  will  seek  compensation  for  their 
failure  in  revenge.  They  have  commenced  what  they  .threaten  shall  be  a  twenty 
years'  guerilla  war.  The  measure  itself  is  an  evidence  of  imbecility,  and  of  a 
profound  misunderstanding  of  the  American  character.  Peace  and  harmony 
under  the  authority  of  the  federal  Union  are  due  as  a  reward  to  the  loyalty  and 
virtue  which  the  American  people  have  practiced  in  their  recent  trial,  and  they 
are  not  now  far  distant. 

1  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

THOMAS  H.  NELSON,  Esq. 


Mr.  Nelson  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Extract.] 

No.  48.]  LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

Santiago  de  Chili,  September  1,  1862. 

SIR:  Upon  the  30th  ultimo  I  addressed  the  secretary  of  foreign  relations  a 
note,  having  for  its  object  a  frank  exposition  of  what  I  deemed  the  sentiments 
of  the  government  of  the  United  States  towards  the  other  American  republics. 
In  preparing  this  note,  a  copy  of  which  is  herewith  transmitted,  I  availed  my 
self  of  the  views  expressed  in  your  despatch  No.  14,  of  June  19,  1862,  and  in 
the  correspondence  submitted  by  you  to  the  President,  under  date  of  April  14, 
in  compliance  with  the  resolution  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  February 
3,  1862. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  • 

I  have  the  honor  to  remain,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

THOMAS  H.  NELSON. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States. 


Mr.  Nelson  to  Mr.    Tocornal. 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

Santiago  de  Chili,  August  30,  1862. 

SIR:  Upon  the  1st  of  May  last,  in  a  despatch  to  the  honorable  Secretary  of 
State  of  the  United  States,  I  had  the  honor  to  express  my  gratification  at  the 
hearty  manifestations  of  a  desire  evinced  by  a  portion  of  the  press  of  Chili  for 
the  suppression  of  the  domestic  dissension  existing  in  the  United  States,  and 
for  a  closer  drawing  together  of  the  bonds  uniting  the  other  nations  of  America 
with  our  own.  I  moreover  assured  the  honorable  Secretary  of  my  belief  that 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  485 

these  were  the  prevailing  sentiments  of  the  government  as  well  as  of  the  people 
of  this  republic,  who  were,  to  say  the  least,  solicitous  regarding  the  policy  of 
some  of  the  powers  of  western  Europe  towards  the  comparatively  defenceless 
states  of  Spanish  America.  I  also  alluded  to  the  gratifying  circumstance  that 
the  United  States  and  their  citizens  had,  in  my  opinion,  never  before  occupied 
a  more  favorable  position  in  the  estimation  of  Chili  than  at  present — a  more 
intimate  knowledge  of  our  people,  aims  and  policy,  having  developed  a  true 
appreciation  and  cordial  esteem,  which  could  not  but  most  favorably  affect  all 
our  relations  with  this  republic. 

Under  date  of  the  19th  of  June,  1862,  the  honorable  Secretary  addressed 
me,  in  reply  to  the  one  above  alluded  to,  a  despatch  of  which  the  relative  po 
sitions  of  the  United  States  of  America  and  her  sister  republics,  in  view  of  the 
gravity  of  the  present  political  situation,  form  the  basis. 

Feeling  assured  that  a  knowledge  of  the  sentiments  of  my  government  upon 
this  subject  cannot  but  be  most  gratifying  to  the  government  of  your  excellency, 
I  have  believed  that  our  official  intercourse  could  not  be  more  agreeably  initiated 
than  in  a  frank  and  sincere  expression  of  such  sentiments  of  which  I  am  most 
happy  in  being  the  exponent. 

I  need  not  assure  your  excellency  that  my  government  has  felt  the  most 
profound  interest  in  the  events  now  occurring  in  the  neighboring  and  sister  re 
public  of  Mexico,  wherein  reactionary  forces  have  been  threatening  a  subver 
sion  of  her  republican  institutions,  and,  of  course,  a  subversion  of  her  sove 
reignty  and  independence. 

The  United  States  are  deeply  concerned  in  the  peace  of  nations,  and  at  the 
same  time  aim  to  be  loyal  in  all  their  relations  to  European  as  well  as  American 
states.  The  President,  while  relying  upon  the  good  faith  of  the  allied  powers, 
and  confident  of  their  sincerity  in  disclaiming  any  intention  to  intervene  to 
change  the  constitutional  form  of  government,  has  deemed  it  his  duty  to  ex 
press  to  them  the  opinion  that  no  monarchical  government  which  could  be 
founded  in  Mexico,  in  the  presence  of  foreign  navies  and  armies  in  her  waters 
and  upon  her  soil,  would  have  any  prospect  of  security  or  permanency  ;  secondly, 
that  the  instability  of  such  a  monarchy  there  would  be  enhanced  if  the  throne 
should  be  assigned  to  any  person  not  of  Mexican  nativity.  That  under  such 
circumstances  the  new  government  must  fall,  unless  it  could  draw  into  its  sup 
port  European  alliances,  which,  relating  back  to  the  present  invasion,  would,  in 
fact,  make  it  the  beginning  of  a  permanent  policy  of  armed  European  inter 
vention,  injurious  and  practically  hostile  to  the  most  general  system  of  govern 
ment  on  the  continent  of  America,  and  this  would  be  the  beginning,  rather  than 
the  ending,  of  revolution  in  Mexico. 

In  such  a  case  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  the  permanent  interests  and  sym 
pathies  of  the  United  States  would  be  with  the  other  American  republics.  It 
is  not  intended  on  this  occasion  to  predict  the  course  of  events  which  might 
happen  as  a  consequence  of  the  proceeding  contemplated,  either  011  this  con 
tinent  or  in  Europe.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that,  in  the  opinion  of  the  President, 
the  emancipation  of  our  own  country  from  European  control  has  been  the  prin 
cipal  feature  in  its  history  during  the  last  century. 

Between  some  of  the  South  American  republics  and  our  own  there  has 
existed,  not  remotely,  an  alienation,  founded  partly  upon  an  imperfect  apprecia 
tion  of  our  sentiments,  partly  upon  errors  and  prejudices  peculiar  to  themselves, 
and  yet  not  altogether  without  fault  upon  our  part — an  alienation  temporary  in 
its  character,  and  which  I  rejoice  to  know  has  yielded  to  a  better  knowledge  of 
the  government  and  people  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  sincerity  of  their 
cordial  interest  in  the  integrity  and  welfare  of  sister  republics. 

The  social  differences  which  distinguish  the  Latin  races  from  those  of  north 
ern  stock  are  likely  to  be  long  perpetuated  upon  the  continent  of  Europe. 
But  there  is  a  constant  and  rapid  tendency  towards  harmony  and  assimilation  be- 


486  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

tween  them  in  America,  and  ultimately  a  constitution  of  society  decidedly  Amer 
ican  must  exist  here.  Such  a  change  is  necessary  to  secure  a  complete  de 
velopment  of  the  resources  of  the  continent,  and  necessary  even  to  render  the 
states  which  are  to  exist  here  safe  against  domestic  disorders  and  foreign  ag 
gression.  The  change,  however,  is  to  be  effected,  not  by  wars  and  conquests, 
but  peacefully  through  the  influence  of  moral  causes.  Every  American  state 
must  practice  patience  and  forbearance  and  cordial  friendship  towards  every 
other,  and  all  must  come  to  learn  that  political  institutions  which  fail  to  secure 
peace  and  to  create  prosperity  cannot  be  upheld,  even  by  any  combination  with 
foreign  powers.  The  United  States  want  no  more  extended  empire.  The  field 
they  occupy  is  adequate  to  the  employment  of  all  their  energies,  and  ample  for 
the  play  of  their  just  ambition.  Thus  content  with  their  boundaries,  they 
daily  become  more  intolerant  of  the  idea  of  any  division  of  their  domain  or 
encroachment  upon  it  by  foreign  powers.  These  sentiments  have  thus  far  been 
the  great  invigorating  forces  of  the  United  States  during  their  present  domestic 
dissensions,  and  I  need  scarcely  assure  your  excellency  that  they  feel  now  con 
fident  of  a  speedy  and  complete  re-establishment  of  peace  within  their  borders. 
The  Latin  states  of  America  may  rest  assured  that  the  United  States  will  main 
tain  their  integrity  and  independence  through  the  greatest  trials,  and  thus  show 
to  the  world  that  American  institutions  possess  virtues  and  advantages  which 
make  the  nations  enjoying  them  indissoluble  and  invulnerable. 

We  invite  Chili  and  all  other  American  states  to  cultivate  the  same  spirit  and 
exhibit  the  same  determination. 

These,  your  excellency,  are  the  sentiments  of  the  government  and  people 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  I  gladly  avail  myself  of  this  opportu 
nity  of  manifesting  to  the  government  of  Chili  how  deep  is  their  interest  in 
the  welfare  of  every  other  American  republic,  how  disinterested  their  desire 
that  the  relations  subsisting  between  these  several  nations  and  their  own  shall 
assume  a  spirit  more  elevated  than  one  of  merely  commercial  or  conventional 
amity,  a  spirit  earnestly  American  in  the  continental  sense  of  the  word,  and 
fraternal  in  no  mere  diplomatic  meaning  of  the  term,  conducive  to  their  mutual 
prosperity  and  happiness,  and  ultimately  auspicious  to  all  republican  states 
throughout  the  world. 

Availing  myself  of  this  occasion,  allow  me  to  reiterate  to  your  excellency 
the  earnest  assurances  of  distinguished  consideration  and  high  esteem  with  which 
I  have  the  honor  to  remain  your  excellency's  most  obedient  servant, 

THOMAS  H.  NELSON. 

His  Excellency  the  SECRETARY  OF  FOREIGN  RELATIONS 

Of  the  Republic  of  Chili. 


Mr.  Nelson  to  Mr.  Seward. 

[Extract.] 

No.  51.]  LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

Santiago  de  Chili,  September  17,  1862. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  herein  a  copy  of  a  note  addressed  to  me 
by  the  secretary  of  foreign  relations  of  Chili  on   the  13th  instant,  in  reply  to 

the  one  transmitted  by  me  to  his  excellency  on  the  30th  ultimo. 

##**** 

I  have  the  honor  to  remain,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

THOMAS  H.  NELSON. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  Slate  of  the  United  States. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  487 

Mr.  Tocornal  to  Mr.  Nelson. 

• 

[Translation.] 

SANTIAGO,  September  13,  1862. 

The  undersigned,  minister  of  foreign  relations  of  Chili,  lias  had  the  honor  to  receive  the 
note  which  the  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  was 
pleased  to  address  him,  under  date  of  the  30th  ultimo. 

His  excellency  has  thought  proper  therein  to  express  to  the  undersigned  how  agreeable  it 
is  to  him  to  initiate  their  relations  by  a  manifestation  of  the  sentiments  which  animate  the 
government  and  people  of  the  United  States  towards  the  Chilian  government  and  nation, 
and  towards  all  the  other  Spanish  American  republics. 

The  undersigned,  while  accepting  the  manifestation  transmitted  by  the  Hon.  Mr.  Nelson, 
highly  congratulates  himself  that  it  affords  him  the  opportunity  of  setting  forth,  in  his  turn, 
the  kindly  feelings  entertained  by  the  Chilian  government  and  people  towards  the  government 
and  people  of  the  United  States  of  North  America. 

Nothing  is  more  natural  than  that  the  republic  of  Chili  should  view  with  great  interest  the 
painful  crisis  at  present  afflicting  the  United  States,  and  should  pray  for  its  early  conclusion 
in  the  most  satisfactory  manner. 

Notwithstanding  the  diversity  of  origin  and  of  language,  the  United  States  and  the 
Spanish  American  republics  are  mutually  united  by  the  strong  bond  of  analogous  political 
institutions,  in  whose  development  they  found  the  hope  of  a  growing  prosperity,  which 
must,  of  necessity,  cause  each  to  view  the  fate  of  the  others  as  of  an  interest  not  foreign,  but 
their  own.  If,  heretofore,  there  have  been  at  times  motives  which  may  have  enfeebled  the 
friendly  relations  of  the  Spanish  American  republics  with  the  United  States ;  if  there  has 
existed  a  want  of  confidence,  either  founded  or  unfounded ;  if  perhaps,  the  principles  which 
guided  the  cabinet  at  Washington  in  diplomatic  affairs  have  not  always  been  well  appre 
ciated,  the  undersigned  flatters  himself  that  the  solution  of  the  crisis  through  which  the 
United  States  are  now  passing,  while  it  will  assure  them  the  elevated  rank  which,  in  a  brief 
period  of  their  history,  they  have  obtained  among  the  great  nations  of  the  earth,  thanks  to 
the  powerful  resources  of  their  territory,  and,  more  than  all,  to  the  admirable  efforts  of  their 
citizens,  must  contribute  to  draw  closer  together  the  relations  of  true  fraternity  with  the 
Spanish  American  states,  causing  all  the  republics  of  this  continent  to  consider  themselves 
as  the  members  of  one  and  the  same  family. 

The  sincere  union  of  all  the  republics  of  the  American  continent,  whatever  be  their  historical 
antecedents,  will  be  a  fact  pregnant  with  great  and  profitable  results,  since  it  must  co 
operate  not  only  to  the  security  of  republican  institutions,  but,  also,  to  the  moral  and 
material  progress  of  these  states,  and  even  to  the  preservation  of  friendly  relations  with 
European  nations,  wrhich  Chili,  as  well  as  the  United  States,  desires  to  cultivate  and  foment. 

The  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  is  also  pleased 
to  inform  the  undersigned  that  his  government  has  viewed  with  especial  interest  the  events 
occurring  in  Mexico  ;  and  the  President  of  the  United  States,  although  confident  in  the  good 
faith  of  the  allied  powers,  and  in  the  sincerity  of  their  promises  not  to  intervene  to  change 
the  form  of  government  of  Mexico,  has  deemed  it  his  duty  to  manifest  to  them  his  opinion 
that  a  monarchy  upheld  by  foreign  armies  and  navies  would  have  no  prospect  of  permanency 
in  that  country. 

The  undersigned  has  been  especially  charged  by  the  President  of  the  republic  to  manifest 
to  the  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  that  he  participates  in  the  accurate 
opinion  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  upon  the  inefficacy  of  substituting  in  Mexico 
for  the  republic  a  monarchy  constituted  in  favor  of  a  Mexican  citizen  or  foreign  prince.  A 
foreign  prince  would,  doubtless,  need  the  constant  aid  and  protection  of  foreign  forces,  which 
would  place  him  under  a  permanent  tutelage,  which,  while  it  would  weaken  the  prestige  of 
authority,  would  deprive  him  of  his  true  independence.  A  citizen  of  Mexico  would  meet 
with  analogous  difficulties  and  the  want  of  those  historical  antecedents  which,  in  great  part, 
constitute  the  power  of  monarchical  governments.  So  that  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  it 
would  succeed  in  meriting  the  adhesion  of  the  people. 

Nor  are  social  and  political  changes  so  easily  effected.  The  constitution,  in  republics  of 
the  different  sections  of  Spanish  America,  is,  doubtless,  the  most  prominent  fact  of  their 
history,  as  it  is  in  regard  to  the  United  States,  as  observed  by  his  excellency  the  envoy  ex 
traordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary.  And  a  new  change  in  the  form  of  government  of 
Mexico  would  require  radical  modifications  in  her  customs  and  other  social  elements,  which, 
even  on  the  hypothesis  that  they  could  be  effected  at  the  cost  of  immense  sacrifices  and  in  a  long 
series  of  years,  would  give  room  for  a  movement  of  reorganization,  slow  and  dangerous, 
which  would  prolong  the  evil  condition  of  affairs  in  Mexico  instead  of  affording  a  remedy  therefor. 

It  is  undoubtedly  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  perturbations  wrhich  have  agitated  the 
Spanish  American  republics,  and  especially  Mexico,  should  have  weakened  the  prestige  of 
the  republican  system  in  the  estimation  of  a  few,  obliging  them  to  seek  a  remedy  in  another 
form  of  government,  which,  instead  of  being  the  end,  would  be  the  beginning  of  new  and 
more  sanguinary  contests. 

By  an  error  of  judgment  they  deem  order  and  prosperity  irreconcilable  with  the  republican 
system,  as  thoug'h  stability  and  the  guarantees  of  a  good  government  belonged  alone  to 


488  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

monarchy,  without  reflecting  that  the  history  of  all  ages  has  condi-mm-d  the  principles  of 
absolutism,  and  that  (both)  republicanism  and  monarchy  have  given  to'nations  prosperity  and 
glory. 

For  the  rest,  the  government  of  the  United  States  ought  ever  to  count  upon  the  assurance 
of  finding  that  reciprocity  of  ideas  and  sentiments  which  the  undersigned  has  had  the  honor 
to  manifest  in  this  note  to  the  honorable  Mr.  Nelson. 

The  undersigned  likeAvise  entertains  the  conviction  that  his  excellency,  who  so  worthily 
and  so  acceptably  to  the  government  of  Chili  fulfils  the  high  mission  with  which  he  is 
charged,  will  continue,  as  up  to  the  present  time,  co-operating  in  the  development  and  in 
crease  of  the  cordiality  and  harmony  which  happily  exist  between  the  republics  of  Chili  and 
the  United  States. 

With  this  motive  the  undersigned  takes  pleasure  in  renewing  to  the  envoy  extraordinary 
and  minister  plenipotentiary  the  assurances  of  his  high  and  distinguished  consideration,  and 
in  subscribing  himself  his  excellency's  attentive  and  obsequious  servant, 

MANUEL  A.  TOCORNAL. 

The  ENVOY  EXTRAORDINARY 

and  MINISTER  PLENIPOTENTIARY  of  the 

United  States  of  North  America. 


Mr.  Tkayer  to  Mr.  Seward. 

[Extracts.] 
No.  26.]  UNITED  STATES  CONSULATE  GENERAL, 

Alexandria,  January  9,  1863. 

SIR  :  An  event  of  apparently  grave  importance  has  just  come  to  light,  and 
produces  much  excitement  in  this  community. 

On  the  morning  of  the  7th  instant  four  hundred  and  fifty  black  soldiers  were, 
by  order  of  the  viceroy  of  Egypt,  taken  by  railway  from  the  fortifications  of  the 
barrage,  (about  120  miles  south  of  Alexandria,)  and  at  night  shipped  on  board 
the  French  transport  steamer  La  Seine,  for  a  destination  generally  understood 
to  be  Mexico,  with  the  object  of  aiding  the  French  Emperor  in  his  military  oper 
ations  against  that  country.  These  negroes,  with  others,  departed  early  yes 
terday  morning;  it  is  stated  that  they  were  dressed  in  zouave  uniform  and  fully 
armed. 

In  a  letter  from  Toulon,  which  appeared  in  the  Independence  Beige  of  the 
28th  ultimo,  I  am  told,  it  was  reported  that  La  Seine  was  about  to  sail  to  Alex 
andria  with  French  troops  en  route  for  Cochin  China,  but  that  it  would  return 
with  1,000  negro  troops  which  the  viceroy  had  pledged  to  the  French  expedition 
against  Mexico. 

Another  journal,  La  France,  of  Paris,  confirmed  the  report  of  such  a  promise 

on  the  part  of  his  highness. 

******** 

Since  it  has  become  known,  the  time  has  been  too  short  to  obtain  any  in 
formation  from  the  viceroy,  who  is  at  Cairo,  and  his  officers  here  profess  entire 
ignorance,  although  the  police  under  them  were  employed  in  the  work  of  em 
barking  the  troops. 

It  is  well  understood  that  the  French  Emperor  has  been  anxious  to  supply 
the  losses  which  his  Mexican  army  has  suffered  from  climate  and  disease  by 
the  employment  of  blacks ;  and  the  viceroy,  I  am  told,  declared  a  month  ago 
that  he  was  about  to  send  a  thousand  of  his  men  to  some  place  where  their 
quality  might  be  tested.  His  highness,  it  is  also  known,  has  always  been  proud 
of  his  army,  "both  black  and  white,  the  effectiveness  of  which,  except  in  repulsing 
the  raids  of  Bedoins,  has  not  been  fairly  displayed  since  the  war  in  the  Crimea, 
where  his  men  certainly  distinguished  themselves,  as  compared  with  other  Ot 
toman  troops. 

******** 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  S.  THAYER. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,   Washington,  D.  C. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  489 

Mr.  Tliayer  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Extract.] 

ALEXANDRIA,  January  12,  1863. 

SIR  :  The  facts  in  my  despatch  No.  26  are  confirmed,  but  as  I  am  awaiting 
explanations  from  the  viceroy,  I  postpone  destails  until  the  next  mail,  which 
goes  in  a  day  or  two. 

The  European  consuls  general  have  telegraphed  to  their  governments  and  are 

awaiting  instructions. 

###  ####### 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  S.  THAYER. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State. 


Mr.  Thayer  to  Mr.  Seward. 

No.  28.]  UNITED  STATES  CONSULATE  GENERAL, 

Alexandria,  January  27,  1863. 

SIR  :  I  am  informed  that  some  time  since  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  at 
Paris  announced  to  Lord  Cowley  the  Emperor's  wish  to  procure  blacks  from 
Egypt.  This  report  somewhat  confirms  the  surmise  in  my  last  despatch  that 
the  Emperor  had  sounded  the  courts  of  Europe  before  taking  a  step  which  would 
violate  the  rights  of  the  Porte,  as  suzerain  of  Egypt.  It  also  partially  accounts 
for  the  confidence  with  which,  in  official  quarters  here,  it  was  predicted  that 
there  would  be  no  protest  from  the  European  powers  against  the  offence.  In 
what  light  the  proposed  measure  was  presented  to  secure  in  advance  such  an 
acquiescence  I  can  only  conjecture.  If  these  reports  be  true,  the  United  States 
is  the  only  great  power  which  is  not  hampered  from  protesting  against  the 
Emperor's  transaction. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  S.  THAYER. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C. 


No.  15. 
Suspension  of  trade  with  Matamoros. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  July  11,  1861. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  (with  two  enclosures,)  July  17,  1861. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  one  enclosure,)  July  23,  1861.    • 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  (with  one  enclosure.)  July  31,  1861. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  August  1,  1861. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  (with  one  enclosure,)  September  2,  1861. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  (with  one  enclosure,)  September  7,  1861. 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward,  September  10,  1861. 

Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero,  September  13,  1861. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  July  11,  1861. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  Mr.  B.  F.  Penniman,  a  merchant  of  Boston,  has  addressed 
himself  to  this  legation,  asking  whether  a  vessel,  laden  with  provisions  and  other 


490  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

articles  of  lawful  commerce,  will  be  permitted  to  leave  said  port,  land  her  cargo 
in  Matamoras,  and  sell  it  in  that  market.  Mr.  Penniman,  who  desires  to  send  a 
vessel  to  the  said  port,  further  states  that  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury  has  notified  the  collector  of  customs  at  Boston  not  to  clear  any  vessel  what 
ever  for  Matamoras,  except  under  certain  conditions,  of  which  I  am  not  advised, 
and  which,  however,  are  not  made  to  apply  to  the  other  ports  of  Mexico. 

Although  I  believe  that  in  the  instructions  which  the  Treasury  Department 
may  have  issued  upon  this  subject  the  legitimate  interests  of  Mexico  have  been 
saved  harmless,  and  the  rights  which  she  has  acquired  under  the  treaties  which 
bind  it  to  the  United  States  have  been  preserved  intact.  I  desire,  nevertheless, 
to  satisfy  myself  in  this  belief  by  a  perusal  of  said  instructions,  and  to  be  enabled 
to  inform  my  government  of  them,  for  which  purpose  I  would  thank  you  to  have 
the  goodness  to  ask  for  and  transmit  to  me  a  copy  of  the  same. 

I  avail  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  very 
distinguished  consideration, 

M.  ROMERO. 


Mr.  Scward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  July  17,  1861. 

SIR:  Having  referred  your  note  of  the  llth  instant  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  to  you  a  copy  of  a  letter  addressed  by 
him  on  the  19th  ultimo  to  the  collector  of  the  customs  at  Boston,  which  contains 
the  information  you  solicit. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
highest  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
Senor  Dox  MATIAS  ROMERO,  &.,  Sfc.,  fyv. 


TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,  July  16,  1861. 

SiR:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  13th  instant,  en 
closing  a  translation  of  a  note  from  Mr.  Romero,  the  Mexican  minister,  requesting  a  copyof 
the  instructions  given  to  the  collector  at  Boston  in  regard  to  clearing  vessels  from  that  port 
to  Matamoras,  Mexico.  A  copy  of  the  only  instructions  given  to  the  collector  at  Boston  on 
the  subject  is  herewith  transmitted,  dated  the  19th  ultimo. 
I  am,  very  respectfully, 

S.  P.  CHASE, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 
Secretary  of  State. 


TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,  July  19,  1861. 

SiR:  I  have  received  the  letter  of  your  deputy  collector,  B.  F.  Copeland,  of  the  17th 
instant,  inquiring  whether  any  objection  should  be  made  by  you  to  clearing  at  your  port  a 
British  vessel  with  an  assorted  cargo,  mostly  provisions  for  Matamoras,  Mexico. 

You  are  authorized  to  use  your  own  discretion.     If  you  are  satisfied  the  merchandise  is 
not  intended  for  the  insurgents  you  may  clear.     If  not  satisfied,  you  should  refuse  to  grant 
a  clearance.     You  were  notified  to  this  effect  by  telegraph  of  the  15th  instant. 
All  official  communications  should  be  signed  by  you  as  collector. 
I  am,  very  respectfully, 

S.  P.  CHASE, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
Z.  GOODRICH,  Esq., 

Collector,  Sfc.,  Boston,  Mass. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  491 

Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  July  23,  1861. 

Mr.  SECRETARY:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note 
of  the  17 fch  instant,  with  which  you  were  pleased  to  send  me  a  copy  of  the 
instructions  communicated  by  the  Treasury  Department  to  the  collector  of 
the  customs  at  Boston  on  the  clearance  of  vessels  for  Matamoras.  At  the  same 
time  I  received  a  communication  from  the  Mexican  consul  at  New  York,  of  which 
I  annex  a  copy.  In  it  he  informs  me  that  the  collector  at  that  port  answered 
the  merchant  who  inquired  if  he  would  clear  vessels  for  Matamoros,  that  he 
would  not  give  a  categorical  reply  unless  the  vessels  should  be  laden  and  ready 
to  sail. 

Such  proceedings,  which,  in  my  judgment,  prejudice  the  mercantile  relations 
of  both  countries  and  which  are  not  in  conformity  with  the  stipulations  of  the 
treaty  of  commerce,  which  are  obligatory,  induce  me  to  address  myself  anew  to  you 
on  this  subject,  to  the  end  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  may  please 
to  dictate  regulations  such  as  the  rights  and  legitimate  interests  of  Mexico  re 
quire  in  the  present  case. 

You  know,  sir,  that  with  respect  to  commercial  advantages,  Mexico  is,  in 
regard  of  the  United  States,  on  the  same  footing  as  any  the  most  favored  nations. 
For  this  reason,  this  merchandise,  which  may  be  lawfully  exported  to  any  port 
of  a  foreign  nation,  may  also  be  exported  to  Vera  Cruz,  as  well  as  to  Mata 
moras  or  other  ports  of  Mexico. 

If  by  reason  of  especial  circumstances,  which  at  this  time  arise  from  the 
geographical  position  of  Matamoras,  the  government  of  the  United  States  should 
deem  it  convenient  to  make  some  exception  in  respect  to  that  port,  it  would  be 
necessary,  in  order  to  make  it  effective,  to  obtain  in  the  first  place  the  consent 
of  the  government  of  Mexico,  and  meantime,  until  this  is  attained,  I  shall  hold 
it  to  be  ray  duty  to  request  that  no  difference  shall  be  made  between  that  port 
and  the  others  of  the  Mexican  republic, 

I  have  the  honor  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  highest  consid 
eration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  fyc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


f  [Translation.] 

MEXICAN  CONSULATE,  New  York,  July  17,  1861. 

At  different  times  merchants  of  this  city  have  approached  this  office,  under  my  care,  in 
quiring  whether  I  \vould  think  it  inexpedient  to  clear  a  vessel  laden  with  merchandise  for 
the  port  of  Matamoras  ;  and  upon  asking  for  the  cause  of  this  inquiry,  they  replied  that  the 
collector  of  the  customs  at  this  port  had  declared  "that  he  will  not  give  any  categorical 
answer  whether  he  will  or  will  not  clear  a  vessel  for  the  said  port  of  Matamoras  until  she  be 
laden  and  ready  to  sail ;"  and  that  the  parties  interested  understood  this  to  be  a  sort  of  re 
fusal,  and  were,  therefore,  not  willing  to  incur  the  risk  of  lading  their  vessel,  because  after 
having  done  so  they  could  not  clear  her.  My  reply  was,  naturally,  that  this  office  finds  no 
difficulty  in  giving  the  consular  clearance  to  any  vessel  lawfully  seeking  it  for  a  Mexican 
port,  such  as  Matamoras  ;  but  that,  at  the  same  time,  because  of  the  geographical  position 
of  said  port,  and  the  political  state  of  this  country  at  present,  I  would  not  pass  any  invoice 
which  should  include  arms,  munitions,  powder  and  its  components ;  that  this  decision  was 
entirely  spontaneous  with  me,  and  I  would  submit  it  to  my  government  for  approval,  (as  I 
do  through  your  esteemed  intervention,)  so  that  for  the  future  the  resolution  which  may  be 
adopted  will  serve  as  a  rule  of  conduct. 

In  consequence  of  what  is  stated,  and  considering  that  it  is  a  grave  injury  to  trade  that 
doubts  of  this  kind  be  entertained.  I  ask  your  recourse,  sir,  to  the  government  of  the 


492  MEXICAN    AFFAIRS. 

United  States,  that  it  may  issue  instructions  respecting  it  to  the  collector  of  the  customs  at 
this  port,  in  order  that  he  may  reply  decidedly  that  the  Mexican  port  of  Matanioras  is  not 
to  be  considered  as  comprehended  in  the  blockade  of  the  ports  of  the  rebel  States  pro 
claimed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  because,  although  it  is  perfectly  true  that 
the  bar  of  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Ngrte  is  at  the  entrance  common  to  said  port  and  the  port  of 
Brownsville,  I  also  know  that,  by  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  concluded  between 
Mexico  and  the  United  States,  the  navigation  of  that  river  is  neutral. 

I  reiterate  to  you,  sir,  my  respect  and  consideration.     God  and  liberty  ! 

J.  M.  DURAN. 

To  the  CHARGE  D'AFFAIRES 

Of  the  Mexican  Legation,  Washington. 

A  true  copy.— July  23,  1861. 

ROMERO. 


Mr.  Reward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  July  31,  1861. 

SIR  :  Havfng  submitted  your  note  of  the  23d  instant  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  I  have  the  honor  to  communicate  herewith  a  copy  of  a  letter  from 
him  dated  yesterday,  containing  his  decision  in  reference  to  the  subject  laid 
before  him,  and  which,  I  trust,  will  be  regarded  by  the  Mexican  government  as 
another  proof  of  the  disposition  of  the  United  States  to  facilitate  as  much  as 
possible  the  commercial  intercourse  between  the  two  countries. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
highest  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
•Senor  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  Sfc. 


TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,  July  30,  1861. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  return  herewith  the  note  of  Mr.  Romero,  the  Mexican  minister, 
in  regard  to  the  clearance  of  vessels  for  Matamoras,  Mexico,  enclosed  for  my  consideration 
in  your  communication  of  the  26th  instant. 

I  can  perceive  no  objection  to  the  granting  of  clearances  to  vessels  destined  to  Matamoras 
laden  with  merchandise  of  any  kind  except  arms  and  munitions  of  war.  Owing  to  the 
proximity  of  that  port  to  Brownsville  and  other  ports  in  Texas,  on  the  Rio  Grande,  and  the 
facility  with  which  arms  and  munitions  of  war  may  be  furnished  from  that  point  to  the  in 
surgents,  it  is  obvious  that  one  of  the  chief  purposes  of  the  blockade  would  be  likely  to  be 
defeated  if  articles  of  that  description  should  be  freely  imported  into  Matamoras. 

But  in  view  of  the  friendly  relations  so  happily  subsisting  between  the  United  States  and 
Mexico,  and  which  it  is  the  desire  and  interest  of  both  countries  to  maintain  unimpaired,  the 
restriction  of  the  commerce  of  the  United  States  with  Mexican  ports  on  the  Rio  Grande  will 
be  confined  within  the  narrowest  limits  compatible  with  the  maintenance  of  an  effective 
blockade.  No  obstacle  Avill,  of  course,  be  interposed  to  commercial  intercourse  between 
the  United  States  and  Mexican  ports  not  on  the  Rio  Grande. 

Instructions  to  this  effect  will  be  given  to  collectors  of  the  customs. 
I  am,  very  respectfully, 

S.  P.  CHASE, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

Hon.  W.  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State. 


MEXICAN    AFFAIRS.  493 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 
[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  August  1,  1861. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note 
dated  yesterday,  in  which  you  were  pleased  to  enclose  to  me  a  copy  of  the 
communication  of  the  honorable  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  30th  of 
July  last,  touching  the  clearance  of  vessels  for  Matamoras. 

I  this  day  transmit  a  copy  of  your  note,  aforementioned,  and  of  the  commu 
nication  accompanying  it,  to  the  government  of  Mexico,  for  its  information  and 
final  decision  upon  this  subject. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  very 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Sec.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


Mr.  Romero  to  Mr.  Seward. 

.    [Translation.] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  September  2,  1861. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  to  you  a  copy  of  a  note  ad 
dressed  to  this  legation,  under  date  of  31st  August  last  past,  by  the  Mexican 
consul  at  New  York,  stating  that  the  custom-ho'use  at  that  port  refuses  to  clear 
for  Matamoras  the  schooner  Alexander,  which  had  been  loading  for  several 
days,  and  which  was  already  prepared  to  sail  for  her  destination,  not  having 
on  board  arms  or  munitions  of  war. 

Believing  that  the  cause  of  such  proceeding  must  be  that  said  custom-house 
had  not  yet  had  notice  of  the  resolutions  of  the  Treasury  Department  of  the 
31st  of  July  last,  which  you  were  pleased  to  communicate  to  me  in  your  note 
of  the  31st  of  the  same  month,  I  address  myself  to  you,  requesting  that  you  will 
bring  these  facts  to  the  knowledge  of  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
for  the  results  that  should  ensue. 

I  avail  of  this  opportunity,  sir,  to  renew  to  you  the  assurances  of  my  most 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Sfc.,  fyc.,  fyc. 


[Translation.] 

MEXICAN  CONSULATE  AT  NEW  YORK, 

New  York,  August  31,  1861. 

To-day  Messrs.  Schepeler  &  Co.,  merchants  of  this  place,  presented  themselves  at  this 
office,  showing  that  the  custom-house  of  this  port  refused  absolutely  a  clearance  for  Mata 
moras  to  the  English  schooner  Alexander  M.,  which  has  been  loading  for  several  days,  and 
was  to-day  prepared  to  sail  for  her  destination.  The  same  gentlemen  have  stated  to  me  that 
the  cargo  referred  to  consists  solely  of  merchandise  for  the  demands  of  Mexican  trade,  and 
contains  nothing  contraband  of  war  of  any  kind. 

The  house  mentioned  cleared,  on  the  19th  of  the  month  now  ending,  the  English  schooner 
Brunette  for  the  same  port,  and  the  custom-house  interposed  no  hindrance  whatever ;  and 
as  much  by  reason  of  this  precedent  as  because  they  obtained  from  this  consulate  the  infor 
mation,  respectively,  about  the  notes  of  the  31st  July  from  the  Department  of  State,  and  of 


494  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS. 

the  30th  of  the  same  month  from  that  of  the  treasury,  copies  of  which  you  sent  me  with 
your  communication  relating  to  it  of  the  1st  of  the  present  month  ;  for  these  two  reasons,  I 
say,  the  Messrs.  Schepeler  &  Co.  proceeded  in  loading  the  vessel  to  which  the  respective 
documents  of  clearance  are  now  refused.  I  bring  the  matter  to  your  knowledge  for  your 
correct  information,  and  for  the  results  for  which  it  may  make  place,  with  the  understanding 
that  it  seems  very  strange  that  this  government,  after  having  given  its  decision  in  the  notes 
to  which  I  have  referred  above,  changes  it  to-day  without  reason  and  without  cause — with 
out  reason,  because  the  American  government  has  not  the  right  to  close  up  a  port  of  a 
friendly  nation,  perhaps  the  only  one  that  has  given  proofs  of  friendship  under  existing 
circumstances  ;  and  without  cause,  because  the  two  vessels  which  have  sailed  for  Matamoras, 
the  Brunette  and  the  William  R.  Kibby,  on  the  19th  and  28th  of  the  month  now  ending, 
have  not  carried  any  contraband  of  war,  at  least  with  knowledge  of  this  consulate,  because 
I  very  decidedly  stated  to  the  shippers  that  I  would  not  pass  any  invoice  whatever  which 
contained  arms  or  munitions  of  war,  and  the  business  was  in  fact  so  carried  out.  I  ask  you 
to  place  this  statement  in  the  knowlege  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  be  pleased  to  commu 
nicate  the  result  to  me. 

God  and  liberty ! 

J.  M.  DURAN. 

To  the  CHARGE  OF  THE  LEGATION  at  Washington. 

WASHINGTON,  September  2,  1861. 
True  copy : 

ROMERO. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  September  7,  1861. 

SIR  :  Having  transmitted  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  a  translation  of 
your  note  of  the  2d  instant,  and  of  its  enclosure,  relating  to  clearances  of  vessels 
from  loyal  ports  of  the  United  States  to  Matamoras,  I  have  now  the  honor  to 
communicate  to  you  a  copy  of  his  reply,  just  received,  dated  the  5th  instant. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  whole  subject  impresses  me  with  the  irresistible 
conviction  that  the  course  which  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  been  im 
pelled  to  adopt  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  public  interest. 

I  sincerely  share  the  regrets  which  he  expresses  that  the  exigencies  of  our 
condition  should  impose  the  slightest  restriction  upon  commercial  intercourse 
with  a  friendly  nation,  but  I  also  anticipate,  with  much  confidence,  that  the 
enlightened  government  of  Mexico  will  not  hesitate  to  appreciate  and  admit  the 
imperative  necessity  which  dictates  the  measure  resorted  to. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  most 
distinguished  consideration. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Senor  DON  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  &.,  &fc. 


TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,  September  5,  1861. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  communication  of  the  3d  instant, 
inviting  my  attention  to  the  translation  of  a  note,  dated  the  2d  instant,  from  Mr.  Romero, 
Mexican  charge  d'affaires,  upon  the  subject  of  clearances  to  vessels  bound  to  Matamoras. 

Having  been  informed,  before  the  receipt  of  your  communication,  of  the  great  increase  of 
shipments  to  Matamoras,  much  beyond,  it  is  believed,  any  legitimate  demand  in  that  portion 
of  Mexico,  and  believing  that  whatever  might  be  their  ostensible  destination,  they  were,  in 
fact,  intended  for  the  insurgents  in  Texas,  I  directed  the  collector  at  New  York  to  grant  no 
more  clearances  for  Matamoras  without  my  special  directions  to  that  effect.  This  restriction 
I  propose  to  make  general. 

I  sincerely  participate  with  you  in  the- regret  that  the  present  condition  of  affairs  in  that 
section  of  the  United  States  contiguous  to  Mexico  renders  it  necessary  to  place  a  partial  and 
temporary  restriction  over  our  trade  with  a  friendly  and  neighboring  nation.  While,  how 
ever,  the  injury  which  may  be  thus  inflicted  on  the  legitimate  trade  of  Mexico  must  be  slight, 


MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  495 

the  continuance  of  commercial  intercourse  with  Matamoras  might  be  seriously  detrimental  to 
the  United  States  in  the  contest  she  is  now  waging  to  restore  her  rightful  authority  in  the 
insurgent  States.  The  Mexican  authorities,  it  is  believed,  cannot  fail  to  perceive,  and  to 
appreciate  in  a  liberal  spirit,  the  necessity  of  this  measure  in  the  present  exigency  of  our 
national  affairs,  although  it  may  seem  to  wear  an  unfriendly  aspect. 
I  am,  very  respectfully, 

S.  P.  CHASE, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State. 


Mr.  Romeo  to  Mr.  Seivard. 
[Translation.  ] 

MEXICAN  LEGATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

Washington,  September  10,  1861. 

Mr.  SECRETARY  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  the  note  you  were  pleased 
to  address  to  me  under  date  of  7th  instant,  communicating  to  me  the  decision 
of  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  relation  to  having  ordered  the 
suspension  of  the  clearance  of  vessels  from  ports  of  the  United  States  not  under 
blockade,  to  Matamoras. 

I  confess,  sir,  that  the  note  of  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the 
5th  instant,  of  which  you  did  me  the  favor  to  send  me  a  copy,  and  which  con 
tains  the  reasons  which  caused  that  measure,  has  given  me  a  painful  impression. 

I  hold  myself  entirely  absolved  from  exception  in  confining  myself  to  show 
ing  the  obligation  which  the  government  of  the  United  States  lies  under  to  grant 
clearances  of  vessels  from  the  recognized  ports  of  this  country  for  any  port  in 
Mexico,  provided  such  clearances  are  given  to  the  ports  of  any  other  nation. 
To  exclude  Matamoras  from  this  right  is  equivalent  to  its  partial  blockade,  which 
I  do  not  consider  the  government  of  the  United  States  is  authorized  to  do  in 
the  state  of  peace  in  which  we  happily  find  ourselves. 

Without  prejudice  to  my  giving  an  immediate  report  to  my  government  of - 
this  decision  of  the  United  States,  and  reserving  the  right  to  act  according  to 
what  may  be  resolved  upon  in  Mexico  upon  this  business,  I  believe  it  to  be  my 
duty  to  make  some  corrections  of  the  representations  which  determined  the  ac 
tion  of  the  Treasury  Department ;  these  explanations,  looked  upon  in  a  friendly 
manner,  are,  to  my  understanding,  sufficient  to  determine  the  revocation  of  that 
measure. 

Since  the  last  demarcation  of  boundaries  made  between  Mexico  and  the  United 
States  placed  Matamoras  on  the  dividing  line,  the  commerce  of  that  port  has 
greatly  increased.  Now  it  receives  not  only  the  articles  required  for  the  con 
sumption  of  the  city,  but  many  others  with  which  it  supplies  Tamaulipas  and 
other  neighboring  states. 

Nearly  one-half  of  the  articles  imported  in  the  Mexican  republic  during  the 
last  six  years  have  come  in  over  the  frontier,  being  brought  from  the  United 
States,  although,  until  this  time,  the  greater  part  of  such  importations  have 
been  clandestine.  The  two  principal  places  of  deposit  were  Matamoras,  which 
received  the  goods  from  New  Orleans  and  Paso  del  Norte  in  Chihuahua,  which 
received  them  from  St.  Louis,  Missouri.  In  consequence  of  the  blockade  of 
the  former,  and  of  the  interruption  of  communication  between  the  latter  with 
the  seceding  States,  this  great  traffic  on  the  frontier  has  been  suspended,  and 
for  the  purpose  of  re-establishing  and  following  it  up  in  a  regular  and  lawful 
manner  the  merchants  of  Matamoras  sent  their  orders  to  the  merchants  of  New 
York  and  Boston. 

How,  then,  should  it  cause  astonishment  that,  when  the  honorable  Secretary 


496  MEXICAN   AFFAIRS.  ^ 

of  the  Treasury  permitted  the  clearance  of  vessels  for  Matamoras,  after  a  com 
plete  paralysis  of  several  mouths,  two  vessels  sailed  from  New  York,  with  a  few 
days  only  between,  and  a  third  should  be  getting  ready  for  departure  1 

The  injury,  then,  which  will  result  to  Mexico  from  the  suspension  of  its 
lawful  trade  is  not  so  slight  as  Mr.  Chase  believes.  The  merchants  of  Mata 
moras,  who  find  the  markets  of  the  United  States  closed  to  them,  will  seek  what 
they  want  in  Europe,  and  then  the  injury  will  reach  also  the  bona  fide  com 
merce  of  this  country. 

I  beg  you,  sir,  to  have  the  goodness  to  communicate  this  note  to  Mr.  Chase, 
as  I  have  no  doubt  from  his  acknowledged  enlightenment,  that  he  will  find  in 
these  explanations  motives  which  justify  the  revocation  of  that  direction. 

I  avail  of  this  opportunity  to  repeat  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  very 
distinguished  consideration. 

M.  ROMERO. 

Hon.  WM.  H.  SEWARD,  <$r.,  <$r.,  $c. 


Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Romero. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  September  13,  1861. 

SIR  :  I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  10th  instant,  re 
plying  to  mine  of  the  7th,  relative  to  the  suspension  of  clearances  for  Matamoras. 

After  a  careful  perusal  of  your  note,  I  am  constrained  to  admit  that  I  do  not 
perceive  the  analogy  you  suggest  between  the  measure  adopted  by  this  gov 
ernment  for  its  own  safety  and  the  blockade  of  a  port  of  a  friendly  power. 
There  is  unquestionable  room  for  doubt  as  to  the  bona  fide  character  of  the 
traffic  carried  on  between  Matamoras  and  the  frontier  of  the  insurgent  State  of 
Texas,  and  this  government  would  be  derelict  to  the  first  principle  of  national 
existence  if  it  failed  to  make  the  consideration  of  its  own  safety  and  integrity 
one  of  paramount  importance. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  order  for  the  suspension  of  clearances  for 
Matamoras  cannot,  at  this  juncture,  be  rescinded;  and  it  is  confidently  believed, 
indeed  it  cannot  be  doubted,  that  the  enlightened  government  of  Mexico  will, 
upon  mature  deliberation,  not  only  justify,  but  approve  the  measure. 

A  copy  of  this  note,  as  well  as  of  your  own,  to  which  it  is  a  reply,  will  be 
transmitted  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
most  distinguished  consideration. 

WM.  H.  SEWARD. 

Senor  Don  MATIAS  ROMERO,  fyc.,  fyc.,  Sfc. 


,v  .     o 


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